Brian Thomas

Weekly Review: February 28 - March 6

2010-03-06T19:33:00.005-06:00

Before we left Grandma and Grandpa's house, Brian (aka: a future American Idol) couldn't resist the urge to sing one more number on Grandpa's guitar.

We started out trip home on Saturday and went as far as LaCrosse Wisconsin which is a little over half way. The boys probably could have gone further but frankly - Mommy couldn't! We got on the road in time to be home on Sunday in time to join the birthday party that was going on at our house. We were celebrating Krista's 10th birthday last Wednesday and Grandpa's birthday Sunday!

Keeping with the frosting theme - the boys girlfriend Elizabeth turned 16 Wednesday of this week! They took turns calling her cell phone to each sing happy birthday to her and wish her well on her special day!

Weekly Review: February 21 - 27

2010-02-27T21:43:00.000-06:00

Our Sunday morning this week turned out to be a little different than most other Sundays. That's because Mommy and Daddy made a very last minutes decision that while he stayed home and got a lot of office work done, she and the boys would take a trip to Grandma and Grandpa's house in South Dakota. As we made our drive, Brian frequently asked the question "Mommy, are we to South Dakota yet?" When we finally got to the boarder the conversation in the RSV (red sport vehicle) went a little like this:

Mommy: (as we approached the Welcome to South Dakota sign) "Brian, do you see that big white sign with the four faces on it?"

Brian: (having now driven past the sign) "What sign?"

Mommy: "That sign said that we are in South Dakota!"

Brian: (looking around) "Where"

Mommy: "Well, we already drove by the sign, but what the sign said is that we are now in South Dakota - we made it!"

Brian: (still looking around) "But I can't see it."

Mommy: (realising that he isn't talking about the sign anymore - he can't see "South Dakota") "Honey, it's all around us right now - everywhere you look - that's South Dakota!"

We drove as far as Sioux Falls and spent the night at Mommy's good friend Jannelle's house. When we got to Huron we got to have Grandma all to ourselves because Grandpa was at work. (More about that later in this post). One of the great things about going to Grandma and Grandpa's house is the added bonus of also being able to go visit Great Grandma! She lives just a few blocks right down the street - how cool is that!?!? One our fist visit to Great Grandma we had the added surprise of getting to see someone else. Great Aunt Maxine was also in town for a visit! We weren't able to see here over the Christmas holiday due to all the snow storms so this was a wonderful treat!

Where was Grandpa you ask? He was in Pierre doing his work as a South Dakota Senator. Part of our reason for making this trip to SD at this particular time was to go to the capital while the legislature was still in session. We wanted to make sure we were there bright and early on Thursday so Grandma, Mommy and the boys drove to Pierre Wednesday afternoon. Before bedtime, there was time to play some games though! Granted, you can't see much of him in this particular picture but if you ever play a game with Brian, watch him close because he has been known to cheat!

After going to one of the committee meetings that Grandpa sits on, we toured the building, road the elevators enough to ensure that they were all working properly and investigated Grandpa's desk on the Senate floor. Grandpa introduced us to a few people on our way - one of which was a very nice woman who had a bowl of chocolate on her desk. That's what Brian is munching on in this picture!

We were tickled to sit in the gallery of the Senate and listen as Grandpa introduced us to everyone! It was very cool! Before we could leave the capital, there was one more thing we needed to do. We have made this trip to the capital every year since both boys were born. During each of these trips, the Governor has had his picture taken with them. Once he heard that Brian and Spencer were here, once again, he asked if he could have his picture taken with them. Governor Rounds is a very nice man and since this would be the lost opportunity for him to have a picture taken with the boys (term limits, nothing like might happen in Illinois!), we wanted to make sure it happened!

You know your son needs a hair cut when he says to you "Mommy, I need a hair cut."

It takes an observant boy to recognize this fact so we blew in a call to Grandma's good friend Ann. Fortunately, she was able to fit Brian, Spencer and Mommy into an appt before we needed to head back to Illinois! Thank you again to Grandma and Grandpa for switching a few things around on their calendars in order to make this last minute trip of ours possible! We are looking forward to seeing them again soon......hopefully for Easter!

Weekly Review: February 14 - 20

2010-02-20T10:11:00.006-06:00

Grandma and Grandpa came over this evening to join us for a Valentines dinner. It was yummy and all but we all managed to save some room for a little "zert" afterwords. Mommy melted some chocolate and we have a variety of fruits that we dipped into it. Brian was particularly fond of the chocolate dipped bananas!

When Mommy woke up Valentines morning, Daddy took her to the window and had her take a look out into the back yard. Yup, that's a big ol heart with our initials in it. Women reading this - feel free to be jealous over the fact that I am married to such a romantic thoughtful guy. Men reading this - feel free to hate him for coming up with such a clever little thing that his wife was just tickled about!

This week in school, Brian's class was talking about Doctors. By the end of the week, you would have thought that he had just graduated from med school! The band aid on his finger is also something they made in class. it's like a mini cast - how funny is that!?!?

Weekly Review: February 7 - 13

2010-02-13T22:26:00.005-06:00

Monday night was a school "McDonald's Night". The Parent Teacher Organization does a few fund raising events, one of which is done at a local McDonald's. For a two hour period, the restaurant gives the school a percentage of all sales made at that particular restaurant. Families from the school are encouraged to come since their are also some raffle prizes available that only school families can try to win. The boys had their eye on one of the raffle prizes that was a basket full of fun stuff. And, what do you know........Brian won the basket!!!!!! We wont get into the details of how many raffle tickets Daddy purchased to make that happen, we won and lets just leave it at that!

On Tuesday morning, Mommy got a phone call from the Mommy of one of Brian's classmates. Alita was wondering if Brian would like to come over for a play date. Wow......a play date, Mommy didn't see this coming so soon but, what the heck! We were on our way to run some errands so Brian went to Alita's house to play while Spencer and Mommy went shopping. Alita's Mommy said that they had a wonderful time together and as it turns out, we live fairly close to each other. We are already looking forward to having Alita over to play at our house in the near future!

On Friday, the kids had their school Valentines Day party. Mommy put on her "room parent" hat and joined Brian and his class at 10am for the preschoolers party. One of the other students Mommy came to lend a hand as well and we had a great time! The kids made a couple crafts - including decorating their own cookie like Brian is doing in this picture. We played some games, exchanged our Valentines and left with a LOT of sugar rushing through our veins!

Weekly Review: January 31 - 6

2010-02-06T21:29:00.001-06:00

We have been anticipating Grandma D going to the hospital for a few weeks now. She was scheduled, and then rescheduled to have rotator cuff surgery. This week turned out to be the week that it actually happened, so on Friday morning, she and Grandpa headed for the hospital. The surgery went very well and we anticipate her to be back on her feet very soon! The boys were too young to go visit her at the hospital so we waited for her to get back home before they popped over to say hi. Hospitals, rotator cuffs and pain medication mean very little to the boys. Finding out that Uncle Corey was going to be coming for a few days in order to help out with the nursing duties though - YEAH! We love it when Uncle Corey comes for a visit and this trip was no exception!

As you will recall, a few weeks ago Brian's cousin Haley had a bowling party for her birthday. With the help of Uncle Corey and YouTube, Mommy was able to get a little video of Brian's bowling adventure posted here. Mommy started out recording Haley as she bowled but just as she was finishing up, Brian was ready to take his turn on the next lane. This video clip is about 2 minutes long so.......enjoy the show!

Weekly Review: January 24 - 30

2010-01-30T21:33:00.005-06:00

When we moved into our new house last summer, our intention was that we would gut and remodel the kitchen - our tentative time frame for this being this spring. In the meantime, the L shaped mud room that surrounds our current kitchen serves as a wonderful playroom! There is one little problem though, it gets really cold out there!

We were disappointed at the thought of loosing this great play area over the winter months. Even thought it probably wouldn't make a big difference, Daddy decided to make a couple small changes. We put down an extra area rug, Daddy added some weather stripping to the back door and we hooked up a small space heater in the room. The results from these small changes ended up being nothing short of amazing! The boys now have a nice cozy little play area which they use a lot! Now that the cold weather has limited our outside play time, its great having this little spot available for the kids to just do their thing while confining the bulk of their toys to one area.

