Life captured.

Fly me to the moon...

On Halloween, the boys dressed up as astronauts, and had quite a big night. Sean William wore Uncle Troy's old costume circa late 80s/early 90s (which I thought was adorable), and so I found a flight suit on ebay for Jack to complete the theme. Sean William thought he was SO cool wearing his uncle's hand-me-down! There were black NASA caps to go with the costumes as well, but neither seemed to be in the "hat mood" that night. The weather was absolutely perfect...clear, no wind and in the 60s, so no coats were needed! Yea!

 

 

We started trick-or-treating at Nonnee and Papa's house around 5, and Nonnee took the boys (and myself) around her neighborhood after that. (Shhh...don't tell anyone, but I think she was enjoying showing them off!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After that, we headed out to the HUGE Trunk or Treat party at our church, where we met Sean, who had just got off work. There were tons of decorated trunks that we "trunk or treated" from, as well as a hayride through the cornfields behind the church (which was, I believe, Sean William's favorite part), games, large inflatables, crafts, carnival-style food, free studio portraits, lots of music, etc. etc. I think it was all a bit overwhelming for Jack (as is true to his personality), but Sean William had a ball soaking up all of the action. I didn't get many photos of the event, because there were so many people that we were literally shoulder to shoulder in a sea of people most of the time, and there was no way I could even lift my camera up, much less stand far enough away to get a decent photo. (Thank goodness for Jack's Day-Glo orange flight suit; it insured that we wouldn't lose sight of the boys!)

And last but not least, we hit MeeMa's house around 8:45. After that, we headed home with two very happy, but tired boys!

Birthday, Part 1

July 6th marked Sean William's fourth birthday. As in keeping with the last few years, his birthday became a multi-week extravaganza. Being that his birthday falls in the middle of the summer in conjunction with the July 4th holiday, it's so darn easy (and fun) to stretch the festivities out. Also, because many of our family members and friends were going to be out of town for the holiday weekend, it made sense to schedule his party for the following weekend.

Perhaps I should have just let the party stand as the marker for his birthday, but I just couldn't let July 6th go by without any acknowledgment. It began with a homemade "special breakfast" and some gifts. First, Nonnee brought over an ingenious little toy called Marble Run. Sean William went insane over this, and for the next week he threw up quite a protest at naptimes and bedtimes because he didn't want to be torn away from it. At first he was just fascinated by watching the marbles go through the complex course, and then he began rebuilding it in various ways to make different results. Who knew such a simple toy could provide so many hours of fun?

 

Next, he opened the gifts from Sean and I; the "big gift" being his Razor Scooter. A few weeks ago we had gone to a picnic with some friends, and one of Sean William's friends had a scooter and graciously let him borrow it. Needless to say, he was fascinated. Jack likes to chase him while he's riding, as you can see.

We also got him a new Lego set that supplies you with pieces to build forklifts, steamrollers, etc. Sean William LOVES Legos, and was thrilled to have a new set that allowed him to build "cool stuff." (Well, Daddy actually built the "cool stuff" but after some practice, Sean William can now build his own "cool stuff...Sean William-style!")

After lunch and a nap (nap for him, that is -haha), I made him a special Mexican dinner, and a homemade cake.

Our big surprise for the evening was that we were taking him to a minor league baseball game. We usually get pretty good seats, but being a holiday weekend, we were even lucky to get the last few tickets for the lawn seating. Sean William didn't seem to mind though, and thoroughly enjoyed himself. He particularly loved the fireworks that went off intermittently throughout the game.

 

He was one tired (but happy) guy at the end of the night, and loves to tell everyone that he "turned four." Stay tuned for Part 2, where I will post the party photos from the following weekend!

What they did during their Summer Vacation

A few weeks ago, Sean and I attended an Open House at the school where Sean William will attend two days/week at PreK in the Fall. As we toured some of the PreK rooms, one couple who has a little girl that was enrolling in Sean William's class voiced some concerns that the program wouldn't be challenging enough for her. The mother mentioned that she had a full time nanny that is currently doing curriculum with her each day.

I had to chuckle under my breath as I thought about the stark contrast between the summer that my kids will be experiencing vs. this little girl's summer.

I can guarantee that there will be no "curriculum" on the agenda for my one year old and almost-four year old this summer, but I can guarantee there will be plenty of this on the schedule...

 

This summer it's all about picnics, parks, zoo trips, swimming, popsicles in the backyard, playdates, baseball games, bike rides, slippin' and slidin' and just hanging out and enjoying the sunshine. (And we're just getting started!)

Our Snugglebunny

Jack is definitely our little snugglebunny. His favorite place to be in the whole wide world is snuggled in Mommy or Daddy's arms (preferably Daddy's these days, as you can see), although he will also snuggle into Nonnee or MeMa's arms as well if neither Mommy or Daddy are available. He's even been known to try and hug Sean William at times, and that "sweet moment" lasts about 2 seconds before it quickly turns into a brotherly wrestling match. (Boys!)

