Modish Photography

Not sure who is responsible for these fantastic photos.

Cutest kids ever

or

Best photographer

Probably both.

I think Rigel may have moved up to favorite sister-in-law.

Sorry Elizabeth.

So much for keeping up with the blog

Twilight premiere Friday 12:01 a.m showing with the girls.

Don't act like you don't know who Mike is, he's the only realistic choice.

Lights in the Heart of the City Celebration

Enzo trying to keep warm, Caleb referred to him as the Polar Bear. I would take credit for that, but he came up with it on his own.

First time to cut our own Christmas Tree down

Jess picked a snowball fight with the neighborhood kids. Which I'm sure pretty much made their day. Avery is really good at making golf ball sized snowballs, and Caleb can take a snowball to the face better than anyone. Although we may have been outnumbered, I think we had the upper hand.

Toys for Tots Fundraiser

That's right. We took a ride in a fire engine. A real one.

Avery's preschool Christmas program. She's the one sucking her hand off. I think that is her nervous gesture.

I love 'em.

An observation of a 4 year old

A conversation with Avery in the school parking lot this morning.

(Mom waves to Lilly's mom as cars past by each other)

Avery: Did you see the woman with the weird face and eyebrows?

Mom: What?

Avery: Lilly's mom.

Mom: Yeah, I saw her. What do you mean weird face?

Avery: When she smiles her eyebrows don't move up. Like look at me, when I smile (smiles) my eyebrows go up.

Mom: Please, PLEASE, do not repeat this to Lilly.

I have a master detective of plastic surgery, well Botox anyway.

And for the record, I really like Lilly's mom.

My little boy

is growing up. . .

and I don't think I am ready.

I heart Bacon

Jesse and I both enjoy physical activity so naturally, we try to do it together. In the past, it hasn't gone so well. It seems whenever I call interference, jesse calls me a cheater and the game ends 15:0 Jesse. And we never play again. Our new approach is to be teammates. We went to the gym the other night to play racquetball. While hitting the ball back and forth as "friends" I said,

"We should set a goal. We get good enough that we can beat Dan and Ryan (my brothers) in doubles next time we are in Muncie."

Jess: "Yeah, I like it. We'll do it at Thanksgiving."

"In fact, we will call and let them know, so if they want they can practice, so when we win there are no excuses."

Sarah: "Okay sure."

We continue volleying back and forth, I miss a return and Jess says,

"Okay. If we are serious about winning you are going to have to learn to anticipate where the ball is going to be, because let's face it, you're slow".

"I hate you."

So I am starting a new tradition with my family. Every Thanksgiving we are going to have a racquetball tournament. The trophy? I heart Bacon Christmas ornament. Awesome, right? I know. Luckily for me, the largest Christmas store in the world is just 20 minutes away from Saginaw and opened 361 days a year. Winner gets to hang it proud all December.

Me? If I win, it's going in the car hanging on my rear view mirror for the next year.

Ryan, Dan, BRING IT.

Our Boys

When I grow up I want to be. . .

just like my daddy.

So not only will I dress like him (mix matched), I'll wear his old sweater.

I love this baby.

Doctor in Training

I love this man. He has been doing his OBGYN rotation and this past week he was on "night float". Meaning he went in at 6:30 p.m. every night and came home 14 hours later, at 8:30 a.m. for five days straight. Yuck!

You'd be wrong in assuming he got any sleep.

No thank you.

Missing her buddy

Avery's best friend Tate is about an hour and a half away. Although Avery has several friends, she doesn't adore ANYONE but Tate. Luckily we have been able to go and visit a couple of times.

Opposites attract. Complete contrast in personalities. This picture is an excellent representation of who they are as individuals. Avery, holding on for dear life, terrified and anxious. Tate, kicked back, relaxed, enjoying the ride. Kind of reminds me of Jesse and me. I'll let you guess who the uptight one is.

Favorite Sister-in-Law

We received a package in the mail with new shoes and a new North Face shirt from Jesse's sister Elizabeth. For no reason other than being awesome.

Since I currently have 5 sisters-in-law. . . let me put it this way-

Let the games begin.

Grandma Ison

My grandmother (Lavon) works for Fairfield Inn in Bloomington, Indiana. She does more than serve continental breakfast to guests, she's the hotel's main attraction. She has business associates that are loyal Fairfield Inners because they know she will be there to make their waffle. While visiting her I stopped in for breakfast only to find this:

The room has been named after her, dedicated to her, and there has been a plaque placed outside the room in her honor.

Isn't she the cutest 86 year old woman?

Sarah's Vacation

For those of you who know Sarah well you know that she does not get much time to herself. Not because she doesn't desire said time but because she has 3 children and a husband that might as well be child number 4. For example, as I write this she is cleaning up the kitchen from the dinner I made. Biscuits and sausage gravy for those who are interested. Needless to say, alone time for her is a precious resource. So, when she had the opportunity to have some alone time yesterday it was bitter sweet. Bitter because of the circumstances. One of her friends that she grew up with had a child pass away. The funeral was going to be near Detroit and a lot of her childhood friends (the sweet) were going to be gathering together for support. It was unrealistic to take the children with her so I insisted on her leaving the children in the capable hands of their father for the day. Since he could not be located I decided to give it a try.