Just because we haven't posted any of Brian's "Tool of the Day" posts while Mommy has been playing catch up on the blog, don't think for a minute that Brian hasn't been hard at work! Last week Daddy wanted to install the wood thresh hold in our bathroom. Fortunately Brian was able to pry himself away from playing fireman long enough to show Daddy how to properly measure before cutting. As Brian always says: "measure twice, cut once!"

Mommy and Daddy had an appointment Thursday evening with Brian's teacher. That's right, their first parent/teach conference! When the first thing you hear is "Brian is a very intelligent little boy", you almost feel like you should be waiting for the other shoe to drop! Fortunately that was not the case! She confirmed some things that we already knew (ie: he knows his letter, colors, shapes and numbers, oh......and that he is left handed). She said that while his attention span can be short, that's very normal for a 3 year old! Since he knows all his letters, she would now like to see him working at learning to write them. All in all, she said she is very happy with how well he is doing. Hearing this was music to Mommy and Daddy's ears! Brian spent his Saturday evening winding down with some Lawrence Welk. Yes, we still tune in to Public TV most Saturday and Sunday evenings to listen to the musical magic of Lawrence and the gang! Tonight Brian got interactive and with the help of a couple bowling pins, was directing the orchestra right along with Mr. Welk!

Weekly Review: January 17 - 23

2010-01-23T20:47:00.006-06:00

The boys got a Mickey Mouse bowling game for Christmas. There has been a lot of bowling going on at our house lately and they are really having a good time with it. Little did we know that and as it turns out, this little game has turned into a good training tool for Brian! We mentioned earlier that the boys cousin Haley turned 5 years old earlier this month. What we didn't say is that she is having a birthday party for a few friends today and it is a BOWLING PARTY!!!!!

Mommy and Daddy made the managerial decision that Spencer isn't quite ready for a trip to the bowling alley yet so he stayed home and watched football with Grandpa. Brian however, was BEYOND excited! He picked out his ball (6 lb balls were the lightest ones available) and he handled it pretty well.

There were a total of 7 bowlers in attendance. They were split into two groups and used two alleys. Brian was a maniac and even though he wanted to completely explode from pure excitement, he did a great job of waiting his turn. Every now and then we had to steer him back to the alley he was suppose to be using but other than that, he didn't want much assistance. Mommy shot a few short videos of the bowling frenzy and she is trying to figure out if it is possible for them to be loaded onto the blog.

Every so often Brian's school has a theme that they encourage all the kids to dress for. This Friday the theme was "Cool School Day" so all the kids could dress in styles from the 50's or 60's. With the aid of some hair gel, here's the little greaser that went to school this morning!

Earlier this week, Grandma started having a lot of leg/hip/back pain. Haley was planning to go play at her house for a while on Friday but since Grandma was not feeling up to her ol' self yet Haley suggested that she hang out with us! She came along with us when we went to pick "Cool Brian" up from school and the boys LOVED getting to play with her when we got home!

Weekly Review: January 10 - 16

2010-01-16T22:13:00.004-06:00

Daddy has been hard at work remodeling the kitchen of a very nice family. The boys have been extremely anxious for Daddy to install their new cabinets because as you may know, cabinets come in really cool boxes! You guessed it.......we just got some great new toys to play with!!!!!

Now that Brian is in school, he takes his role as the educated big brother very seriously.

Half the fun of bedtime is getting to pick out what books you would like Mommy or Daddy to read to you! Sometimes the books come from Spencer's bookshelf in his room, and sometimes they come from Brian's.

Weekly Review: January 3 - 9

2010-01-09T11:32:00.005-06:00

Since this past December was our South Dakota Christmas year, now that we are home we are having our Illinois family Christmas celebrations! There were stockings to open.

There were also some new friends to hug! Uncle Corey gave both boys "Al", the Wells Fargo pony. Anyone want to take a guess as to where Uncle Corey works???? :-)

Grandma has a tradition that each Christmas Eve, the grand kids open a package that contains a pair of her hand crafted jammies! We thought last years were cute but this years are even more adorable!!! Thank you Grandma!!!!!!

Before the tree and all of the Christmas decorations are packed up and put away, here is one more official "holiday shot" of the boys!

This week started and ended with birthdays! So, Happy Birthday to Aunt Ann on Sunday the 3rd and to cousin Haley who turned 5 years old Saturday the 9th!

Weekly Review: December 27 - January 2, 2010

2010-01-02T15:39:00.011-06:00

Our original plan was to have started for home yesterday (Saturday the 26th) and to be home by today (Sunday the 27th). The 16+ inches of fluffy white snow outside has slightly altered those plans. What would you do if you were snowbound at Grandma and Grandpa's house? Easy question........make home made ice cream! Spencer helped Grandma get all the ingredients mixed together. Brian helped Grandpa get the salt poured into the ice cream machine and...........

EVERYONE enjoyed the yummy results!!!!!

Just because we didn't want to be out driving in it didn't mean we didn't want to be out PLAYING in it! Daddy dug out a little snow fort area for the boys to play in.

Now, about that addition that Grandma and Grandpa put onto their house! Here's a picture of the front of the house. Yup, the garage and unsided portion of the house is all new! Amazing huh?

This picture was taken standing by the bay window at one end of the addition and looking into the sun room at the other end. With all of this new additional space to race around in, I think at the end of the day, the boys were actually more tired than they normally are!

Even though we got to stay a little longer than we anticipated, eventually the roads cleared up enough for us to start for home. Thank you for everything Grandma and Grandpa! We love you both and we love what you have been able to do to your house! Absolutely amazing!!!

We drove through a lot of drifting snow (like this picture) for the first hour or so but once we got onto the Interstate, things went very smoothly. We still saw a variety of vehicles in the ditch but for the most part, our roads were pretty clear. Up to this point we have always made the trip to and from South Dakota in two days. However, since the roads were okay and since Daddy was anxious to get back to the job he was working on prior to Christmas, we decided to try out luck at making the trip home in one day. We had lunch in Sioux Falls with Mommy's good friend Jannelle and didn't stop again until we had dinner just outside of LaCrosse Wisconsin.

The McDonalds we like to go to has one of the best playlands on the planet so after they had their dinner, we gave the boys a little extra time to stretch their legs and have some fun before we needed to got back on the road. The boys were fabulous little travelers, especially considering they were strapped into their car seats for well over 12 hours!

Once we were home, it was time to start planning the final details for our New Years Eve party! The group of friends/family that we go on our annual zoo outing with are the same group of family/friends that we spend New Years with each year. Kids and adults - eating, playing games, talking and lots of laughing. We have fun every year and this year was no exception. When the kids started playing Wii (an interactive video game played on the tv), Brian was front and center in the action! It was the bowling game in particular that he couldn't seem to get enough of and it was completely hysterical watching!

We wish all the very best in 2010......Happy New Year everyone!!!!!

Our first birthday greetings for 2010 go out to the boys cousin Lauren who turns two years old on January 1st! Happy Birthday Lauren!!!!!!!

Weekly Review: December 20 - 26

2009-12-26T14:17:00.015-06:00

Christmas is only a few days away and the RSV (red sport vehicle) is loaded so we are set to start our 12 hours of drive time to Grandma and Grandpa's house in South Dakota! We spent the night at Great Grandma's house in Clear Lake Iowa (which just happens to be the half way point). Great Grandma had already left for her winter residence in Arizona so the boys took it upon themselves to make sure everything was okay in the Iowa house. She will be relieved to know that her organ is working fine.

Brian also made sure to light all of her candles. Don't worry Grandma, we made sure he put them all out before we left!

We made good time on the final leg of our trip and arrived at Grandma and Grandpa's house in good shape......or should we say, we arrived at their NEW house! They have been hard at work doing an addition onto their house. When we say "THEY" we do mean that the two of them have done the bulk of the work! It's amazing and they nearly doubled the size of their house! Photos' of that coming soon. Shortly after we arrived the weather forecast turned ugly. The weathermen started saying that we were in store for a Christmas snowstorm so we made a few changes in our travel plans. On December 22nd, Uncle Seth, Aunt Ann, Nolan, and Lauren came over for an early Christmas. Since Great Grandma moved to a new apartment which is located just a few blocks from Grandma and Grandpa, we got to spend the day with her as well which was wonderful! With our tummy's full from Grandma's cooking, Brian, Lauren and Uncle Seth sang a few Christmas tunes before we opened gifts.

