Another Beautiful Day

We can't get enough of this gorgeous weather. A few shots from this afternoon...

Yeah! Spring!

It is SO nice to finally have some warmer weather. We have been super busy today. We started by assembling Thomas' new climber. His cousins outgrew it so they passed it down. Grandma and Grandpa brought it and Thomas couldn't be happier. We moved his plastic house out to the back deck and put the climber in its place. He has been climbing and sliding all day. Doesn't everyone have a climber in their living room?

In true Thomas fashion, he has been fixing the climber all afternoon. He just informed me that "work all done" and is cleaning up his tools. He is pretending that the bulldozer is a chain saw (see below, Daddy is using a chain saw).

We have also been busy clearing the edge of our ravine. Alan cut the brush down and I tended the fire. It was hard work, but the results are going to be fabulous. We'll be able to see the stream now in the summer.

An update, finally...

It's been a while since I have posted. Before this weekend, we hadn't done anything exciting in a few weeks. We just returned from Barlett, Il a few hours ago. We went to visit the Sias family! Thomas played fairly well with their boys, Billy (2 weeks older than Thomas) and TJ (turned 1 in January). Their boys are super cute and really fun. We had a great time.

Thomas had a great time playing with all of Billy's toys, especially his "fast cars." Billy and Thomas share a fascination with the Disney Cars movie (Queen to Billy, Fast Car to Thomas). Billy is definately better at sharing than Thomas, he has a brother and practices daily. We even braved eating out with all three kids. They did great. With all of the excitement, Thomas got to stay up past his bedtime. He went to bed at 9 (instead of 7) and unfortunately woke up at 4 (instead of 6:30). So, we are really tired and looking forward to an early bedtime tonight. Enjoy some pictures of the boys!

Billy and his "taypo head."

Thomas playing with the "fast cars." After dinner he got to buy his own "fast car" at Target. He was REALLY excited.

All three kids playing blocks (no crying) and looking at the camera. The later being the most challenging.

Thomas fast asleep in his carseat, less than 4 miles from John and Suzie's house. (Suzie-he slept all the way from the Barrio Burger King to St. Joe).

Hot Date

Happy Valentine's Day! We had a very busy day. Alan had class in Grand Rapids yesterday. So, rather than staying home, Thomas and I tagged along. While he was busy with class, Thomas and I had a hot date. We started at the Grand Rapids Children's Museum. Which is really cool! We had a lot of fun. I totally recommend it. There was a ton to do and it is really interactive. Below are a bunch of pictures from our day.

The magnet table really caught his interest. I'm sure it helped that it was filled with bolts, nuts, and rods. He loves his tools! I had to explain to him that he couldn't put them in his pocket and take them home. He thought we could use them downstairs.

Making bubbles in the bubble table. Surprisingly, Thomas did not make a mess. I can see how this could go wrong.

Happy with his accomplishment!

Mommy's hot date.

Making a rainbow.

Shopping. Thomas filled his cart with all of his fav produce and then went to the checkout where another little boy rang him up and bagged his groceries. So fun!

So, there aren't any other kids in any of these photos. There were a lot of people at the museum, but since there are so many "attractions" and they are all set up for multiple users the kids aren't on top of each other all the time. Added bonus! They really understand small kids there and we never had to wait to do an activity for more than a minute.

After the museum, Thomas and I went to lunch at Panera. He loves Panera! Daddy was ready to be picked up after we ate so we went and got him. Alan wanted to do a little shopping so off we went. While Alan was in Gander Mountain, Thomas and I went to Pet Smart. Pet Smart on a Saturday is like a free zoo. You should check it out. He got to see (and love on) lots of dogs and cats, pet an iguana, watch the dogs get their hair cut, watch the fish, and laugh at the way-too-hyper guinea pigs. Whew! We headed home and Thomas did not take a nap at all. He did alright, especially considering that we also went out to dinner. What a busy (and fun) day!

Pishers

Thomas is the hardest kid to get a picture of. He is constantly in motion and only looks at the camera for a nanosecond at a time. I can literally take 25 pictures and get 1 that might work. Tonight, I wanted to take a picture of him with his "new" radio controlled Hummer (which is actually a b-day gift that we are just getting out). He was really excited and having a great time with it. But, when I suggested that a photo be taken he refused. So, the following pictures are of Thomas trying to attack me in order to have a turn taking "pishers."

If I am really still and sweet maybe she'll just hand over the camera.

Up close and personal. Trying a different angle - over the arm of the chair.

"Pishers." Thomas has this new "thing" that he does with his mouth. He puckers up his lips in an effort to talk cuter/more persuasively/emphatically, we aren't really sure. Which really just makes him harder to understand. Of course it would be my kid that would figure these things out. This is the result:

The Greats

We had our good friends, Rob and Kathy, over to watch the Super Bowl. Thomas is always very excited when Great Rob and Great Kathy come over for dinner. I made chili and they brought some munchies. Great Rob tried to teach Thomas the art of dipping and eating shrimp. Thomas was intrigued but didn't actually eat the shrimp. I'm wondering if we have found the 2nd food that he won't eat. The 1st being mashed potatoes. All in all, we are pretty blessed. He eats everything (except shrimp and mashed potatoes) with gusto.

So, why the "Greats?" Rob and Kathy are very dear friends of ours. They aren't related so they wouldn't be Aunt or Uncle or Great Aunt or Great Uncle- so, they are just Great. They are SO good to Thomas and we are really fortunate to have them as friends. (Thanks Kathy for the inspiration).

Nothing Sweeter

Nothing sweeter than a sleeping child. Thomas has been going to bed with all of his "friends" lately.