The morning started off much like two boxers in a heavy weight boxing match. We were feeling each other out. Dancing around each other trying to determine how aggressive we needed to be. Avery struck first with a demand to be fed breakfast. She asked for scrambled egg whites. I counter-offered dry white toast and a lick of a Flint-stones Vitamin. We settled on a Slim-Fast milk shake. I figured the "full feeling" would come in handy as I was not planning on feeding them more than one meal for the day. After breakfast I figured it was time for the kids to take a nap. Surprisingly my suggestion was met with substantial resistance. The vermin would not cooperate and became quite verbal. When it became obvious that they were not going to obey my simple request I had to change tactics. I had just reread Darwin's, On the Origin of Species and well understood the need for adaptation. In my travels I had heard of a place that appealed greatly to small children and simple minded folk. A place based on a large singing rat who enjoys fleecing parents and rigging carnival style games. I suggested to the ruffians that we visit Chuck E. Cheese. Their reaction reminded me of the climactic scene in Armageddon when Earth learns that Bruce Willis had indeed been successful in blowing up the meteor and saving everyone from sure death. Interpreting that as a "yes" we loaded up the car and headed out.

Upon arrival I immediately identified the games that would be considered "high yield". Of course, Avery only wanted to play this game that allowed you to hear a recording from Chuck E. and his friends via telephone that did not even pay out any tickets. Fearing a scene, I alloted 2 of our 25 tokens for her enjoyment. Twelve tokens later, Avery decided that she had had enough of the telephone game and now wanted to pursue other interests. The rest of the tokens were spent on Ski ball. Caleb could not quite grasp the concept of Ski ball. Instead of rolling the balls up the ramp to their intended target he decided to throw them at the other patrons, hitting an Indian fellow in the ribs... twice. Once the tokens were gone we took our tickets to the counter. I was certain that we had enough to secure a Chuck E. Cheese franchise for ourselves but it turns out 66 tickets gets you two stick on tattoos, a blue 4 inch ruler, a small box of nerds, and a glow in the dark plastic spider ring. Not quite what I expected but the children seemed satisfied.

After that, things went smoothly. Avery, Caleb, Enzo and I actually ended up having a good day together. As for Sarah, I didn't want her to feel like she missed out on too much so I left the house a mess for her to clean. I am such a good husband.

Caught me

After being sprayed in the face with water for the 100th time, mommy may have called her son a name.

Avery: Did you just call him a butt?

Mommy: (pause) I shouldn't have said that. I'm sorry. Don't repeat it.

Avery: I'm going to put that on the blog.

Daddy: (laughs and points)

This post is about me, well kind of

This is me, yesterday, 7 o'clock on a Saturday night, make-up-less with unbrushed hair at Outback Steakhouse. Alone. Well technically 1 1/2, at least that's how I was seated, 1+baby.

Avery and Caleb had Parent's Night Out at the local YMCA, which they love and I had already paid for before I knew Jess would be working his first 24 hour shift. 8 a.m. Saturday until 8 Sunday. He slept maybe an hour. Jealous? I'm not.

I don't do sorry for myself well, so I went on my date by myself. (It feels like that when you usually have three kids with you and only had one.) I thought about calling some of my girl friends to see if they had plans but I didn't. I decided to go it alone.

"Is it just you tonight ma'am?" People definitely felt sorry for me. Jess said I should have milked it, looked really sad and then ask my waiter,

"How much is a slice of cheesecake?"

"-------"

"oh. . . well I'm fine. I'll just have a sugar packet instead"

or look really depressed and hope someone picks up my meal. But once again, I didn't. I ordered whatever I wanted and ate it all.

I actually enjoyed myself. I sat in silence. That NEVER happens. It was very liberating. I felt like screaming "I am woman, hear me roar" to someone but the opportunity never presented itself.

After dinner I went to T.J. Maxx, looked at all of the things I couldn't afford, went home took a Toy Story bubble bath and ate a bowl of generic chocolate peanut butter fudge ice cream- I had to fit chocolate in somewhere. All I thought about was me. And it was surprisingly nice. I even saw something at T.J. Maxx I would normally have bought for the kids, but I just kept walking.

I felt as if I was spreading my wings for the first time.

My sister-in-law, Elizabeth sent us a package a couple weeks ago. When she told me it was coming I said, "What'd you buy for the kids?". She said, "This isn't for them. They're too spoiled. It is for you and Jess."

Life is a balance. I'm just not good at it.

So as enjoyable as the evening was, I decided I would go ahead and keep the kids. Oh, and Jess.

Turns out I like them.

But next time Jess wants to see the new super hero movie at the theatre, I'll suggest an alternative plan.

Johnson's Pumpkin Patch

Falls are beautiful in Michigan. They have a ton of family friendly events right here in Saginaw. I love the fall.

Some of our favorite people, the Kendalls. My kids absolutely adore these two. They are expecting their first in a few months so Avery and Caleb are trying to soak up some attention before it comes to an end. Avery literally walks around the house saying, "So when are Brian and Brittany coming over?" as if we were expecting them.

I was the only one that wanted to pose for daddy in Thomas the Train.

We did a corn maze, and I don't think Avery really ever understood the concept. She kept asking, "Are we lost?"

This is where Caleb learned the difference between field and sweet corn.

Caleb took a barrel ride behind a tractor, but only because he didn't know I wasn't going to be coming with him.

And just when you think it couldn't get any better, the event ended with hot donuts and fresh cider. Mmmm.

Lehman's Apple Orchard

Loving Fall

Pretty neat idea for a slide.

If I ever lost Caleb, I knew he'd be in here. Corn kernels instead of sand.