Apparently Old Man Weather was listening to the weather forecast because on Wednesday afternoon, it started to snow.....and snow........and snow some more! Thinking that this might be our last change to get out of the house for a few days, that night we ventured out for some pizza. There were several arcade games by the exit and there was no way we were getting out of the restaurant without letting the boys "play" a few games so, there ya go!

As long as you have some extra provisions in the kitchen (which we did) and have a nice cozy place to be (which we had), being snow bound can actually be a lot of fun! All of the local church's had to cancel their Christmas Eve and Christmas Day services but that didn't stop us from celebrating on our own! We opened gifts Christmas Eve and as it turned out, there were a few new games under the tree that we enjoyed playing over the next few days!

We are happy to announce that even though the Interstates were closed, somehow Santa was still able to make his way through the storm to deliver gifts! Brian was even willing to share some of his toys and books with Grandpa!

Weekly Review: December 13 - 19

2009-12-19T20:36:00.008-06:00

Thursday night we were all on hand to witness Brian's first ever school Christmas program. It just doesn't get much better than watching a group of 3 and 4 year old's - standing up in front of the church - waving at their families and belting out a chorus of Jesus Loves Me. Too fabulous to describe! As they sang their 3 songs you could literally hear all the smiles coming from everyone as they watched. We have mentioned Brian's girlfriend Elizabeth before. Well, Elizabeth has a brother who also attends Brian's school. Brian thinks he's pretty cool when he is acknowledged by his upper class man (8th grade) friend Michael whenever he spots him in the school hallways!

Friday was the last school day before the Christmas break so prior to the early dismissal time, each of the class rooms had their Christmas party. Room parent Mommy dreamed up another game for the kids to play which Daddy hand crafted for her. Before having their snack they also made some "Reindeer Food" and "Snowman Soup". I believe it is fair to say that a good time was had by all!

We have an annual tradition that a group of our friends - (some we are related to and some not) and our kids pick a day in December and go on a group outing. For several years we took the train downtown to check out their window displays and tree at Marshall Fields/Macys. Last year we decided to try something new by going to Brookfield Zoo. The zoo is really decorated up with thousands and thousands of christmas lights so if the weather is even halfway decent, it makes for a beautiful late afternoon/evening! We did the same thing this year and once again, we all had a great time. It was a chilly night but it was easy to duck into a building to warm up while checking out the animals in that display. There was no way we were leaving without a carousal ride though!

Our group night out is always followed up by dinner. We went to Portillos' again this year and you will never guess what Brian and Spencer had! What? Spaghetti??? I can't believe you were able to guess that - AMAZING!

Weekly Review: December 6 - 12

2009-12-12T13:29:00.009-06:00

Great Grandma and Great Aunt Judith passed through town a few days ago on their way to their winter get away (aka: Arizona). It's always great seeing them and we (as well as cousins Krista and Erika) are looking forward to their visit on their return trip back to Iowa this spring!

**Even though it looks like Spencer is being choked in this picture - rest assured - he is fine!

Haley and her parents stopped over for a visit with Great Grandma and Great Aunt Judith too! Before they left, the boys wanted to show Haley the "new toys" Daddy had set up in the backyard.

The bench they are sitting on is an actual back yard toy........the rest is the result of Daddy kicking up the back yard toy about 200%!

Weekly Review: November 29 - December 5

2009-12-05T12:43:00.004-06:00

Our church puts on a Boars Head Festival every other year and this is the year for the performance! Since Mommy and Daddy did not provide the Baby Jesus this year, Mommy is not playing the part of Mary this year. Instead, this year she is helping Grandma with the costumes while Daddy once again heads up the stage set up/take down as well as serving as an usher. On one particular costume fitting day, Mommy took the boys along and Daddy came to pick them up when he finished his appointment. Brian made good use of his time by trying on a few costumes himself.......like the Jesters hat!

After Daddy picked up the boys, they did some exploring in the school and gym before heading outside to test out the playground for a bit before heading for home.

Now that Thanksgiving is over it's time to get the Christmas decorations up! Mommy got a good start decorating while the boys took their nap but Brian woke up in time to help out with the tree decorating!

Weekly Review: November 22 - 28

2009-11-28T13:57:00.010-06:00

This was a big week for the boys! For starters, Grandma and Grandpa were here from South Dakota for a visit! They weren't able to stay through Thanksgiving but we made the most of our time together! Playing "grocery store" is still huge around here. Grandpa has an honest face so Brian trusted him to run the cash register.

Later he showed Grandma how to make ice cream!

Brian's class planned to celebrate their teachers birthday this week. Since Mommy is the room parent, she and Daddy made a "Birthday Bingo" game that we could play with the class. The night before the party, we tried out the game at home which turned out to be a lot of fun!

On Wednesday, after several successful games of Birthday Bingo, Mrs V (and the entire class) enjoyed their ice cream cone cupcakes.

Before Grandma and Grandpa had to head back to SD, we managed to squeeze in a trip to the boys favorite restaurant for lunch. All Aboard is the train themed place in Downers Grove where a little train brings your lunch to you.

We celebrated Thanksgiving across the street at Grandma and Grandpa's house. We were small in number this year but Grandma put out a wonderful feast and we enjoyed a very pleasant day together.

Weekly Review: November 15 - 21

2009-11-21T21:43:00.002-06:00

Brian is responsible for bringing the snack to school this week which can only mean one thing.......HE IS THE LINE LEADER THIS WEEK!!!!!!!!!! Between Daddy's appointments and meetings this week and Mommy's additional choir rehearsals for the upcoming Boars Head Festival at church, things have been a little crazy at our house. When our lives get busy and hectic, leave it to two little boys to be able to remind us to slow down and just enjoy the moment.

Here's an example. What do you have if you have a microwave, a few bottles of water and/or soda, and an imagination? The answer is simple, you have a grocery store check out lane! Brian would supply the little beep sound as he slid each item over the microwave to "ring them up".

Weekly Review: November 8 - 14

2009-11-14T20:44:00.003-06:00

The weather is getting colder but we still managed to sneak in a quick trip to a new park. We THINK it was a public park, but since it was located right next to a grade school, the chances are good it was their park. No one seemed to mind that we played at the park but due to the cold weather, our visit was a quick one.

The boys love having books read to them. No matter if it happens at home or school - it's all good! If we are at home, the boys sit on Mommy or Daddy's lap as we read the book. If Brian is at school, his teacher shows the whole class the book while they watch from their seats on the floor. When Brian "reads" to Spencer, he uses the reading technique that his teacher uses at school.

It's About Time!

2009-11-07T22:04:00.002-06:00

Over the past two years Brian has had countless haircuts but today he was a witness to his little brother getting his very first one. As soon as Brian found out where we were going, he began announcing that he wanted to get a haircut too. That being said and knowing that he was not going to be getting one, Mommy and Daddy were prepared for the worst as we walked into the salon. Fortunately there were lots of toys and cool stuff to look at which helped to keep Brian distracted while Spencer was getting his haircut.

Yard Work

2009-11-06T21:57:00.002-06:00

Having a huge yard is wonderful because there is lots of room to play! Having a huge yard also means there are a LOT of leaves to rake! Fortunately today was the start of a beautiful weekend so we spent quite a bit of time cleaning up.

To a two and three year old, a big pile of newly raked leaves means.........FUN FUN FUN!!!!!!

Tool of the Day!

2009-11-05T21:56:00.001-06:00

Post coming as soon as Brian tells Mommy what this "thingy" is!

Look What I Made!!!!!

2009-11-04T21:30:00.003-06:00

This picture is a few days old but still very cute. During the last week of October, Brian's school had a theme for each day of the week. Friday was Pajama day (very popular with the kids since they got to go to school in their jammies!) Brian came home with a back pack full of goodies that day. There was the pumpkin he had painted and the real pumpkin seeds that he had glued onto the alphabet letter they were studying this week (which happened to be a "P"). His teacher gave all of the students a monster hand filled with popcorn but he was most excited about his pumpkin bread!

From the moment Mommy and Spencer picked him up, he wanted to know when we could try the bread! He was able to wait until Daddy got home from work......but just barely!

