Holiday Highlights

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Enjoy a few of our highlights from Christmas 2008.

Matt and his "boo"

Matt (A.K.A. Linus) doesn't go anywhere without his beloved blankie or as he refers to it as his "boo".

3 going on 23

As you can see in these photos Drew wants to be all grown-up, so on this Sunday morning, he took up shaving, just like Dad.

To Drew, From Santa

The magic of the season at work as Drew open's one of his gifts from Santa.

Bowling!?!

Over the Thanksgiving Holiday, we decided to venture out and do a little bowling. This was Drew's first time, he quickly got the hang of it and did have some success thanks to the support of the bumpers.

This is what happens

when you leave a 3 year old unattended . . . he decides he wants to paint, if you look closely, you'll see that he not only painted the paper, but also spread his masterpiece to the table and his face.

Spooky!

Here are a few pics from Halloween (hey better late than never). You may not be able to see it in the photo, but Craig carved the boys' names in the pumpkins in place of the mouth. And the boys in their costumers (Drew is Mr. Incredible, Matt is a Lion - they are with their cousin Maddie who was a witch).

Fine Dining

I've recently noticed that when we are at a restaurant, Drew sits down in his chair, opens up his menu and will always say "I'll start with". He never finishes the statement, but everytime it cracks me up. It is obvious that we only eat at fine establishments like Perkins, Applebee's or any of our favorite Pizza places.

Casual Day At Work

A few months ago, we were getting ready to get out the door, like any other typical morning. I slipped on a pair of shoes took the first set of stuff to the car, came back in got the boys into the car and took off to drop them off at day care and head into work. When I got about half way to work, I realized that I never changed my shoes, I was still wearing my crocs, a little more casual than I had originally planned, but boy was I glad I wasn't wearing my slippers. Gotta love the constant rush of balancing work and parenting. : )

Drew's Jingles

To say Drew loves singing is probably an understatement. A day doesn't go by without him singing a song that he's recently learned or just making up a song. Here are a few of his favorites that we hear on a very regular basis. He often hits some pretty high notes, but I'm sure that won't last forever. Take a listen.

Eating Machine!

Matt is officially a bottomless pit! Tonight for dinner he ate the following:
1 serving of peas
2 servings of pasta
6 french fries
1 chicken nugget
1 cup of water
1/2 of a banana
5 crackers
2 spoons of pudding
2 slices of apple
And he was still hungry!

I think I'll be looking for a part-time job at the grocery store to help cover my future grocery bills!

Hayride

Chore Time.

During our recent visit to my parents farm the boys were helping "feed" the cows.

No Smoking.

This past weekend we were back in my home town for my class reunion. On Friday night we attended the family picnic. That evening while getting ready for bed, I was asking Drew if he had fun. He answered yes and then asked "Why did people have candles in their mouths?" I then realized Drew had no idea what cigarettes were.

Future Champ!

Based on how fast Matt currently eats, I think we'll be entering him in the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest the summer of 2013.

First Day of School!

Hard to believe that Drew has started pre-school. Today was his first day. I think he enjoyed his first day, he had a few tears when I had to leave, but he was pretty excited to fill me in on everything he did during school. However he was pretty disappointed when he realized I was picking him up, not the bus.

Are You Ready For Some Football?!?

As many of you know Craig and I have our differences on which footbal team is better. So on this season opener between the Packers and Vikings we dressed the in our favorite team colors. Truth be told, Drew ended up also wearing his purple jersey seeing Matt was. But was we all know the green team won on Monday night!

Drew's New Look

As you may have heard Drew is now wearing glasses. We noticed this spring that Drew's right eye would sometimes cross. So after a few visits to the eye Dr. they suggested we get him some corrective lenses to see if we can fix this issue. Here is the first photo of Drew sporting his glasses. Keep your fingers crossed that we'll keep them in one piece.

These Feet Were Made For Walking

and that's just what they'll do. Matt has been officially walking now for the past week. The problem we now face is trying to get him to stop. Check out the video for proof.

Hours of Entertainment

Somehow this game on our car ride home didn't get old for any of us!

What a difference a year makes.

The first photo was taken last spring just a month before Matt was born and the other was taken this past weekend.

Tradition.

I'm not sure why, but there is something traditional about having farm kid's photos taken in the wheel well of tractor tires. I know there are several of me in this very same position. Uncle John was kind enough to also pose in the photo as well. I'll have to find my old photo and scan it in.

What we learned on our trip to the farm.

Drew learned to "drive the blue tractor with Uncle John" and Matt started to learn what a cow says.

Still Crazy Crawling.

Matt is still doing this crazy version of crawling. It is starting to take a toll on the sides of his poor little legs.

Fast Forward 13 Years

Drew was a very good host during our party this past weekend, he made sure he gave rides in his jeep to all his friends. Notice how they are all girls.

Water Balloon Fun

This past weekend we celebrated my favorite holiday with a party at our house. As part of the entertainment the kids filled water balloons. Drew loved watching the balloons pop as you can see from the photo below.

Daddy's Little Helper

When Craig is outside working in the yard, Drew wants to be his shadow. Here Drew is "helping" Craig mow the lawn.