It really is the sweetest thing though; he just melts into your embrace and gently squeezes with his little hands, and sometimes will even rub your back or your arms while he snuggles in. I figure that this phase will be over before we know it, so we are enjoying it while we can.

We can't get over how quickly he is growing up. I know it's so cliche to say that, but with Sean William, time didn't seem to go by nearly THIS quickly when he was this age. Perhaps it's because now that there's two of them, we're always occupied with one or the other, and therefore time seems to race by that much more quickly. At any rate, I find myself rushing to take as many photos of him as I can before he hops in the car and drives himself to his first college class!

Construction Zone Party

Sean William and Jack attended a birthday party last weekend, and the theme was "Construction Zone." The party was held inside a building at the fairgrounds and sand was brought in for the 20+ kids to play in. What more perfect way for 3 and 4 year olds to spend a rainy March afternoon than playing with trucks, construction equipment and tractors in the sand? They loved it! There was also a "Trike Track" for the kiddos to pedal their little legs off on tricycles. As much as Sean William loved the whole sand scene, I honestly think he could have ridden on the trike track all day. He loved the whole social scene and even a little bit of the competitive nature of the kids "racing" around the track. It was too cute.

Here are a few shots from the trike track:

Even Jack couldn't resist trying it out on a bike just his size (although he didn't get very far -- not to mention the pedals were strangely MIA!).

And of course anything related to sand is always a hit:

After playing for a while, it was time for cake and presents. That dump truck on the table is an actual 3-dimensional cake and the pylons are candles -- how cool is that?

Bring on the cake and ice cream!  

After the treats and gift opening, the kids broke open a pinata. I didn't grab my camera fast enough to get a shot of them opening it, but I did get a quick shot of them attacking the fallen goodies! Can you find Sean William in the pack?

After the party, Sean William mentioned what a good time he had on the tricycles, and how he thinks he's even ready for a "big boy bike" like cousin Isaiah. I have a feeling his wish will be granted for his birthday this summer!

T.G.I.M.

Thank God It's March! (And Thank God It's Monday, too-- being Sean's only day off this week!)

You know, I never minded the winter season much until I had kids. After the excitement of Christmas is over, it's all about combating the winter blahs, finding ways for cooped up preschoolers to expend some energy, and dogding the myriad of winter viruses floating around. We were happy to see March roll around -- not that March always promises the best of weather either, but it does mean that we're that much closer to April and May! We have had a few days of tolerable temps (in between bouts of ice and snow), and last week Sean William had a ball jumping in the puddles of melting ice.

Today is a nice semi-warm, sunshiney day, and I felt like bringing a little bit of spring inside and picked up some tulips at Wal-Mart.

I'm sorry I haven't been more faithful at updating my blog lately. The good news is that I've taken quite a few photos lately, so I'll try and get some of them posted soon.

Francis "Frank" Marion Boyd, 1913-2008

My Grandpa went to be with the Lord this morning, and to join my Grandma, who passed on last April. He would have been 95 this April. This photo was taken this past October on our back deck at a family gathering.

Grandpa was one of the most gentle and humble men you could ever meet; a soft-spoken man of dignity and kindness. He was a baseball player back in the day and a big White Sox and Cubs fan. He loved children, could do a mean See-A-Word (even in his nineties!), and had a well-known sweet tooth. He used to own and work a sizable farm, and loved working outdoors. At his former house in town, he had an entire finished basement filled with tools, gadgets and gizmos (and each one was well-organized, too!). He liked to work with wood, and among the family, many of us have mug holders and coat racks that he crafted himself. I remember him always being around and available when anyone needed help, and was always up for a project.

My mom and her brothers have oodles of fun memories of Grandpa from when they were growing up. No matter what the activity -- ice skating, softball, bike riding, frog-catching, basketball, camping, bowling, swimming or sledding -- he was always up for a good time with his kids and grandkids, and had a blast doing it. And let's not forget his love for Grandma. They were married 67 years, and were still best friends to the very end when Grandma passed last spring.

And this day they are together again.

Once

That's the number of times you need to see this movie. At least once. Or maybe even twice or three times.

It's one of those movies you'll either love or hate, but I really enjoyed it. It's about two musicians that meet and write a whole album of amazing music in a whirwind week, and the magic and chemistry that happens through that process. The music is truly amazing.

After I was finished watching the movie, I tried to figure out why I liked it so much. The plot was very, very simplistic and uncomplicated. It has a little bit of language in it (so definitely not for kids), but other than that, it's relatively clean. The actors were people you've never heard of and actually true musicians themselves acting in the roles. There was no glitz, nothing was blown up, no car chases, no perfect looking movie stars, no fancy camerawork, and no twisty, on the edge of your seat plot. And no "tie up all the loose ends with a big red bow in the last 15 minutes" type of endings. It was just a simple story with beautiful music that came across so realistic and charming, that it couldn't help but inspire you.

