Our Little Linus

For the longest time, Nathan didn't have a favorite of something or even any kind of habit. I've posted in the past about Lenny's frog and Brooke's cow. Well, for the past month or so, Nathan now LOVES his special blanket and has to have it with him all the time.


It is so cute to see him carry his blanket around. Most of the time he bunches it up into a ball and carries it on his shoulder and under his cheek just like in the picture above. I'm so happy that one of my kids has a blanket that they love. He also loves any kind of ball. Footballs, basketballs, baseballs, soccer. You name it and he has to have it. I have a funny feeling that he is going to be in to all kinds of sports when he gets older.

Nathan is my little sweetheart. He is such a sweetie. If he notices Brooke's cow laying on the floor, he will pick it up and take it over to her. He will also give her sippy cup to her if she doesn't have it. He's also my little helper. When it's time to clean up toys, Nate is the first one ready to help. He's so good.

On the other hand, he is also our little daredevil. He will try to do absolutely anything. He is not afraid of anything just like Dominic which makes me nervous. The only thing that makes it a little easier for me is that he's pretty steady and he's good at keeping his balance when trying these crazy things.

This past weekend we went to my mom's house and also to the Apple Blossom Festival parade on Saturday. While we were at mom's house, we spent a lot of time in her yard. Here is a picture of Nate smelling the lilac bush. He looked so sweet and was so gentle when he was smelling it.


Eating breakfast at Meemaw's house. He had to have his blanket with him and of course the binky. I don't know how we will ever get that away from him. We took Lenny's away at 15 months with no problem.


Nathan also has a funny way of running. I think that he tries to make it as fun as he can to run. He exaggerates his moves so much that you just have to laugh at him. Here is a video clip of him running.



He is a very good little boy and I thought that he deserved his own post.


From The Mouth of a Four Year Old

I haven't posted one of these for a while. This weekend at Meemaw's house, Lenny wanted to watch a movie. Well, it takes my mom literally 15 minutes to try to figure out how to play a movie on her VCR or DVD player. That's no joke. Sorry mom. :-) Anyway, she had been trying for a while to get the movie to work for Lenny. All of a sudden Lenny looked at her and in a defeated voice he said, "It looks like you will just have to give up, Meemaw." It was so funny. Luckily a little later that day she was able to figure it out for him.

The Three Stooges

My blog posts seem to be getting shorter and few between. I will get back on track here pretty soon. It's been kind of busy around here. Here are a few pictures of Lenny, Brooke, and Nathan together.






Here's A Short Recap of the Last Few Days

Pizza With Daddy

Today Lenny decided that he wanted pizza for dinner and wanted to help make it. So Lenny and Daddy did just that tonight. Here is their yummy pizza.



Girls Night Out

Friday a few of us got together and had a girl's night out. We left the kids with our husbands and headed out for the night. We had dinner at the Melting Pot. I had so much fun! We all decided that we need to do this every month. I'm in! From left there is Beth, Kim, me, Sara, and Tracy.


Saturday Was So Nice

The weather was just perfect on Saturday. We had a lot of fun outside.

Lenny was pulling up some onions out of our garden.



Dominic, Lenny, Brooke and Nathan hanging out in the treehouse.


Nathan had so much fun throwing the "helicopters" from our maple tree out of the treehouse.


And then watching them twist and fall to the ground.


First Ear of Corn

Sunday Brooke and Nathan had their first ear of corn. They've had corn but just not an ear of it. Nathan LOVED it. He ate all of his and more. It was so cute to watch him. I love this picture of him because of the way his lip is.


Brooke would not hardly hold her's at all. She acted like she didn't want to get dirty. Sure! We all know that is a bunch of bologna. She is the messiest eater ever.

The Next Donny and Marie

They can't talk yet so they are not singing, but they've got the dancing part down.




Note: Please disregard their mommy's silly remarks.

Have a great weekend!

Happy Birthday Grandma

Today my Grandma Viola is 95 years old! And she still lives by herself in her house.

This past weekend, we all packed up and went to visit her. It's about a 3 1/2 hour drive so we spent Friday night at our friend DJ and Carol's house. They live near my Grandma. Lenny loved that because he was able to play with their kids Peyton and Kierra.

We had a great time at their house. We always do.

Here are a few pictures.

On the way to DJ and Carol's house. That's another cow in Brooke's hand that she loves. She holds it by the tail and sticks the tail up to her mouth.


Nathan thinks he's cool in his shades. He loves them!


Kierra, Lenny and Peyton.


Saturday we headed over to Grandma's house. It was such a nice and beautiful day. My Mom, Sister, and her kids were there too. Mom picked up something for lunch and brought a birthday cake for Grandma.

Brooke and Lenny with Great Grandma Viola. Nathan was too shy to let her hold him.