Rocketboy!

2009-11-03T21:22:00.002-06:00

Every now and then (like right now) we put Brian's car seat in the back row of the RSV. He LOVES it when Daddy straps him into it "rocket boy" style!

Fold the seat back words, load the boy in and once he is strapped in........launch him into the upright position!

My Foot

2009-11-02T21:20:00.002-06:00

When Brian saw that Mommy had the camera out he insisted that she take a picture of his foot. So........here ya go, a close up of Brian's right tootsie!

Trick or Treat!!!

2009-11-01T20:22:00.002-06:00

We mentioned before that most of the trick or treating that we did yesterday was done with some good friends. Here is a picture of the crew. Anthony (standing), Christopher (kneeling) and Nick (in white) taught Brian and Spencer everything they know. Brian was a quick study and can now be classified as a "professional trick or treater". Spencer......well, the fact that he was too busy looking into his bag to be able to look at the camera, that pretty much say it all!

Happy Halloween!!!!

2009-10-31T21:51:00.002-05:00

Last year was the first year that Brian went trick or treating but he had a much better understanding of it tonight and he got into it - BIG time!!!! Most of our trick or treating was done in our old neighborhood. We met up with a couple of our good friends (Anthony and Christopher) and they taught the boys the fine art of 'candy gettin'. Before long Brian was the one racing up to the next house to ring the bell. If the homeowner didn't answer within about 5 seconds he would announce "Okay, next house!"

I know I am wayyyyyyyyy behind on updating the boy's blogs but I am going to work on becoming current. In the meantime, I will be posting the current posts and working at filling in the dates from the past couple weeks that I have missed. Thanks for your patience and feel free to scroll back through the older posts over the next week or so as I work at getting them added.

I Saw a Ghost!

2009-10-27T16:48:00.002-05:00

Mommy and the boys thought it would be great fun to fill some little plastic ghosts with leaves and hang them from a tree in the back yard. Oddly enough, Mommy did all of the stuffing and no sooner had she got them hung from the tree..........they suddenly turned into mini pinata!

Feed the Birds!

2009-10-26T16:34:00.002-05:00

Brian's preschool class made bird feeders today! They spread some peanut butter on a half a bagel and sprinkled bird seed into the peanut butter. A piece of yard looped through the center of the bagel made for a perfect hanger! I'm not sure if the birds had a chance to eat it before the squirrels got in on the action but by morning, it was all gone!

Play Dough Fun!!!

2009-10-25T16:21:00.002-05:00

The boys have such a great time playing with their play dough! Our good friends Uncle Fred and Aunt Karen (actually their sons Anthony and Christopher) recently made a large donation to the boy's play dough toy collection. I guess maybe you really CAN be too old to want to play with play dough! Who knew?!?!?

My Room!

2009-10-24T16:14:00.002-05:00

The boys colored signs that they hung on their bedroom doors today. Mommy wrote the words "Brian's Room" and then Brian got to work decorating it. Instead of doing a lot of coloring on the page, he got right to work tracing the letters. And yes, he did it all with his left hand!

Teeter-Totter

2009-10-23T16:11:00.002-05:00

Brian loves Spencer's park evaluations because every park that Spencer rates is a park that Brian gets to play at! Talk about your win-win situation!!!

Tool of the Day!

2009-10-22T16:08:00.002-05:00

As with any professional........you are never done learning. Brian stays at the top of his game by keeping up with the trade magazines!

Happy Anniversary Mommy and Daddy!

2009-10-21T15:53:00.003-05:00

Do you remember where you were 4 years ago today? Mommy and Daddy do!

And wow.....what a difference 4 years can make!

Mommy and Daddy spent a very romantic evening tonight attending a meeting at Brian's school. Since child care was provided, the boys got to come along too and it really was a very interesting meeting. The teachers from preschool thru 2nd grade were discussing the methods they use to teach kids to read.

Hello Autumn

2009-10-20T15:50:00.002-05:00

Brian's preschool class is talking about Autumn this week. In addition to going on a nature walk to look for leaves, nuts and berries, they also made these autumn hats.

The Pumpkin Patch (continued)

2009-10-19T15:38:00.005-05:00

The boys had such a good time at the pumpkin patch yesterday that we decided to spread the pictures out over today's blog post too! I don't believe I posted this picture from last years trip to the patch so here is a side by side comparison from last years and this years pumpkin adventures!

Pumpkin Patch 2008

Pumpkin Patch 2009

After we had conquered "the patch", the boys rested up on some hay bales and enjoyed some pine corn (aka: popcorn).

Bring on the Patch!!!!

2009-10-18T15:15:00.003-05:00

This afternoon we made our family pilgrimage trip to the pumpkin patch! With Grandma, Grandpa and the rest of the localized Aunt, Uncles and Cousins along, we made our way to The Children's Farm. Once we had all arrived, we got on the hay ride and took the short ride out to the pumpkin patch.

Apparently this was an amazing pumpkin growing year because the pumpkins were big and there was a huge selection to pick from!

Hide-n-Seek

2009-10-17T15:10:00.002-05:00

Recently, Daddy introduced the boys to the game of Hide-n-Seek. This is a shot of Brian when it was his turn to hide. Daddy had a hard time finding him in this hiding spot!

Doctor Visit

2009-10-16T15:00:00.003-05:00

Brian: "Mommy I'm going to the Doctor."

Mommy: "Okay Brian, I hope you feel better."

***Brian joins Dr. Spencer in the bathroom***

Dr Spencer: "What's wrong Brian?"

Brian: "My foot hurts."

Dr Spencer: "Okay, here's some medicine."

Brian: "Thank you! (brief pause).....okay, now it's my turn Spencer."

Tool of the Day!

2009-10-15T14:52:00.003-05:00

Mommy was very grateful to have Brian's equipment advise today. She was ready to install the new living room window treatments but wasn't sure how she was going to attach the new material. Once again, it was Brian to the rescue! (As I write this post, Brian is taking a nap so I will have to wait until he wakes up to get you the stats of the staple gun that he used.)

Always Wear a Helmet!

2009-10-14T14:45:00.003-05:00

This afternoon Brian was riding his bike around the living room. All of the sudden he ran upstairs into Spencer's bedroom. When he came down, he was wearing Spencer's old sun hat (which was way too small) and saying "I had to get my helmet." We didn't know that he even knew what a bike helmet was but apparently - he does!!!

Quality Time!

2009-10-13T14:31:00.000-05:00

Two boys in jammies, each wearing their backpacks and playing with their Thomas the Train tent........all the makings of an extremely fun evening at home!

Officer Brian

2009-10-12T14:27:00.002-05:00

This week Brian's preschool class is talking about police officers! Not only did a police officer pay a visit to their classroom, but they also made these cool hats!

Fire In the Hole!!!

2009-10-11T14:11:00.002-05:00

Brian and Daddy took advantage of the nice day today to put together our new back yard fire pit! The boys both have a good understanding of how important it is not to touch it. Mommy and Daddy only have yard fires at night after the kids have gone to bed but we still want them to understand that fire pits are not something that they should ever play with.

Rock Climbing

2009-10-10T13:59:00.003-05:00

The park we went to this week had a rock climbing wall. It was a little much for Spencer but Brian had no problem navigating it!

The Book Nook

2009-10-09T13:55:00.002-05:00

As Brian and Spencer snuggled up in a chair together tonight, Brian decided to "read" to Spencer...........absolutely adorable!

Tool of the Day!

2009-10-08T13:49:00.002-05:00

Daddy and Brian will be updating this post very soon. Mommy would hate to use incorrect terminology for the work that they are doing in our remodeled bathroom so she will just post the picture.

Ready at a Moments Notice!

2009-10-07T21:12:00.002-05:00

I don't think that I have ever seen a firefighter wear his helmet backwards but Brian decided to give it a go. Maybe he will start a new trend at the fire stations!

Field Trip!

2009-10-06T22:36:00.018-05:00

Brian went on his first school field trip today! (Mommy got to go too since she was one of the drivers.) Since the kids are studying fire safety this week, the 3 and 4 yr old preschool classes went to tour the La Grange Fire Station. Yes, this is the same fire house that we visited on Saturday, but today we got the FULL tour! Firefighter Chris, Firefighter Dan , Firefighter Brian and Firefighter Craig gave us a great tour starting with their living quarters on the upper floor.