Give this movie a try just once.

P.S. Oh, and FYI -- the actors have heavy accents (especially the guy), so what I do in that instance is turn the subtitles on through my DVD player so I don't miss anything. This helps so you don't miss any of the words in the lyrics, too. (Actually, truth be told, I do this with every movie I watch at home because I don't want to turn it up too loud and wake up the kids, so I just keep it low, and scan the subtitles when I need a little assistance.) Just a tip!

2008: A New Chapter

Happy 2008! I don't know about you, but we stayed out way too late, and morning came way to early today. We had a fun time though, feasting on goodies and laughing the night away at a party with friends. I think my face actually hurts from laughing so hard. We rediscovered board games -- something we hadn't done in quite some time! We played a favorite of mine -- Taboo, and played a new one to Sean and I -- Catch Phrase.

And Garrett Popcorn, where have you been hiding all of my life? Actually, I've seen it mentioned on one of Oprah's Favorite Things shows years ago, but had never tried it. I do remember Oprah saying that people stand in line around the block (on a daily basis!) to get this stuff. OH. MY. GOODNESS. I was told that the cheese and carmel corn combined is a favorite, and I see why. I ate myself silly on the stuff. You have to eat a handful mixed with both flavors to get the full effect. Addictive.

Well, I'm not big on resolutions, but I do look at 2008 as a new chapter for us. I consider 2007 a bittersweet year of transition for our family: births and deaths, new homes and moving vans, and another year under our kids' belts as they mature and move into new phases of life. We no longer have a baby in the house (again, more bittersweet realization), and are not planning another pregnancy, so it's been a long time since we've felt "settled" in that sense. As Jack has dropped his morning nap, started eating "big boy" meals at the table with us, and has started walking (and a little bit of talking), it's made life a little easier in the sense that Sean William and he are on the same schedule and are beginning to enjoy some of the same things (versus maintaining two parallel universes for them). It opens up so many more opportunities for us. When the cousins get together, it's so cute to watch Jack discover that he's one of the boys now (one amongst four), and not just the baby sitting and watching from mama's lap anymore. He's ready to "run with the big dogs" so to speak.

A year has also made a huge impact on Sean William's maturity as well, as we can have real live conversations now (beyond THIS! IS! A! CAT! type of conversations) and he can tell us what he's thinking and feeling to a certain degree (and oh does he tell us!). We can reason with him a little bit more now and although he's still a bundle of energy, I see a little bit of settling in him. A maturity. A method to his madness. It's also been startling to us as parents to realize that it's already time for the second leg of the parenting journey with him. It's not just about feeding him and getting him down for naps and taking him to playgroup. It's about developing his character and letting him ask questions and explore his faith and teaching him to make good choices and modeling our lives for him to be influenced by. Raising a person. Wow. Amazing and scary and exciting and overwhelming all at once.

It's also amazing to witness a relationship developing between the two boys as brothers, not just a big boy-to-baby dynamic. All of these transitions have brought us to this point, and I see 2008 as holding the potential as a year of an amazing amount of fun.

The Big Morning

Sean's brothers had to leave us on Christmas morning, but Grandma Sue got to be there to watch the boys open their gifts. Sean William's big gift was a train table that came complete with trains, tracks, and an entire wooden town. It also has a couple of storage bins underneath. We got it for a steal at one of the most unexpected places -- Aldi's! Needless to say, Sean William was elated, and it was so much fun watching him enjoy it. It felt a little like Ralphie and his coveted Red Ryder BB Gun situation from A Christmas Story on Christmas morning.

We only got Jack a few gifts, and as I suspected, he was happy as a clam with his few treasures, and toddling around and watching the action!

We fed the boys a quick breakfast to tide them over, and then got ready to head over to Deanna and Henry's for a late morning brunch. Both boys were being silly and sweet, and I got a few cute shots:

At Deanna and Henry's house, we had a wonderful Christmas brunch and the kids opened the gifts from our family to theirs and vice versa (oh yes, MORE gifts!). The "grandmas" graciously babsat for a few hours while the four of us snuck out and caught an afternoon movie. That night we helped ourselves to leftovers and headed home with two very tired boys. I have lots of fun photos from Christmas afternoon/evening, but I have run out of time to sort through them all. Will share later!

Grandma Sue was in town for a few more days before heading home, and the kids really enjoyed having her to themselves for a few days.

Christmas went by in a whirlwind of delicious comfort food, shreds of discarded wrapping paper, stacks of beloved toys and treasures, smiles, laughter, chaos, mounds of decadent chocolate of every variety, kids about to burst with excitement, craziness, hugs and a lot of merriment. But in the blur of all of the Christmas tradition hoopla, we couldn't forget the Reason for the Season. Throughout the week, my little Sean William kept it in the front of our minds as he shouted the reminder, "It's Jesus' birthday!"