After lunch Dominic took all six of the kids for a walk on Grandma's property. There are lots of private roads on the property so it was nice that they could all run and not have to worry about cars or other people. I don't know if I would have tried that by myself. This gave me, Mom, and Kristi some time with Grandma. Lenny was so excited because they saw a deer while walking and then on the way back he and Aleah saw another one. Kristi and I were on our way out to see them and we got there just in time to see the deer go running up behind the barn. It was very close to Aleah and Lenny.

Aleah and Lenny right after they saw the deer.


Dominic, Brooke, and Nathan on their way back to the house.


Anthony-Glen after his walk. What a cutie he is!


Brooke with her John Deere cow.


Nathan with the "always with him" binky.


Lenny playing in the gravel in front of the barn. He will play for hours in gravel, dirt or sand. If he had Thomas with him, Thomas would be getting all dirty and then would need a wash down.


Mom and Brooke being goofy with Dominic.


Believe it or not I don't have any pictures of Kristi or Kiana. I was taking some pictures but remember now that it was with mom's camera.

Later that afternoon we went to my cousin Lorie and her husband Pat's house for another celebration of Grandma's birthday. Lorie is a wonderful cook and had lots of great food and desserts. Lenny was happy to be able to play with his cousin Luke. We all love to go to their house and enjoy the wonderful views from their home.

Brooke and Nathan with their cousin Josh. I think that Josh was the only one that Nathan warmed up to. Lorie was able to hold him for a few seconds before I walked over and tried to take a picture.



Lenny eating dinner with Uncle Leroy. He's my dad's brother.


Thanks Lorie, for a wonderful evening. We had a great time. I can't believe that I didn't get any pictures of Luke. I thought I was taking lots of pictures and these are the only ones that I have.

Happy 95th Birthday Grandma!

A Whirlwind Weekend

The weekend went by very fast for us. We had a lot of activities planned and we enjoyed all of them.

Saturday we went to the circus. Dominic's mom bought tickets for all of us and Dominic's brother, his wife and their two kids. She always takes us to something like this every year, usually it's Disney on Ice. This year it was the circus. I asked Lenny that morning what we were going to do that day and he said very excitedly, "We're going to the circus. I've been waiting three days!"

Here are some pictures.

Come on Nunny, we are ready to go in.


Nathan is such a shy and bashful little fellow. He rarely goes to anyone. He didn't have any problems letting Uncle Robbie hold him.


Brooke loves Uncle Robbie too.


She really had a great time with Aunt Tracey. Brooke thinks that Aunt Tracey has the coolest jewelry.


Catherine got some autographs for her program. Anthony wasn't able to come to the circus because he had a hockey game so Catherine brought a friend with her.


Before the circus we went down to the floor to watch different circus acts. Dominic and I gave Lenny and Nathan a boost so they could see better.


Nathan was the only one that really liked the hat that came with the $12 bag of cotton candy that daddy got for Lenny. At the intermission Dominic and Lenny made a trip to the bathroom and came back with a $16 snow cone that came in a tiger cup. Talk about expensive! Dominic spoils Lenny more than I do when it comes to things like that. I wouldn't have spent that much!

Here is Nathan with the hat.


Brooke is just a little spoiled. Uncle Robbie was holding her up on his shoulder while daddy was feeding her a bite from the snow cone.


Brooke spent some time sitting with Nunny too.


We all had a great time at the circus. Brooke kept pointing to everything. She spent the most time with Aunt Tracey and made sure that she didn't miss anything. Nathan liked it too but I think he had the most fun dancing to the music. I asked Lenny what his favorite part of the circus was and he said "the man with his hair sticking straight up".

Thanks, Nunny, for a great day.

Kings Dominion, here we come.

Sunday morning mom came to the house to babysit Brooke and Nathan while Dominic and I headed to Kings Dominion with Lenny. It was even mom's birthday (and Dominic's mom's birthday) and she still watched the kids for us.

We were meeting our friends from Lenny's preschool playgroup there. Lenny was so excited and so were we. It was a little chilly but we had a great time!

Lenny and Mikie rode the bumper cars together. Lenny controlled the gas pedal and Mikie steered.


Lenny's friend Jacob was also there but I don't have any pictures of them together. :-(

After playing in the kids area for a little while it was soon lunch time and we were itching to ride a roller coaster. Our friends Michael and Tracy were ready to go on the Volcano roller coaster too. Tracy's mom (who is wonderful) was there so she was going to watch the kids while we rode it. Also our friend Kim was there with her family and she was going to help with the kids. We set the kids up with some lunch and headed to the volcano. I was so nervous because Dominic and I hadn't been on a roller coaster for at least 1o years. The volcano ride shoots you straight up out of the top of a volcano and it is crazy from then until the end. I was still trying to figure out a way to not go on it until the last minute. I'm glad I rode it though. It was awesome! I loved it and then was ready to go on more.

