It's Been a While!

Well It has been a while since we have posted anything! One of my goals this week is to get caught up in my blogging. It has been killing me because I know if I do not write this stuff down I will soon forget about it all. Sorry for such a long series of posts, but here it goes!

Early in September, Thomas started preschool. We found a great little preschool here that is actually run by MSU. His class only has 10 kids and there are 2 teachers plus at least 2 other student teachers in his room. The program is structured and designed really well. Thomas absolutely loves his teachers and loves going to school. He did really well his first day of school. I walked him in and helped him get acclimated and then he was ready for me to go. When I picked him up the 2nd day of school, I asked him how his day was. He said, "It was really good until you came and picked me up." Ok, so those are not the words a mother wants to hear, but I am happy that he has such a good time at school.

Here he is on the first day of school.

I had a really hard time getting him to stay still to take a pic in front of his classroom. I wonder why!

Finding his name and picture on his cubby.

This Summer, Thomas and Carter had tons of fun playing at the playgrounds and parks around the area. One of the things I love the most about East Lansing is that there are tons of beautiful parks, bike paths, and playgrounds. Thomas got really good at riding his bike this Summer. Watching Thomas ride his bike, made Carter really want to learn to ride a bike too. Next Summer will be even more fun with the two of them riding together.

Let the Fun Begin!

Well we made it! We are officially Michiganders. Getting settled in our new house has taken longer than I could have possibly imagined, but it is slowly coming along. My 2 very active little boys keep me jumping all day. So far we love Michigan. Since it has been a while since I have posted anything, I thought I would try to catch you up on what we have been up to this Summer.

The first week we were here, we went blueberry picking. I seriously did not think that my kids would last long, but they loved it. Thomas kept saying, "my new town has blueberries... I like my new town." Carter loved it too because he got to sit there and eat endless amounts of blueberries (his favorite thing to eat).

Carter also turned 1. We had a great day with him at Lake Lansing. Thomas played in the water with Ryan and Carter and I relaxed on the beach and watched. It was so nice to just chill out and enjoy spending time together.

We also added a new member to our family, Max Nemo. Thomas got to pick out a goldfish to put in his room. Thomas really loves his fish, but I think Carter may love Max Nemo even more. Carter always begs to see the fish and says "ish, ish, ish".

This summer we kept very busy exploring the beautiful lakes and parks around the area. We spent a week in Northern Michigan with Ryan's family hiking sand dunes and splashing in the lakes.

Last week the "real fun" began when Ryan started grad school. It has been non stop work for him, but he has enjoyed the challenge. Being in school does bring some definite benefits for him... college football. We had fun this past weekend attending the MBA tailgate and MSU football game.

I was so lucky that my Mom flew out to visit me for my birthday. The kids loved spending time with her and we are now very sad that she is gone. We had a great weekend though.

Both Carter and Thomas had so much fun with Grandma. One day, they had so much fun playing "water grandma". Thomas had been playing basketball and was very thirsty, so he asked Grandma for some water. When Carter saw Grandma give some water to Thomas, he immediately wanted some too. So it became a game. Grandma went back and forth giving them water and they just cracked up.

Carter's First Haircut

Well, Ryan finally convinced me that it was time that we took Carter to get his hair cut. I admit that it was getting a little too long, but the loose curls were so cute to me. we took him to a place called Snip Its, which is really great for kids. He sat still the whole time!

The Before Picture.

My Sweet Boys

Well this past month has been very interesting. Ryan asked me out of the blue at dinner one night what we would do for warmth if we lost power. I suggested that maybe we should buy some sort of propane indoor heater. So the plan was that I would stop on my way home from YW to see if Lowe's had such a thing. Well, I started thinking about it and decided that was silly to buy. We are moving in the Fall and I really did not want to add to what we needed to move. I also thought to myself, well if for some strange reason we lost power we could just go rent a hotel room. Well, Ryan must have been inspired... and then of course I did not act on that prompting... and a few days later the biggest snow storm hit knocking out our power for 3 1/2 days. Note to self: When over 100,000 people are without power, usually hotel rooms are booked solid. Luckily, my good friend's mother was suppose to come into town that weekend and had reservations that she had paid in full for. She obviously was not going to make it and so we were able to use the reservation for 2 of the nights. By the 3rd night many people in our ward had their power restored, and so we were able to stay with a family for the third night. It was an adventure, but we are very grateful that we were able to stay warm. I think I will have a totally different perspective on emergency preparedness now. I think a small generator or a heater will be something we will have to add in the future.

Well, Carter has started crawling and loves playing with Thomas and all of his toys. Thomas has been really good with Carter trying to grab all of his toys. Carter is also pulling himself up on all of the furniture and trying to walk along it. He is a very happy baby... when he gets what he wants.. ha..ha. He is a very determined little boy (wonder where he gets that??) So here are a few pictures to sum up our month.

These pictures were taken after the first night of snow. I think we got around 30 inches total.

Ryan's birthday.. some how I did not get the cake in the picture.

My Sweet Boy Turned 3!

Wow! I can't believe my sweet boy is 3. In some ways it seems like I have had him my whole life, but in other ways it seems like we just brought him home from the hospital yesterday! Well, he had quite the birthday this year. On Thursday, Thomas woke up to find a giant 30 " Lightening McQueen balloon and a huge Disney Cars poster on the wall. He was so excited. He has been talking about having a McQueen birthday for weeks. I think we could have ended the day there and he would have still been the happiest boy ever. In the morning we went to his playgroup. We brought a tower of mini blueberry muffins with candles on top. All of his friends sung happy birthday to him and had fruit and muffins. For dinner we had spaghetti, as Thomas requested. Daisy and Sonoma brought over some teddy bear bread to have with dinner. It was so cute! It really made dinner a little more special. He had fun eating the bread and saying, "don't eat me!" Then of course we had a Lightening McQueen cake and ice cream. Thomas insisted on eating the tire, which made his mouth all black. Ryan and I laughed because it reminded us of his first birthday. Thomas had an Elmo cake and without thinking, we gave him a piece of Elmo's mouth, which was black. In the pictures, he was covered in black icing. After cake and ice cream, Thomas finally opened his presents. He loved everything he got!

Birthday Day #2... We decided that since we are moving in the Fall, that we would have a birthday party with some of his good friends here this year. And of course, it was a Lightening McQueen party! He had 4 friends over (3 girls - Charly, Maddie, and Sonoma... and 1 boy - Johnnie) They painted and put stickers on their own race car at Ramone's Custom Body Art; played pin the wheel on Sally at Luigi's Casa della Tires; and fished out McQueen from a mud hole at Matter's tow shop. We had pizza and pasta, ate ice cream and cupcakes, and then had a pull string pinata. I think all of the kids had a great time. I know Thomas was in heaven. Well... here as promised, here are a few pics.





His black tongue reminded us of his 1st birthday... see the similarity






Day #2