Our tour guides gave us a lot of very important information today. Firefighter Dan demonstrated how he puts all of his equipment on and let me tell you......it is heavy stuff! Can you imagine carrying 70 pounds of equipment around with you just to go do your job????? Fireman Dan also reminded everyone that even though a firefighter might look a little scary when they have on their mask, they are there to help so we should never hide under the bed or in the closet.

It wouldn't seem like a fire station if it didn't have a fire pole! Even though Brian is in the Monday, Wednesday & Friday pre school class, almost all of his classmates were able to come today. We joined up with the kids in the Tuesday & Thursday class and all had a really great time!

Fire Safety Week!

2009-10-05T22:24:00.005-05:00

Brian and his classmates are learning all about fire safety this week. When he came home from school today he told Mommy and Daddy how to STOP......

DROP..........

and ROLL!

MY BIG BOY BED!!!!!!!

2009-10-04T22:15:00.003-05:00

Recently, Mommy and Daddy have been talking about upgrading Brian from his toddler bed to a twin "big boy bed". We weren't planning on doing it right his minute, but in preparation for the change, Mommy picked up a couple safety rails so that we would have them when we needed them. Brian saw the box and started questioning what it was. When it was explained that it was for his new bed, that was it, Brian wanted his new bed IMMEDIATELY!

Mommy and Daddy were able to stall him for a day but we couldn't make the poor kid wait it out any longer. So, as of tonight, Brian is in his new big boy bed and he is LOVING it!

Fire Station!

2009-10-03T21:42:00.007-05:00

The La Grange Fire Station is spotlighting fire safety week by hosting an open house today. Mommy apparently got her information wrong because we got to the open house a little too early. The firemen were very nice in letting us look around the trucks that were outside for awhile before kindly suggesting that we come back in 2 hours. Here are some pictures of the highlights of the open house........once it had officially started!

The boys weren't at all intimidated by the size of the trucks. In fact, Brian acted like he has been crawling around on "Engines" for years!

With all of the excitement going on, Mommy and Daddy were pleasantly surprised at how patient the boys both were while standing in line for the fire hose display. When it was their turn, they got to help the fireman aim the fire hose at a painted display board of a house that was on fire. If they aimed the hose in the right spots.....they put out the fire!

The Fire Chief was on hand and spent a lot of time chatting with the kids as they took turns crawling up into the drivers seat of one of the fire engines. He suggested that when the kids had their picture taken, instead of saying "CHEESE", they should say "CHIEF"! Thank you La Grange Fire Department, you put on a wonderful open house and our entire family had a great time!

Daddy and Me!

2009-10-02T23:05:00.002-05:00

This evening, Brian's school had a "Daddy and Me Night" for the preschool classes. Up to this point, Mommy has been the one to take him to school and pick him up so he was very excited to be able to have Daddy there tonight! Once the kids had shown their daddy's around the classroom, everyone headed into the gym. There was a shaving station set up where the kids could give their daddy's a shave. (The shaving cream was "shaved" off with Popsicle sticks!) The kids made a picture frame and also got to decorate a cookie for themselves as well as for their daddy. Everyone had their pictures taken and then the kids gathered around a campfire for some stories. Everyone had a great time.......especially Brian and his Daddy!

Tool of the Day!

2009-10-01T22:31:00.002-05:00

Suppose your Daddy needs your help laying some bathroom floor tile. And suppose he asks for your recommendation on the best way to get a nice straight line all the way across the area you want to tile. If you are Brian, you wouldn't hesitate at all, you would quickly answer that the best tool for that job would be the Irwin Model 620 Speed Reel Chalk Line. On a personal note, Brian prefers the one with blue chalk dust.

With one quick SNAP, you will have a crisp clean chalk line on the floor so that you can get back to playing with your little brother!

Sleep Over Guest

2009-09-30T22:26:00.003-05:00

Brian has been spending quite a bit of time lately hanging out with his stuffed Curious George. Because of that, no one was overly surprised when they both showed up together at the breakfast table. Daddy welcomed our guest by setting a chair for him next to Brian and making him up his own plate! George doesn't eat much, he is very quiet and well behaved so he is welcome at our table ANY time!!!

Brian made a phone call tonight to his Great Grandma (aka: Gram) who lives in South Dakota. He sang her one of his favorite songs. "Happy Birthday to you......Happy Birthday to you......Happy Birthday dear Great Grandma.......Happy Birthday to you!" We won't reveal Gram's age but we will tell you that she is exactly 90 years older than Brian. Brian just turned 3 so..........we will let you do the math. :-)

Happy Birthday Gram......we can't wait to see you when we are back in SD for the holidays!

My New Bathtub!!!

2009-09-29T22:09:00.003-05:00

Our bathroom is SOOOOOOOOOOOO close to being finished! The tub is in.....the plumbing and electric are in place.....the dry wall/green board/concrete board have all been installed. Our new floor and wall tile have been delivered so, the days of running across the street to use Grandma and Grandpa's bathtub and shower are nearly behind us! True, the walls will look much nicer once the tile is on them, but until then, they are water proofed to the point where we can use the bathtub. The boys had their inaugural bath in the new tub tonight!

Making Snakes!

2009-09-28T21:55:00.003-05:00

The boys got some play dough and accessories for it as birthday gifts. Since they had already opened up several new toys, Mommy and Daddy tucked the play dough away in a closet for a "rainy day". Clearly, it wasn't hidden very well because Brian has come across it more than once and asked to play with it. Mommy and Daddy broke down today and they opened the little containers of brightly colored squishy dough.

Brian was particularly interested in making "snakes". He needed a little help pushing the lever down but watching the play dough come oozing out was wayyyyyy cool!

Baby Kendall!!!!!

2009-09-27T21:52:00.004-05:00

Last night Mommy and Daddy were explaining to Brian that when he got home from church and had his nap, he was going to have a wonderful surprise. We told him that he was going to be able to play with Haley AND baby Kendall! (Kendall is the beautiful little girl whose Daddy happens to be cousins with Brian's Daddy.) Kendall, as well as her Mommy, Daddy and her Grandparents (who we refer to as Uncle Glenn and Aunt Ronnie) came over to Grandma and Grandpa's house this afternoon for a dinner. Since Uncle Colin, Aunt Karyn and Haley were able to come too......we had a GREAT time! Brian and Haley are no strangers to Grandma's "Bonus Room" so they got right to work playing with toys.

It didn't take long before Kendall was ready to play too. The boys suggested playing some dress up and Kendall was quick to join right in!

An Apple For The Teacher!

2009-09-26T06:00:00.004-05:00

One of the things that Brian's class at school was studying this week was apples. Each student brought 2 apples from home and they made all kinds things. They saw and tasted several different varieties and colors of apples. They painted pictures, made "apple crowns" and apple prints too!

***Update on Potty-gate 2009: Brian is continuing to rack up his M&M rewards! (Translation - the potty training continues to go very well!)

I Need Sand!!!

2009-09-25T21:42:00.004-05:00

When Brian got to school on Wednesday, he collected the raffle prize that he won at the schools Monday night fund raiser. Knowing that there would be lots of time to play with all the new prize goodies after school, he was very willing to let Mommy and Spencer take it home with them. After school, lunch and an afternoon nap.........Mommy and the boys headed out to the McCook Park District's sandbox to break in some of the new toys!

We had the park all to ourselves so Brian and Spencer went back and forth between the sandbox and the playground equipment. Brian took a few moments to spin the tic-tac-toe game on route to one of his many trips down the slide.

Tool of the Day!

2009-09-24T14:07:00.004-05:00

Brian was taking care of some temporary home repairs today.

Here he is caulking the countertop with a Metco 1600 10 oz. caulk gun.

On a separate note, here is an update on Brian's "Potty-gate 2009". Yesterday, on three separate instances Brian successfully used the potty!!! The reward system of 2 M&M's per productive potty use appears to be working very well!

I'm Ready!!!

2009-09-23T14:21:00.005-05:00

Brian loves hearing that it's time to go to school! He had his backpack on and we were just about to leave when he said that he needed to get one more thing. He ran into the play room and came back with this little shape sorter toy. "Mommy, I need to take my briefcase."

