These Are the Days of Our Lives.....

......and I hope my children will remember them, because I always will.

Today, we ventured out to The Henry Ford Estates. I hadn't planned on it, but it was turning out to be great weather and I was sick of going to the park. Julian had been learning about the signs of fall, so I figured why not. We ended up spending 2 hours walking all over the grounds (and didn't cover that much ground either). We stopped to look at the waterfall (our favorite). We found leaves, needles, bark, moss, fungus, sticks, flowers, logs, roots, geese, ducks, squirrels, eggs that were laid on a leaf, a pond, a river, a swamp, acorns, and (I'm sure you get the idea now).

Liam and Julian in front of the waterfall.

It was great fun exploring the grounds through the eyes of my children. It was great to see them feel free and adventuresome. Their curiosity piqued at each new sighting or change in direction of the path.

Taking a little snack break beside the pond.

I plan on taking them back many times over the year so that we can see how things change through the seasons. I really think that the more they see it and explore it, the more they will come to understand about nature. It's great to see the world outside of a book!

Kelly

P.S. Sorry for the crappy cell phone pics. Forgot the camera!

It's Back to School Time!

Mark is back to work and I'm not! I can't remember the last time I felt this happy. The only way I can describe it is bliss! I LOVE being home with the boys. Last week we watched a few of our friends' kids. The boys had someone new to play with every day. We also joined a Homeschool Group. We meet once a week at a school for gym time (run by a gym teacher) and outside play time. Then the kids meet inside for snack, crafts, and play time. They plan field trips and other activities too. We all had a great time meeting new friends! We also had fun going to the library yesterday and found out that they are having a Play dough contest! Ohhhh....the possibilities! Today we went to the Home Depot for the kid's workshop. Julian completed his third project today, a race car, and Liam made a football holder.

Julian and I started easing into his "school" routine this week. Last week we only did seat work (math and reading) for about 10 mins. a day. Then he would spend about 5-10 mins. doing some independent work (coloring and such). This week I'm going to try and double it by having him do work in the morning and afternoon.

I also picked up a (very) part-time gig! I'm TJing (Trivia Jockey) a Live Trivia show at Key West in Taylor on Sundays at 6pm! Last week was my first week, and although hardly anyone showed up, I managed to get 3 teams and we all had a good time. I love doing the trivia shows because I get out of the house for a little bit, get to have a lot of fun, and make money all at the same time! Lucky me!

To be continued.....

First "Real" Vacation

Well, we've been up north and such as a family, however, we just got back from our first real family vacation. I actually started planning this about 4 years ago when I first heard about Sesame Place in Langhorne, PA (outside of Philadelphia). It's like Disney only a theme park with Sesame characters and the entire park is made for little kids! I figured this would be the perfect year to go since the boys are 2 and 4.

The drive was 10 hours long (which I wasn't looking forward to) and I figured that if we're going to drive that far, we're going to stay for awhile. I found a steal at a hotel outside the city in New Jersey. We had 5 full days to enjoy the city. The first two days we were at Sesame Place. To sum it up, Mark said it perfectly, "The first day at Sesame Place with the kids made my whole year." The kids enjoyed every minute of it, especially meeting Elmo for the first time. Even I was excited to meet all the characters.



After we had out fun at Sesame Place we spent 3 days doing "kid stuff" in the city. I wouldn't have thought that Philadelphia would be a good place for kids, but I was wrong! We spent one day playing at the Adventure Aquarium. We pet sharks, sting rays, and starfish. We even walked through a tunnel with sharks swimming over us. The next day we spent 4 hours (yes, count them, 1, 2, 3, 4 hours) at the Please Touch Museum. This museum was so much fun! We played in a life sized car garage, city (complete with hospital, construction site, and grocery store), water room, music room, and everyone's favorite Alice in Wonderland. Our last day didn't disappoint either. We toured quickly through the Franklin Institute (which is a child's hands-on museum teaching them about all of Ben Franklin's inventions). Julian's favorite was the planterium show and Mark liked the Sky Bike. We left there and toured the city on top of a double-decker bus. The first for all the boys!




We had tons of fun, and made great memories!

Liam's Two!