Drew Jr.

Matt has reached the stage where he wants to do everything that Drew does. For example coloring. He things he is big stuff. As an added bonus check out his shirt in this photo, it is priceless.

It ain't good, if it ain't messy!

Proof that Matt is a very good eater, he will eat almost anything you put in front of him. His favorites are anything in the red food group (i.e. watermelon, pasta, strawberries and jello).

All Aboard, The Birthday Express!

This weekend we celebrated both boy's birthdays, Matt's 1st (June 13) and Drew's 3rd (June 17). Given Drew's love for trains we themed the party appropriately.




























They each got their own cake and as you can see, however, Matt was a victim of a bad accident with red frosting. Needless to say he required a bath before bed last night.

They of course both got several wonderful presents. Matt's favorite is this car, the excitement he gets when he is riding in it, is priceless, we are glad he is enjoying seeing it is probably the only car we'll every buy him. Do you think he will see be that excited about it when he is 16?

Drew's First Pet

For Drew's birthday the neighbor boys were kind enough to give Drew his first pets, Goldfish. He has named them Nemo and Marlin (Nemo's dad in the movie). Drew absolutely loves them, he keeps going up to their tank and saying "I think they are smiling at me!". Let's hope we can keep them alive long enough till the novelty wears off.

Drew - Age 2 in Review

Matt 1 year

What we won’t do to get Drew to sleep.

As may know, Drew doesn’t sleep well, you may also know that Drew is really into trains. He sees trains in any object, it could be a line of pencils or crackers, recently he has started to line up the laundry baskets and push them around (or be pushed around) as a train. So one night when we were struggling to get Drew to sleep, we gave up fighting with him and let him sleep in his “train”. As you can see the trick worked for Drew as well as Craig.

Kid Free Weekend

My cousin Erin got married in Pittsburg over Memorial Day weekend, so we left the boys at Grandma’s and enjoyed a weekend to ourselves. It was a wonderful weekend and the wedding was beautiful. It was great to see some of my extended family.
















While we were there we even took in a baseball game on Friday night.

Then on Saturday morning we did a sightseeing riverboat tour of the city.

As well as went up the incline to see the city from atop of Mount Washington.

My favorite memory of the weekend is my dad dancing at the wedding, it reminded me of our wedding when my dad kicked up his heels.

Twins?!?

I’ve been in denial that Drew and Matt look identical until I compared these two photos. Drew is in the green and Matt is in the blue.

Vroom, Zoom, Beep

As part of the year end activity for the ECFE (Early Childhood & Family Education), AKA “School”. The advisory board organizes a vehicle fair, which is right up Drew’s alley. They bring all the cool vehicles from school buses, to fire trucks and motorcycles to snow plows and everything in between. Needless to say Drew was in heaven “driving” all of them.

Tea, I mean Pizza Party

Craig and Drew having a pizza party during Drew’s last day of “school” this year.

Bike Radio

About a month ago, we took to an event sponsored by the Lakeville PD to promote bike safety. However Drew didn’t understand the word Rodeo so he kept calling it the Bike Radio, which we then found ourselves calling it that. As you can see Drew loves his bike.

Cheap Entertainment.

This past weekend, Drew, Craig and Cousin Maddie were playing the Hungry, Hungry Hippos Game. Matt was very interested in what was going on. His facial expressions and sounds he was making were every entertaining so I had to post this for everyone to see. Hope you find it as funny as I did.

Drew's new friend - Chester.

The boys and I recently took a road trip to visit my parents. Drew loves to visit the farm to see the cows and tractors, but his favorite was a very friendly cat named Chester. Drew enjoyed feeding and playing with Chester, in fact he even tried to get the cat to climb in the car to join us for church on Sunday morning. As you can see from the photo, Matt however is not a cat person.

Starting to Bust-a-Move

Not really sure what you call this method of movement, but it sure is interesting to watch Matt get around. Check it out.

More Potty Talk

Last night, Drew went potty for the first time on his potty chair, when he was done with his business he then had to check out his results only then to be surprised that "my pee is yellow!". He then proceeded to make sure everyone in the house saw it too.

Write that one down.

We are in the very early stages of potty training if you can even call it that. Last night Drew said he had to go to the bathroom, so we get in there, take off his pants and diaper and sit and wait. Drew sat there for a few minutes waiting to go, after no results, he announced, "It must be empty". The kid says the funniest things!

Beep Beep

These carts are a lifesaver when it comes to grocery shopping, however don't be fooled, Drew didn't stay in the cart the entire time, but it does help.

All Aboard!

For some reason every young boy loves trains, Drew can't get enough of trains lately. In fact the other night he created his own in the kitchen.

The Parachute!

The parachute has got to be every kid (and parent's) favorite activity at school. Drew gets SO excited when Miss Julie brings it out. Everyone has a good time shaking the parachute to keep the pom poms in the air. The squeals in the video are proof of how much fun everyone was having.

Slippery Fish

At school today, Drew got to play with minnows. Check out the video.

Matt Eating Again.

This kid does not miss a meal, here are a few photos of Matt enjoying some crackers.

Bath time fun

This video of the boys had to be shared. Enjoy.