We mentioned that last Monday evening we attended a school fund raiser at a local McDonald's. We bought a bunch of raffle tickets all for one particular prize. When we got to school this morning we found out that........WE WON!!!!!!!!!! This was probably the most expensive set of sandbox and bubble toys we have ever had but hey, at least it was for a good cause!

CELEBRATION!!!!!

2009-09-22T20:53:00.003-05:00

We had a couple reasons to celebrate today. First of all, today is Uncle Seth and Aunt Ann's anniversary! Secondly.........*drum roll please*........Brian used the potty today!!!!!!!!! He is in no way potty trained yet, but it was still a banner day at our house!

While Brian is playing at home, often times he will go through the motions of some things he does when he is at preschool. He sings the songs they sing ("clean up clean up, every body do your part.") The kids have a routine that happens each day before they have snack time. That routine is what Brian was recreating today. "Everyone needs to go potty and then wash their hands!" He may have just been playing but when Mommy heard him say this, she put his idea into action!

We have not had a lot of luck at home with Brian wanting to use the bathroom. He does at least try when he's at school though. We don't know what the success rate of his school bathroom breaks is but we do know that he did a great job at home today! I'm guessing that Brian's teacher probably doesn't cheer, clap and jump around quite as much as Mommy did today but that's okay. He got his "potty prize" (2 M&M candies) and he was thrilled about it!

Where's The Fire???

2009-09-21T14:26:00.003-05:00

The Water Dept is busy flushing fire hydrants around our Village this week. We lucked out and got a great show because we had just come home from picking Brian up from school when the water dept truck pulled up in front of our house. Greg, the man from the Village was very nice and asked Brian if he wanted to come in for a closer look but Brian preferred to hang back a little bit so that he could take it all in......from a safe distance. Spencer couldn't be bothered with the whole hydrant thing - he preferred to just go play in the yard. Brian however, was mesmerized by the whole process!

Weeeeeeeeeeeee!

2009-09-20T14:21:00.002-05:00

While Spencer is busy doing research for his weekly park review, Brian is busy too. Brian is busy PLAYING at the park that Spencer is evaluating! Talk about your win-win situation!!! This is the roller slide at the park just a few blocks from our house that Spencer reviewed a couple weeks ago.

Travelin' Man!

2009-09-19T22:32:00.001-05:00

Brian had a very busy day planned for today. As Mommy and Daddy watched him hook his little brothers back pack to the back of his bike, we asked him where he was going. "I'm going to see Uncle Corey". He may need to pack a slightly larger back pack if he is going to ride this bike all the way to Minneapolis!

Can I Take Your Order?

2009-09-18T22:22:00.003-05:00

Since Daddy is making a great deal of progress remodeling our bathroom, it was time for Mommy and Daddy to go pick out the tile he will soon be installing. Where do you go when you need floor tile? There's only one place we go and that is to Floors and Walls which is located in Franklin Park! Fortunately for us, this shower door display was set up right next to the floor tile selection Mommy and Daddy were looking at. It kept the boys occupied for nearly the entire time we were there! Eventually we heard Brian start taking drink orders like he was at a drive thru!

Oh yeah, Elaine.... Brian and Spencer are really sorry about the finger prints!!!

Tool of the Day!

2009-09-17T21:01:00.002-05:00

Brian is taking a break from his final coat of mud on his bathroom project.

He is using a 6 inch flexable Goldblatt model 600-06 taping knife.

Notice not a spec of mud on his clothes?

The true sign of a professional!!!

Oh, and what mud is he using? I'm glad you asked!

Sheetrock brand light weight all purpose plus three joint compound of course!!!!

Home Work

2009-09-16T20:42:00.002-05:00

Brian LOVES going to school! In fact, on our drive to school this morning Brian said "Okay Mommy, you take Spencer with you and I'll see you tomorrow." His class has learned some songs that Brian sings quite frequently at home too. They have a "Hello song" as well as a "Goodbye song" that the kids sing each day. There is also a "Clean Up song" they sing when putting all the toys away before they go home for the day. The school selects a theme for each school year. The song for this years theme is the one that Brian has been singing the most though. We were a little unsure on a few of the words he was singing but his teacher was happy to provide us with a copy of the song so we can work with him on it.

One of the things that they were studying at school this week was shapes. Brian brought home some work sheets with shapes that he could trace and color. Once again, we are fairly certain that Brian is left handed!

The Brother Chain

2009-09-15T20:28:00.002-05:00

Last Thursday Mommy and the boys took a little walk to our new library. That experience is a story in itself given that it would probably have been easier for Mommy to buy crack on the street than it was for her to get a new library card - but she got it! The library is just a few blocks from our house but since we have to cross a fairly busy street, Mommy introduced the boys to something new. It may look like it's just one of Mommy's old belts but when it was renamed to "The Brother Chain", it took on a whole new life! Mommy takes one end and the boys are told to keep a hand hold on the brother chain at all times during our walk. Both boys have been taking to this very well but Brian in particular is doing very well with it!

Extra Bath Night!

2009-09-14T21:56:00.003-05:00

The boy's don't normally take a bath on Sunday night. Considering they were playing a little game of "lets toss the sawdust into the air and see how much of it lands on us" yesterday........we decided that an extra bath this week was probably a good idea. The smiles on their faces when they were discovered covered in sawdust was adorable. The laughter at how it "tickled" when Grandpa tried to clean them up a little with his air compressor - priceless!

Happy Grandparent's Day!

2009-09-13T21:48:00.002-05:00

"My Grandma, Grandpa and Uncle Corey went to the Minnesota State Fair a couple weeks ago and all we got were this lousy Pronto Pup hats!" Okay, so they weren't lousy Pronto Pup hats, in fact Haley and the boys wore these silly paper hats most of the afternoon!

Happy Grandparents Day to all the Grandma's and Grandpa's out there!!!

Has Anyone Seen My Matches?

2009-09-12T21:36:00.003-05:00

We are either raising two future able bodied boy scouts or two little pyromaniacs because these boys love fire! Brian has watched Daddy start enough fires in our back yard fire pit that by now that he has started making his own (less the fire pan and the actual fire of course). Today his toy hoe is acting as an ax - very important when you need to chop your firewood.

Once he and Spencer had built their "fire", Brian looked at Mommy and asked her to take a picture of it.

We Will Never Forget!

2009-09-11T21:31:00.002-05:00

Brian wasn't around eight years ago when the lives of so many were changed by the horrible events of September 11th. As he grows up, we intend to make it very clear to him how lucky he is to be an American. We also intend for him to have a deep appreciate for the brave men and women who have and/or continue to fight to ensure our freedom and safety.

Tool of the Day!

2009-09-10T21:29:00.002-05:00

Here Brian is showing Daddy the finer points of operating his new Makita BDF452 lithium ion compact18 volt cordless drill driver.
It took Daddy a while to get the hang of it but Brian is a patient teacher.

Son of a Preacher Man

2009-09-09T13:33:00.003-05:00

We take the boys to church each week and apparently between eating his snacks, drawing and playing with his quiet toys, he is actually paying attention to what's going on! Lately Brian has started playing church. He has been pretending to light candles (like he sees the acolytes do at church) for quite a while but recently he has added some new stuff. He likes to start his "services" from the top of the back steps with a welcoming "Good Morning!" This is usually followed by some words that we can't make out. He ends with raising one hand into the air and saying "in the name of the Holy Spirit, Amen." He has added some new material to his services which include his version of the ending of the Lords Prayer......"one God....for never and never, Amen." In addition to passing the peace, he has also started giving blessings as well as communion. It's amazing to just sit back and watch him!

Happy Birthday Daddy!!!

2009-09-08T21:10:00.003-05:00

If it seems like we have been singing Happy Birthday a lot over the past 2 weeks......you are right!!! While Daddy was off at work today, Mommy and the boys headed to our pediatrician for their yearly checkups. Brian's new stats are as follows. In the past year Brian has grown 3 inches. He was 34 inches a year ago and is now 37 inches tall. He is in the 35th percentile in height which is very average. A year ago he weighed 26.8 pounds. He has gained an even 3 pounds and now weighs 29.8 which is also very average as he is in the 30th percentile for weight.

