A Walk with the Cousins

On Easter, we met up with Jon, Allie and the cousins and took a walk down by the Humber River in the neighborhood where Matt grew up.
Michael all geared up and ready for mud (of which there was plenty).

The big girls, Talia and Claire. Talia just turned 10 and Claire is 7.


Jacinta is 4.

Justin and Maeve hit the slides. Maeve was such a chubby baby, but now Justin is bigger than she is and she's four months older!

Hooray for sunshine and cousins! Hopefully, we'll hook up again this summer!

Uncle Chris

Uncle Chris has found a kindred spirit in Justin. Former big baby meets current big baby! Good thing they got along because I certainly didn't want anything to do with Justin when he woke up at midnight, while we were all talking and drinking, and decided it was time to play.

Easter 2011

We spent Easter in Toronto this year. We usually stay with Matt's brother Greg, but he and Ange and the twins were on a cruise (lucky them!), so we stayed with Chris and Katie in their new house. Chris and Katie don't have kids yet (as evidenced by their white couches), but we had so much fun staying with them! We celebrated Easter on Saturday evening at Granddad's.

Poppy and Nan sent these coordinating vests. The boys looked so handsome. We got home late from Granddad's and all three kids fell asleep in the car.

Somehow, the Easter Bunny found us in Canada. Justin got this bulldog--I think it looks like him!

The boys got too much candy and some small prizes. Luke got a couple of dinosaur figures and Michael got a set of nesting monkeys.

We went to church with Granddad on Sunday and then hung out with the cousins. Sunday night, we put the kids to bed and ordered Chinese and hung out like grown-ups. It was really fun.

Boys Being Boys

The art of being a boy: when you are too big to climb into something, climb on top of it instead.

Justin is a boy in training. He is learning what boys like.

Boys like pirates.

Boys like trucks.

Boys like mud.

Tournament in Newcomerstown

I took Luke to another martial arts tournament yesterday. This one was in Newcomerstown, OH, which is officially the middle of nowhere. The drive would have been beautiful if it wasn't pouring rain and windy. I took Luke by myself because Matt had to stay home to run Michael's tee ball and he kept Justin with him, too. I couldn't keep up with Master Circle and the other caravaners, but we found our way and actually beat the rest of the group because they missed a turn (served them right for going too fast!). This is Makayla. She's 13 and a black belt. She performed a sword routine and won her division.

Vili is also 13 and a black belt. She lost to Makayla yesterday, but she still did really well. Both girls do martial arts with their dads (which is really cute, I think) and are on the Demo Team with Luke.

Luke and his friend Cameron waiting somewhat less than patiently.

Luke's Little Dragons division (yes, there were only 3 of them).

Luke competing in his form.

Getting ready to spar. The other boy was the same boy Luke competed against in Zaynesville. He's also 5 and his name is Samuel, which I think is hilarious!

Trophies! Luke won forms and sparring and got second in weapons. Because there were only three of them, the organizers didn't name a grand champion. He said something about mailing them all plaques, but I don't think he got our address and really, Luke got plenty of hardware. Did I mention the organizer owns a trophy shop on the side?

More tee ball pics

Here are some more pictures of Michael at tee ball care of Poppy.

Poppy and Nan got Michael his own bat and tee for his birthday, too, so he can practice at home.

The Last Supper

It's not DaVinci, but this is Luke's rendition of The Last Supper. Jesus is saying "Share this" and his apostles are saying "yes." I just thought it was really cute.

Half-Orange Belt

I don't think I've posted that Luke was promoted to Half-Orange Belt at Martial Arts a couple of weeks ago. Poppy got this nice picture of him at practice on Friday.

Easter Egg Hunt 2011

It was the annual Easter Egg Hunt at my friend Allanya's yesterday. Last year, Justin was only a few days old. This year, Justin was crawling around and into everything! The weather was great, the food was great, the company was great! Awesome afternoon.

A Walk With Poppy and Nan

Yesterday was a beautiful day and it was Poppy and Nan's last morning with us, so we went to Bob Evans for breakfast and then to Innis Woods for a walk. Napless Justin was exhausted, but the park was lovely!

Birthday Party!

Ok, so throwing a party for 2 of your 3 kids at the same time does not leave a lot of time to take pictures. Hopefully, Poppy got some more that I can post later! We rented out the playground at Westerville Christian Church. It was lots of fun and the boys made out like bandits!

Tee Ball

Michael and Matt finally had their first tee-ball practice yesterday! It was chilly and muddy, but the Sand Gnats are off to great start. That's Michael in the red hoodie.

First Haircut!

No more Bieber. No more baby curls. But he looks so handsome and he did so well. He's even more kissable than he was before.

Happy Birthday, Michael!

My goodness, how is it that my Baby Michael turned 4 years old today? Easy labor. Angel baby. Not-so-bad toddler. I'll admit that the 3s have been a bit of a challenge, but it's been so wonderful to see Michael coming into his own. Michael loves animals, dinosaurs and monster trucks. He loves "sets" and things that are small. He loves games and sports. He has a massive and quirky vocabulary that includes a number of terms he has learned from playing Wii with his brother. Today, while playing stuffed animals, he asked Luke what they were "versing" (as in vs.-ing/battling) and wanted to know if they had all their "upgrades" or if they needed to "unlock" them and if they needed to change their "profiles." Michael counts to 100, does simple math and can pump on the swing--at least a year earlier than Luke. But, like Luke, he's had no interest in writing and is just now starting to write his name. He's enthusiastic and happy and quick to recover when sad or hurt. He asks for one of his many monkeys and in a few moments, I always here "I'm all better now." He's just a great kid!

Very happy to get his Koo Koo Birds Clubhouse!

We went to Chuck E. Cheese for dinner. Luke and Justin enjoyed the rides.

Getting some drive time.

Cake!!!

Tomorrow, Poppy and Nan are coming. Then it's the big party on Saturday!

Theme Days

Michael and Luke had theme days at school this week. It was the annual SYC pajama day for Michael. To be honest, this is my least favorite day of the year because it means lugging sleeping bags, pillows and various other things along with all of the usual school stuff (and the 25 lb baby).

And Luke had a "crazy dress day" in honor of April Fool's Day today. This is his jammies/bathing suit/winter hat ensemble. Sorry for the crappy pictures. Our camera died and I am using the phone.