We went back to the kids and checked on them. They were fine of course. They play so well together. Dominic and I ended up going on three other roller coasters a little later. It was so much fun. Here is a picture of us on the Anaconda. We must have been upside down when the picture was taken from the looks of my hair.


When we were done with the roller coaster rides, we asked Lenny if he would like to ride on one of the kid's roller coasters. He was so excited and had been talking about it on the way to the park. So Dominic took him on the Scooby Doo roller coaster along with Mikie and his Dad. Lenny loved it and wanted to go on it again as soon as it was over. We then took turns going on another one with him. Here he is with Daddy. Mikie and his dad are right behind them.

Dominic was making him hold his hands up. Lenny loved it.


Dominic, Tracy, and Michael wanted to ride on the Drop Tower. It takes you up 300 feet and then drops you straight down reaching 72 miles an hour. I wasn't about to ride it. Here's a picture of them right after the drop.


We then headed to the Eiffel Tower for a look over the park and then headed home. Lenny really enjoyed the Eiffel Tower. He was making sure that we didn't forget to do that before we left.

Thanks again, Mom, for watching Brooke and Nathan for us.

It was a really fun weekend!

From the Mouth of a Four Year Old

While Dominic and I were off riding the roller coaster with Tracy and Michael, Lenny said to Tracy's mom, "I hope mommy and daddy are having fun on the roller coaster." That was so sweet that he was thinking about us and wanted us to have fun too.

Our Carolina Wrens

We have a male and female pair of Carolina Wrens that have a nest in our porch. They have lived there for at least four years now. They always come around and work on their nest some, then lay the eggs, and after the babies are big enough to fly away, they leave too. And before too long they are back to start it all over again. We've watched many of their babies grow up and leave the nest. A few weeks ago I noticed that they are back again. And today, I saw them both together sitting on the rail of our deck. It's so cute to see them. I did read somewhere that the wrens find a mate and stay with them for life. So I know it is the same couple.

They first came around after Mother's Day when Lenny was a baby. Dominic and Lenny bought a porch swing for me for the screened in porch. When Dominic hung it, he had to remove some of the ceiling. He didn't put it back up right away and it didn't take the wrens long to discover this perfect spot for their nest. Oh yeah, some of the screen had come off of the porch so it was easy for them to get in. I think we can thank the squirrels for that. Anyway, after we noticed the wrens and their nest, we just couldn't close the ceiling or the screen. So, that is how it is still today. We keep our screened in porch open just for them.

I'm anxious to watch the babies learn to fly this time. I wonder if the birds have noticed that our family has gotten bigger too.

I was talking to mom the other day and told her that the wrens were back and that I saw an Eastern Bluebird at my house for the first time. She asked me if I named the wren and I hadn't. So we named the female--Mary. My grandma's name was Mary and she loved to watch and listen to birds. I guess I should name the male after my Grandad, Glen, who gave me the CB handle of "Little Wren" when I was a kid. Yes, no laughs, I had a CB handle. My sister was "Little Fawn".

I can understand why my mom loves to watch and listen to birds. It is very interesting to see their habits. Although, I will never be able to tell a bird by it's song. Mom can tell you what kind of bird it is without seeing it as soon as it starts singing.



Here are a few pictures of the kids.

It's nice to see at this young age that Brooke and Nathan are there to give a helping hand to each other. Isn't it nice that Nathan is pushing his sister in the car. Little does the picture show that he was probably trying to knock her off of it so that he could ride on it. Brooke does the same to him. Oh well, I can dream can't I.


I seem to take lots of pictures of them eating. I am just realizing that. They just do some silly things then. Brooke looked so cute the way she was eating her poptart using both hands. She looked like a little squirrel.


And Nathan is just always ready to give a cute smile and a laugh.


Brooke will not leave Lenny alone. If Lenny is in the room, she is almost always close by him. He was trying to watch Noggin and Brooke had to climb up on the chair with him. And then she took his sippy cup. Yes, I still let him have a sippy cup when he is watching TV.

Just ignore the Halloween pajamas that Brooke has on. Hey, they still fit so why not let her wear them when laundry is backed up. :-)


The sippy cup reminds me of Nathan. He always has to have everything that Lenny has and he will cry like crazy until Lenny gives it to him. It doesn't matter what kind of drink Lenny has, Nathan wants it. It can be a sippy cup, a regular cup, or a juice box. I have to take Lenny's plate off of the kitchen table before I get Nathan out of his highchair or he will climb up to the table to get Lenny's food and drink. Nathan could have the same thing on his plate but he wants Lenny's. It's really funny.

That's all for now. I had to post something today because I heard from someone (I won't mention names) that I was getting behind. :-)