When Daddy got home we went out to Culver's for dinner. When we finished dinner, Mommy went up to the counter to order our dessert. While she was gone, Daddy and the boys were playing a game. Daddy would ask the boys what they liked better. "Brian, which do you like better......grilled cheese or hot dogs." "Spencer, which do you like better.......hamburgers or pizza." When Mommy came back with our dessert, she and Daddy were talking as the boys ate their ice cream. Daddy asked what size his dish was and Mommy answered that it was a medium. A few minutes later Brian wanted Mommy to play their little game. "Mommy, which do you like better........pizza or medium!"

Pogo!

2009-09-07T21:05:00.003-05:00

This little toy hoe is a new toy every time Brian gets ahold of it! Today it was his pogo stick! At first we questioned how he even knew what a pogo stick was but we think he just saw one being used on a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse episode. Stay tuned to see what else this toy will become in some upcoming blog postings!

An Early Party!

2009-09-06T21:24:00.004-05:00

Daddy's birthday is next week. Since Uncle Kevin, Aunt June, Krista and Erika were coming over to Grandma and Grandpa's house today - we decided to have a little surprise party. After dinner, Brian made sure that he sat next to Daddy so that he could help him blow out the candles on his cake!

The kids got a lesson on proper flag etiquette today. Grandma and Grandpa have a lot of flags that they use to decorate for their 4th of July party. Over the years, a bunch of them have gotten to the point where they need to be disposed of. What is the correct way to dispose of a flag? That's right......they are to be burned. Krista and Erika got to participate but Brian and Spencer were required to watch from a safe distance.

Stop, Drop & Roll!

2009-09-05T21:15:00.003-05:00

There is a small slope in the lawn along the front of our house and it makes for a perfect playing spot. The boys can have races down it or.......

........do full body rolls!!!!!!!!!

Brian Speak

2009-09-04T21:05:00.003-05:00

Brian has some phrases that just crack us up! One that is very popular is said when he doesn't like something or doesn't want to do something.

Daddy: "Brian, what kind of cereal would you like this morning?"

Brian: "No Daddy, I can't like cereal, I want pancakes."

Mommy: "Come on Brian, lets put on your shoes. Do you want to wear your sandals or gym'ies today?"

Brian: "I can't like shoes Mommy!"

Tool of the Day!

2009-09-03T20:48:00.003-05:00

Now that we have our move as well as several August birthdays out of the way, Brian is anxious to get back to his tool of the day segments!

Here Brian is sporting the Milwaukee 12" Axman model 80-8027 sawzall blade.

NOTE: Yes, sawzall blades are sharp and the average person should NOT hold a blade the way Brian is here. However, Brian has built up such callouses from all his years in the trades that he really doesn't need to worry.

My Family

2009-09-02T20:42:00.002-05:00

Brian's preschool class is currently talking about family. Each child was asked to bring in a picture of their family......their whole family, pets too. Fortunately for us, our good friend Henry came over this evening. He was willing to be our photographer and snapped a couple pictures for us.

Watch This Grandpa!

2009-09-01T20:27:00.005-05:00

Daddy was doing some landscape work today (removing some bushes that just needed to go). Brian was very anxious to watch him do this. He and Grandpa stayed back at a safe distance and watched as Daddy hooked a chain around the bushes and pulled them out with his truck!

As you can see......Brian was VERY impressed!!!

He was also very happy to pitch in with the clean up duties as well!

Giddy Up!

2009-08-31T22:10:00.006-05:00

Before Brian went to school this morning, he had a few minutes to play with some of the new birthday toys. Uncle Corey wasn't able to make it for the party this year but he sent a gift that only Uncle Corey would have thought of! The boys had to wait until this morning to get the full impact of it.....seeing the parts in the box was somewhat confusing. (I'm sure it will surprise no one that Uncle Colin sneaked upstairs to slip the unassembled horse head into Mommy and Daddy's bed before leaving the party.) When Brian laid eyes on the rocking horse this morning though - he saddled right up! With trick rider moves like he has, we expect to see him on the rodeo circuit very soon!

Since Brian is a HUGE fan of the PBS show called 'Super Why', he got a real kick out of this word reader. Wyatt (aka: Super W) uses one so he thought it was pretty cool. Brian really likes school! When Mommy said it was time to go he put his toys down and grabbed his backpack before racing for the door!

Party Time!

2009-08-30T20:10:00.005-05:00

After the boys woke up from their naps today we made the journey to Grandma and Grandpas house (aka: across the street) for a small family birthday party. Uncle Kevin, Aunt June, Krista, Erika, Uncle Colin, Aunt Karyn and Haley were all able to join us so it was a fun afternoon! When we were finished with our dinner, we came across the street and we had cake and ice cream in our own dining room before the boys opened their gifts.

It was a little chilly outside - but not cold enough to stop the kids from burning off some energy in the back yard! Brian also sends out Happy Birthday wishes to his South Dakota cousin Nolan who turned 7 years old today!!!!!!!

Backyard Fortress!

2009-08-29T19:58:00.004-05:00

Our new backyard is huge! We currently have two mulberry trees which Mommy and Daddy have mixed feeling about. They are great now - full and lush wish lots of room under the branches for two little boys to chase each other around in and play fort inside.

However, next spring when they blossom they will also be covered with berries. This is great if Mommy plans to do lots of canning and baking. This is not so great if we have little boys smashing berry juice into their clothes, as well as the floors, carpet and furniture. We hate the thought of cutting down trees just for the sake of cutting down trees. However, if they stop becoming beautiful foliage and become more of a nuisance, we may have to think about plan B.

Brian's 3rd Birthday!!!!!

2009-08-28T13:47:00.005-05:00

August birthday rush continues today as we celebrate Brian's 3rd birthday AND Grandpa H's birthday too!!!!! Today was a school day for Brian but after he had his breakfast, he still managed to have enough time to open up a couple presents!

After school, naps and some more play time, it was time for Brian's special birthday dinner. With two boys who both love trains, they were both thrilled that we went back to the same restaurant where we had Spencer's birthday dinner. Once again, the All Aboard Diner in Downers Grove was a huge success with the boys......and Mommy and Daddy had a good time too! While we were waiting a few minutes for there to be space available for us to sit at the counter, Brian looked at Mommy and said "Mommy, I'm ready for my birthday." After we convinced him that we were still going to celebrate his birthday, we were just waiting for a place to sit we decided to distract him with some other conversation. Daddy asked Brian what he was going to have for dinner. This seemed like a straightforward question and we anticipated hearing.....a hot dog, or a grilled cheese sandwich. Without any hesitation he responded "Vanilla". Vanilla being the choice of flavor birthday cupcake he would get after his meal. Once we were seated, the look on Brian's face as the train rounded the corner carrying his food was absolutely precious!

The only thing that could have made this moment more special would have been with the birthday Grandpa and the birthday Brian could have celebrated together! Maybe next year! Happy Birthday Brian and Grandpa......we love you both!!!

Happy Birthday Mommy!

2009-08-27T13:21:00.006-05:00

The boys are getting a lot of practice singing Happy Birthday! This morning they serenaded Mommy with a couple versions of the song and she loved every minute of it! After spending the day playing and just having a fun day together in general, we topped off the day by going out to dinner. The Old Country Buffet has become kind of our "child friendly" restaurant of choice and we go there fairly regularly. There happens to be another location of this restaurant chair pretty close to our new house so that was our destination tonight. Maybe it was because they knew it was Mommy's birthday, but mid way through our meal they brought out their "OC Bee". Spencer was curious about this big bee but he decided to just look at it from a distance. Brian wanted to meet the bee up close and personal!

No trip to the OCB is complete until we have enjoyed some of the yummy stuff from the ice cream/dessert bar! Happy Birthday Mommy - we love you!!!!!!!

The First Day Of School!!!!!!!!

2009-08-26T21:18:00.006-05:00

Brian has been going crazy with the anticipation of when he will get to go to school. His patience finally paid off when he found out that today was the day! One of the school supplies that he was required to have was a backpack. Oddly enough though, it had to be a full sized backpack, one that would be big enough to bring projects and stuff home in. Since he needed the backpack today and his birthday isn't until Friday, he got to open one of his birthday presents early. Can you guess what it was??? (Thank you Grandma and Grandpa!!) It is very funny watching him wear it on his back. Due to how big it is, he leans forward in order to keep from tipping over!