Dearest Liam,

Happy 2nd Birthday Bubba! I am so proud to be your mommy. We have been through some rough times in your short life, but I am so grateful to God that he saw us through that journey of your life and you are now a happy, healthy, amazing little boy.

This past year you have learned to walk and talk. And with each day you're melting our hearts with your abundant love for life. Daddy and I can see how much you love to run, sing, dance, and be as active as you can. And you have a talent for sports already. You're constantly hitting balls and saying, "shoot" ! You love to snuggle with us at night and always want to have a book read to you. Our favorite moments are when you wake up from a nap and want to lay in our arms as we're reclined in the brown chair. You love to watch the Golf channel with your Dad then. Sometimes you even get mad if it's not on!

People can't get past your adorable big eyes and smile. You are such a flirt too! Too bad for the other lady's out there, 'cause you are mine!

Liam, I can't tell you enough how much I love you and how happy you make me! You make everyone in our family so happy. I look forward to many years to come, but with sadness we say good-bye to your baby years! But don't forget, I will love you forever, I'll like you for always. As long as I'm living, my baby you'll be.

Forever and Always,
Mommy

Family Movie Night

This summer we've started the family movie night tradition. Liam's finally getting to an age where he'll sit (sometimes only for a bit) and watch the movie. Most of the movies I've been getting are older ones that I can pick up from the library, but the kids love them just the same.

I remember movie night as a kid. We would spend some time on Fri. night after dinner going to Blockbuster and each picking out a movie. Then we would get home and watch something together. What is it about watching a movie together that seems so bonding??

Our movie nights start out by ordering a pizza, followed by eating popcorn and watching a movie on a big blanket spread out on the living room floor with lots of pillows. This last week, however, getting a movie from the library backfired on me. I wanted the kids to see Aladdin, but the DVD was so scratched up that we couldn't even make it to the menu. Well, Uncle Stephen rescued the night with his netflix account. We were able to watch Cloudy with A Chance of Meatballs on my laptop. We ended up moving movie night that night to our bed so we could all see the tiny screen.

I think just having us all together, doing the same thing, snuggling, and happy is what I love about movie night.

Why is Summer so Short???

Why does summer vacation seem so long in my head, but in reality is always so short???
Lately, we've been hanging out more at home. Mark's been working summer school in the morning. I've been hanging with the boys then and teaching them the beautiful art form of sleeping in. This week they've slept until 9-9:30am. I never thought I would ever see this stage of my life reappear again! The kids and I slowly get up, eat breakfast, and get ready. We clean up and do some chores and then head out for the day. I find that since the boys have been able to wake up when they are ready, they are happier and more relaxed. It's so nice to not have to hurry up and rush out the door.
Julian is no longer taking naps so now Liam's nap time is reserved for him and mommy to do some "work". We've basically been doing reading, writing and word work. I'm so impressed with how quickly he learns and how he remembers EVERYTHING! He likes to learn and is so eager to work with mommy. Thanks to the new pool, Julian has found a new love. We're in it daily and Julian will now swim completely under water. I never signed him up for swimming lessons this year, but he really is becoming a self-taught swimmer.
Liam is growing up so quickly too. This week he transitioned into his "big boy bed". He's been doing great! He's been talking up a storm too. I can't believe that he'll be 2 in 2 weeks!
As for me, I'm getting the last odds and ends together for the 3-day walk. Making sure I have all the right "tools" for the walk. I'm really excited, but so nervous too! I just hope the weather is nice!!! Pray for me !!!!!
Next weekend is homecoming, the weekend after that is the walk and Liam's b-day and then as soon as that is over we are going to PA to go to Sesame Place and Hershey (which I have yet to book). I think we'll see the beach of Lake Huron once more too.
I love summer, but it really is too short!

Goodbye Babies!

((((SIGH))))
Over four years ago, before Julian was born, Mark spent so much time putting together this beautiful nursery.

Julian spent two years in there and then Liam. Next month Liam will turn two. Our convertable crib finally came apart today and is now a bed. It seems too weird to not have crib in our house. Soon we will have two "big boy" rooms in our house. ((((SIGH))) Where does the time go??





And this is how I'll always remember this special room:




**I'll post pics soon of the new rooms soon!**