The Holiday Season

Tree trimming...

Lots and lots and LOTS of snow!

Cookie decorating.

Both boys did a GREAT job decorating their own plate of cookies.  And by "their own," I mean eat at your own risk because there is A LOT of saliva mixed in with that frosting!!

I admit, I helped Miles spread the frosting just a little.  But he did the rest by himself. I think he is the most artistic one in the family (including Ben and me!)

And MORE snow!

Preschool Christmas program.  Jonas is the one just to the right of that man's partially balding head - in the brown sweater!  It was really cute!

A few gifts Christmas Eve - Miles got ROLLER SKATES!  The look on his face said it all!

Boys ready to get tucked "all snug in their beds"...and Mom and Dad are ready for Santa to come!

Whew! October...

Because who wouldn't rather be eating cupcakes in their underwear?

Lots of partying with the cousins during our visit!!  We celebrated 2 birthdays, visited the Arboretum, a pumpkin patch, the "train restaurant," and caused lots of chaos in Aunt Katie's house...all in 4 days!!

Double Trouble.

No, seriously....Double Trouble.

This picture SO just wasn't going to happen.  But thanks for coming along, Grandma!

Miles basically taunted Grandma from up on the ropes until she joined him!

So excited to be climbing with Grandma!

Pony ride at the Pumpkin Patch.

Wagon ride at the Pumpkin Patch.

"Oh, hello, Auntie Robyn.  Did you come on this wagon ride, too?"

FYI:  pumpkins seem to be a bit more pricey in the suburbs of Chicago.  Or, maybe, it had to do with the fact that Jonas picked out the hugest one in site...

Aye, mateys!  It was a rowdy crew at the ECFE Halloween party this year!!

Although it looks like the boys are carving pumpkins here, I think I was lucky in capturing on film the 30 seconds that they actually participated.  Jonas would NOT touch the pumpkin innards.  And, of course, what older brother will not do, younger brother will not do, either.  And then Daddy came home with a dead pheasant...apparently, doing whatever one does to a dead pheasant in the garage was WAY more interesting than carving pumpkins with Mom.

FINALLY!  The long awaited Trick-or-Treating on Halloween!  Hopefully, it was everything Miles had imagined - he has been talking about it for about a month and a half.  Most funny moment - when a sweet woman probably well into her 80's asked Miles if he was Roy Rogers! 

My Two Little Firemen...and Buying Groceries for Growing Boys

ECFE field trip to the fire station last week.  Miles was BEYOND EXCITED, and wanted to bring his own fire hat from home.  He was glowing the entire time!

Jonas had fun, too, even though initially he was reluctant to come along. He thought he was just a little too cool, since the fire truck had already gone to "his" school the day prior. 

This made me feel hopeful - Miles actually CAN pay attention to something for longer than 10 seconds.  He stood perfectly still and quiet for a full 5 minutes while the fireman showed the kids his gear and trucks!

I just also want to document, in case I ever look back on these blogs when the boys are older, how much 4-year-old Jonas ate for supper tonight.  He ate 9 meatballs (yep, that's not a typo), 2 slices of bread toasted with butter and garlic, a side of corn, and 3/4 of a Honeycrisp apple.  And about 20 minutes later he wanted to know when snacktime would be.  Geez!  What will it be like when he's 14??

FIrst Day of Preschool!!

Jonas was VERY excited for his first day of preschool today!  He will be going 3 afternoons a week.  He was up 3 times last night and as soon as he heard Ben's alarm go off this morning, he was out of bed and wanted to get dressed right away!  I guess they learned about dinosaurs, sang songs, and had a snack.  I suspect they did more, but this is what he reported.  He can clearly tell me both of his teachers' names, but he claims he did not learn any of the other kids' names.  Oh, well, it is a start!

These "first day of school" pictures aren't very good for a few reasons:

1.  It was dark, overcast, with 30 mph winds here this AM so we had to take them inside.

2.  Jonas chose to wear all black, which I don't think is the most flattering on him (although it is probably a step up from the black and navy combo that I overhead Ben talking him out of earlier!)

3.  Miles kept walking/hopping/sneaking/gliding around in front of the camera.

4.  Jonas was so excited, he just simply would NOT stand still!!

But, clearly, the pictures show how happy and excited he was!

 

Summer Vacation, Part 2 - Ithaca

The second part of our summer vacation had us back home from Kentucky for about 15 hours, then up to drop off the boys with Grandma and Grandpa M. before flying off to Ithaca to FINALLY visit James!

And what a great host we had!!  On Day ONE we were already at Niagara Falls.  We saw the Falls from the Canadian side, the U.S. side, and from a boat in the water, and it is really amazing from ALL angles.  Maybe just a little DAMP though, at times!

Ithaca and surrounding area is beautiful!  Gorges to hike and breathtaking waterfalls...luckily we had some perfect weather to take in all the outdoor activities.

When driving between the gorges and parks, one MUST stop at all of the wineries!!

We also toured the Ithaca College campus, ate out (with no kids to keep track of!), went kayaking, and enjoyed our time catching up with James!

Kentucky Road Trip

August found us road-tripping to Kentucky (yep, 13 hours!) to visit family.  Miles had never met many of his great-aunts, uncles, 2nd cousins, and great-grandpa and great-grandma.  It was pretty remarkable to see Miles amongst the Kentucky relatives - everywhere we went, people commented how much he looks like Ben and that side of the family!  He really does!!

Miles LOVED "driving" the Gator at Uncle Toby's farm.

Feeding the cows!  Another highlight, which I didn't catch on film, was seeing peacocks and collecting feathers.

Jonas the Fish

Ready to go at the pool on a nice sunny day!  Perfect for swimming lessons!

Practicing the front float.  He's really gotten good at putting his face in the water!

Practicing the Front Crawl.  Honestly, this picture gives him a bit more credit than he deserves.  I happened to catch him getting one arm out of the water - probably the ONLY arm that made it out of the water on this try.  He just doesn't quite have the coordination yet - but at least he's willing to give it a try! :)

Back float - He's gotten really good at that one!

Waiting his turn to practice holding his breath.  Notice how much shorter he is than everyone else...I think he is the only 4 year-old, and I think he gets tired out from standing on his tip-toes the whole time.  But I just couldn't bear to put him in Level 1 again in the knee-deep water and watch him wade back and forth for 30 minutes every day!  I was nervous at first, but as you can see, he's doing a great job!

CAMPING!!

Our recent adventures have included camping at a Wisconsin state park with the cousins!! 

We even brought Dixie along for the weekend. - she especially enjoyed the canoe ride, which we do not have pictures of (I really was convinced we would surely tip the canoe and lose all our possessions.)

Even though we had thunderstorms at night, we stayed nice and dry and had beautiful sunny days to enjoy hiking, swimming in the lake, and enjoying the campfire with Alex, Katie, Abbie, Izzie, and Emelia.

 Lovin' the s'mores!

The whole crew around the campfire!