Daddy's work schedule worked out so that our whole family was able to see Brian off this morning. At 7:45am we climbed into the RSV (red sport vehicle) and made the short 10 minute drive to school. The preschool teachers aid, Mrs. S met us at the door. She showed Brian (and Spencer who was right at his side) where his "cubby" was so that he could put his backpack away.

Next Brian went across the room to say hello to his teacher Mrs. V and give her an apple. As you can tell, Mommy and Daddy are not opposed to his sucking up to the teacher! She was assisting her students in finding their name tag. Each name tag had a sticker with their name on it which they wore to help everyone out on the first day. There are 10 kids in Brian's class, 6 girls and 4 boys. As anticipated, Brian was thrilled to be at school and could have cared less that Mommy and Daddy were leaving him there. The only tears that were shed today were from Spencer. He had NO interest in leaving without his big brother.

Brian was happy to see Mommy and Spencer when they came to pick him up, but he was even more excited to know that he gets t0 go back to school on Friday!

Watch Me!!!

2009-08-25T21:13:00.002-05:00

Recently, Brian saw someone jumping rope. Several days later, out of the blue, he came up to Mommy with a length of cable cord saying :"Mommy watch.......I'm jumping rope!" We had to have a couple lessons on how to actually jump over the rope, but he caught on very quickly!

Professor Brian

2009-08-24T21:54:00.002-05:00

Mommy was putting a few things away in Brian's bedroom closet while the boys were playing. Brian started out reading a book and when Spencer came over to see what he was doing, Brian took it upon himself to help his little brother with his letters. The book he was reading had the alphabet in it and their conversation went something like this:

Brian: Spencer, what's this letter?

Spencer: D!

Brian: Yes! That's good Spencer......what's this letter?

Spencer: B!

Brian: No, that's an E but try again......what's this letter?

Spencer: F!

Brian: That's right Spencer.....good job!

Playroom

2009-08-23T21:42:00.004-05:00

Since the room that will end up being the playroom is currently serving as Spencer's temporary bedroom, we have come up with Playroom Plan B. There is an area by the kitchen that was probably a storage area or mud room for the previous owner. After a fresh coat of paint and a little elbow grease, it cleaned up nicely and makes for a great playroom! This is what it started out looking like.

And this is how it looks now. It's an "L" shaped room with windows on all of the exterior walls so it's bright and roomy. The boys are enjoying it and Mommy and Daddy are especially enjoying being able to keep about 90% of all the toys confined in one area instead of having them all over the living room floor!

Moving Day!

2009-08-22T21:26:00.003-05:00

The boys had a wonderful distraction to keep them busy while Mommy and Daddy were with the movers today. They spent the morning with Uncle Kevin, Aunt June, Krista and Erika attending an event in Villa Park called "Big Rigs and Kids". It's in conjunction with the park district and while they are showing parents what activities that are available for their kids, the kids are distracted with the "big rigs". All kinds of trucks are on display and the kids can climb up into them and poke around. Brian is still talking about the helicopter that he saw land on a grassy field by the park. By late afternoon Daddy had the stairway railing back in place and the boys beds put back together so we got ready to spend our first night in our new home. This is a picture of what Brian's room used to look like........

.......and this is what his room looked like when we moved in.

Happy Birthday Baby Brother!!!

2009-08-21T21:15:00.003-05:00

Brian's little brother Spencer turned 2 years old today! Brian seemed to understand this concept because he sang the Happy Birthday song to him at various times throughout the day. On the down side, we may have a little pyromaniac on our hands though because any time he can lay his hands on anything that in his mind, could be a match, he is "lighting candles." Sticks, yardsticks, pencils and in today's case, a little twig he found all work to light candles. With Brian in the house, Mommy keeps the matches on the top shelf and even there - they are hidden!

Order Up!!!

2009-08-20T21:53:00.003-05:00

Brian's day got off to an exciting start. He FINALLY got to go to school. All of the 3 yr old preschool kids had a short scheduled individual visit with the teacher and Brian's appt was this morning. The first person Brian saw when we walked into the room was Mrs. S (the teachers aid). He promptly went over and gave her a big hug. Between looking at all the great "stuff" all over the room, Brian was still able to squeeze in a nice visit with Mrs. V (the teacher) before out appt time was up. Next Wednesday will be his first day of school and right now, next Wednesday sounds like a LONG long time away!

When we got home, Brian decided to do a little cooking. Mommy was quietly sitting back watching him cook - trying not to giggle because he was hysterical! Each time he grabbed a piece of play food out of the container, he looked at it and announced "Nope, not that one." After he decided it was the wrong food, he just chucked it over his shoulder and grabbed the next piece out of the container. He was very intent on what he was doing and was all business as that food was flyin'!

Jaws

2009-08-19T21:47:00.003-05:00

This looks like a nice innocent face doesn't it???

If you answered yes, you would be wrong. This is the face of a little boy who has decided to start biting. He has also decided that his brother would be the best thing to bite on. We have heard that this is not an uncommon stage for kids to go through but that doesn't make it any less enjoyable - especially if you happen t0 be the little boy being bitten! Mommy had just taken a picture of Spencer's freshly bitten arm so Brian insisted that he have his arm photographed as well.

Chores

2009-08-18T21:43:00.002-05:00

You never realize how much stuff/crap/junk/etc you have until you go to move it! Lots of things have found their way into the garbage but even with that, packing up to move is still a nightmare! Brian has been more than happy to pitch in and lend a helping hand hauling out the garbage though!

I Can Do It Too!

2009-08-17T22:06:00.003-05:00

Apparently all this moving stuff has caused Mommy to completely loose her mind. Daddy had a meeting tonight so with jammies in place, books read, and prayers said, Mommy got both boys tucked snugly into their beds. Neither Brian or Spencer felt it was time to go to sleep yet - which made Mommy's post bedtime plans even more insane. She decided that the best thing to do after putting the boys to bed would be to pack up the hallway linen closet. Have we mentioned that the linen closet is located in the hallway right outside BOTH of their bedrooms?!?!?! Does it sound like a good idea to provide a show in a well lit hallway for two boys who don't want to go to sleep anyway???? Fortunately, within a few minutes Mommy regained some common sense and decided to postpone the hallway packing until they were asleep.

Thick as Thieves!

2009-08-16T20:50:00.002-05:00

Daddy and Mommy frequently comment to each other "Those boys are nothing if not polite!" Here's a common conversation between the two boys.

Spencer: (while handing Brian a toy) "B-ian (the "r" is still silent), here go....here go."

Brian: (accepting the toy) "Oh thank you Spencer!"

Spencer: "Wel-com B-ian."

The other day Mommy was changing Brian's diaper and Spencer, who was out in the living room started crying. Mommy called out "Whats wrong Spencer?" Brian looked up at her while patting her arm saying "He's okay Mommy, he's okay."

WE FOUND IT!!!!!

2009-08-15T22:08:00.004-05:00

This little foam alphabet toy is currently a favorite toy for both boy's. As is the case with most toys that have multiple pieces, like say........26 pieces......it's not uncommon for one or more of them to come up missing. The letter Q has been missing for months and in the process packing and relocating some boxes from storage today, Brian and Daddy found the Q! Which toy will be the next one to resurface?!?!?!

PS: Brian's eye is almost completely back to normal. We still have no idea what happened but are relieved that it went away.

What's This???

2009-08-14T21:55:00.002-05:00

First of all.........Brian (as well as Mommy, Daddy and Spencer) would like to send out a HUGE thank you to our wonderful friends Aunt Karen and her daughter Jamie for coming over to play with the boys so that Mommy could spend the day working at the new house yesterday.

As the boys were sitting down to have lunch today, all of the sudden Brian started rubbing his eye, almost instantly developed a stuffy nose and began sneezing. It was like he was having an allergic reaction to something but Mommy couldn't figure out what it could have been. He hadn't eaten anything different and he hadn't been exposed to anything out of the norm. He requested to take a nap right after lunch and when he woke up, his right eye was really puffy and red. After flushing his eye with water, we decided to get outside for some fresh air (and to pick up some children's Benadryl). His eye looked much better by late afternoon - which is when this picture was taken.