Turning Two!

This past Sunday was Henry's 2nd birthday, and boy did we celebrate.

Our celebrations began Saturday with a party at Grandma Rosen's house.

 

The Birthday Boy

Opening presents with some help from Claire and Grandma

Cuddling with Great Grandpa

Daddy doing a dandy job of playing hide-and-seek.

Can't find him anywhere!

A Sesame Street birthday cake!

 

Waking up Sunday morning - ready to celebrate 

both his big birthday and Mother's Day.

 

This year, I planned a "Bow Wow Birthday" for Henry.  

Henry has a special relationship with his four-legged friends. So what could be better than a dog-themed birthday party?

  

Claire helped me "wrap" Henry's present - a new

shopping cart.  I thought she did a good job! 

 

We had my family, those who are in town, 

over for lunch - corn dogs, of course!

 

Henry loved playing with his cousins. 

 

Then he opened a few gifts including this one from Claire.  She knows just what he likes, mini Dora books.  It's just a coincidence that she likes them too.

 

Grandpa helping Henry open his gift.

 

This year my dad made Henry a great pull toy with shapes

that pop out when you push them.  Fun for all ages!

Henry wasn't so sure about his cupcake.  I made it to look like a bowl of dog food.  It's just cereal on top, but maybe it looked a little too real. 

  

Last, but certainly not least, we celebrated

Henry's birthday with the Puplis family. 

Henry loving Bailey

Grandpa and Grandma put out a summertime feast for us.

 

And of course, what's a party without Grandma's homemade cupcakes!

Henry approves!

Getting the hang of this present thing.

Cool cars! Even Claire jumped in on the fun. 

 

Thanks to all of our family for making Henry's second birthday so special. 

Wonderful memories!

Joe's Job

It's been an exciting season for MLive as there continues to be a few more changes.  For a long time, newspaper production took place at the Walker facility, while the editing/writing staff worked at the downtown location.  Recently, MLive sold the downtown building and moved everybody, including Joe, to the Walker location.  This week they had an open house to show off their beautiful new offices.  It was a great chance for us to see where Joe works so hard.  We're so proud of him!

 

There they are - the finished product.

 

Joe shows Henry the ropes.

 

Claire makes herself at home - eating an apple

while she waits to continue our tour.

 

Joe doesn't work in production, but it was still nice to

see the other end of the paper process.

 

Henry loved the room to run!

 

And climb!

I love how the kids hold hands in the parking lot. 

Initially,  I started this so they'd learn to stay together (as you may have noticed, Henry has a tendency to take of running in open spaces).  Now, I smile when I see them grab each others hands without me even asking them to.

 

"Tulip" Time

We went to Holland yesterday with the intention of celebrating Tulip Time.  It was getting late in the day, though, so we just stopped at a nearby park for pictures, and wouldn't you know it...they didn't have a single tulip.  Oh well, the kids still had a good time running around. 

 

 

Thankfully, Grandma S. saved the day with a few tulips at her house.

 

The Story of my Life

Henry's favorite book lately has been "Love you Forever" by Robert Munsch.  I think he just likes it for the pictures, but it's also a great story of a mother's love for her son even as he tries her patience. 

 

 

Well, today was one of those days where I could literally almost see both Henry and myself in the pages of the story. 

 

 

He's a sweet boy, but he's got spunk and a tenacity that's at times difficult to keep up with.  And today he was testing my patience.  By the end of the day, I felt like I could scream, as the mother does in the story, "This kid is driving me CRAZY!"

 

 

 

 

But at night, also like the story, I love to creep into his bedroom, look over the side of his crib, and admire him.  I just fall in love with him all over again.   

 

 

And now I'm heading to bed...I'm going need some rest if 

I hope to keep up with him tomorrow!

Signs of Spring

 

fresh "flowers"

snacks outside

bare toes

sunshine on our shoulders

A Little Bit of Everything

I have a bunch of material here that I simply don't feel like posting into individual blogs.  So this blog wraps up the last month of our lives into one post.  Thanks for reading!

 

I'll begin with a project that was much bigger than we had anticipated, but definitely worth the effort. We had our wood floors refinished.

The before.

Doesn't look too bad in the pictures, but they were really very worn.

The after.

We went with a darker stain, and though it was risky,

we couldn't be happier with how they came out.

Our floors always under a layer of toys.

So new and shiny - wish they'd stay like this forever.

Struggled over Spring Break with two very sick kiddos.  Their monster colds took them a good two weeks to get over, which was no fun for anyone!

And now another project.

This is a before picture of our basement bathroom. Lovely right?

Last week we worked with a plumber to water proof our basement and put in a sump pump.  This is the cement and dirt we removed to complete the project.

Joe working hard.

While we were cutting up the basement floor, Shawn, a plumber and my high school youth group leader, also prepared the plumbing to add a full bathroom.

 

With all the rain we've been getting, the sump pump has been put to the test, and thankfully, we haven't had a drop of water in the basement.  We've struggled with a wet basement since we've moved in, and though Joe would often patch the cement where water came in, it seemed water would just find a new spot to seep in.  Hopefully, this solution will work long term.

I love Henry's look in this picture:

Hat, sweater, no pants, and Claire's rain boots.  Classic Henry.

Claire and Lyndon.

Lyndon is the boy who came up to me a couple months ago, took my hand and said, "Miss Jen, when I grow up I'm going to marry Claire."  And you know, he's the type of kid that when he says it, I know he's serious about it. 

Recently, Lyndon came over for a play date,

and I overheard this conversation:

Claire: "I just want to marry you now."

Lyndon: "Yes Claire, but it takes a long time to get married.  Like hundreds of years."

That's right Lyndon; hundreds of years.

Not sure I'm ready for these conversations.

And now we have another "Classic Henry" moment.

Joe and I sat in the living room, watching Henry silently put together this tower of step stools that he began to climb without a hint of fear.

Thankfully we were there to supervise his expedition.

We weren't sure why he was so determined to get to the top

of the piano until we saw him reach for this...

His "paci." 

That boy would climb mountains for his pacifier.

 

Well, that's enough for one day.  Hope you are all

doing well, enduring the rainy weather.

Take care!

Easter Sunday

What a beautiful Spring day to celebrate Easter Sunday!  We went to church in the morning, and I tell you, our church family knows how to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus.  It was a good reminder that Easter is not just a holiday; it's a holy day. 

We then went to Grandpa and Grandma Nash's house to visit for a bit.  After naps, we walked to the park and went down the slide about a hundred times.  A great way to spend the day.

 

Here's some pictures of our visit with Grandpa and Grandma Nash.

 

The boys in their Easter attire.

 

Claire dresses like it's Easter Sunday pretty much every day of the year.  She loves wearing dresses, and often changes her clothes a few times a day to get in as many of her "beautiful dresses" as possible.

This particular day she chose one of her favorites, a simple cotton lavender dress. 

Henry looked spiffy in his sweater vest and neck tie. 

 

Henry loved riding his truck around Great Grandpa and Grandma's house.

 

Here he's playing catch with Great Grandma

 

Henry and Grandma Rosen

 

And of course, what's a family gathering without some

traditional Polish Kielbasa?  Everyone is digging in!