Nolan's 6th Birthday

Happy Birthday Nolan!

Nolan turned 6 years old this year! He wanted to have his birthday at Dave and Busters (just like his big brother), and he wanted a skylanders birthday cake. He invited some of his closest friends from Kindergarten and had a really good time!


Nolan's Year in Review:

- Nolan loves video games. It's become an obsession that we really have to manage because he would play 12 hours a day if we let him. Currently his favorite games are skylanders and minecraft.

- He is still very picky at eating and it's been a challenge all school year finding things he will eat. Mostly he will just eat cheese, yogurt, and crackers for lunch. His favorite meal is Fettuccinne Alfredo for dinner.

- Nolan learned how to ride his 2 wheeler bike this year. He started off slow at the end of the summer and didn't want to do it anymore, but by spring he was ready to give it another try and now he's a pro!

- Educationally, Nolan started Kindergarten this year. His teacher is Mrs. Dawson. He is reading at a second grade reading level and is doing math at the second grade level too. He enjoys school, but of you ask him, he will tell you he does not like it!

- Nolan's best friends in Kindergarten are Carlo, Michael, Nicklaus, and Luc

- When we went to Florida in February of this year, Nolan learned how to swim. He now loves the water and can swim without a flotation device!

- Nolan is playing both soccer and baseball this year. He loves playing soccer and is not afraid of the ball. Baseball he thinks is a little boring, but may try again next year.

- Our biggest challenge withe Nolan this year has been that he likes to scream a very high pitched scream any time he is frustrated or is having fights with his brother and sister. We have been challenged that he does not "use his words", but shows his frustration with screaming.

- Nolan is a very caring and thoughtful boy. He will think of others before himself and is very sweet with Allie.

Ethan's First Communion

Ethan celebrated his First Communion on April 13, 2013 at St. John Vianney Catholic church.
Chrystal's mom and sisters and Kevin's mom was able to join us for the celebration. Ethan was selected to stand in front of the church for a reading and he did such a great job. We were very proud parents that day!

Sports and Cub Scouts

The boys are very active in extracurricular activities. Nolan played both soccer and baseball this year and Ethan played basketball and was in cub scouts. This kept us busy just about everyday of the week!

Easter 2013

Ethan's 8th Birthday! Happy Birthday Ethan!

Ethan turned 8 this year and decided he wanted to go to Dave and Busters for his birthday. We allowed him to invite one friend and he asked his buddy Luke to come with us. He wanted a "Creeper" cake this year, so Kevin and I made him the cake.

Ethan's Year in Review:

- He loves everything "Minecraft". Loves Creepers and all minecraft related video games and clothing.

- Ethan is still a great student and has really thrived this year in second grade. His teacher Mrs. VandeWinkle has been awesome with him and makes the class fun. He is still advanced in reading and math and is above 3rd grade level in both. So proud of him!

- Ethan decided not to play soccer this year and switched to Basketball. He says that he enjoys basketball more and he is a really good shooter.

- We have kept Ethan on the penicillin this entire year, but have decided just recently to stop his medicaction for Post Strep.

- Ethan's best friends at school this year are Avery and Jacob.

Christmas 2012 and New Years

I am going to attempt to catch up on my blog as I'm writing this 6 months past Christmas!

The boys once again was very excited for Christmas this year. They desperately wanted Santa to bring them the X-Box Kinect and a ton of video games. Mostly everything on their list was electronics! They were very happy that Santa delivered most items on their list!

Allie was still a bit young to understand what was happening, but she was so excited to open presents this year. I think she enjoyed opening the presents more that she enjoyed the actual item inside!

Happy Halloween!

Allie decided to be 4 different costumes this year, as you can see from the pictures. We had a bunch of dress up clothes for her, and every time we had a Halloween event she said she wanted to be something different.

Ethan was a Ninja this year and Nolan was Captain America.

Fall Pictures

Every year we take the kids to Altermatts Farm to get their pictures taken with the pumpkins. This year we decided to go on a nature hike afterwards since it was such a beautiful day.

School Pictures

First Day of School 2012

Nolan started his first day of Kindergarten! It was very exciting and I had the entire summer to get used to the idea of him having full day Kindergarten. Once in the classroom, it was very emotional seeing all of the kids crying, but Nolan was brave and had a great day. His teacher is Mrs. Dawson.

Ethan started 2nd grade with Mrs. VanDeWinkle. He was excited to start a new year and was happy some of his friends were in his class.

As usual, our summer was very busy and fun! We started off the summer with a horse lesson at Wolcott Mill Farm and then went camping at Camp Dearborn. This has become a yearly event that the kids really look forward to. Ethan then went off to Florida by himself to visit with Grammy and Pop-Pop (traveled with his Aunt Kathy).

Nolan also lost his first tooth this summer, so that was a big event for him!

We discovered a new beach this summer up near Port Huron, called Lakeport State Park. We spent many days there and loved the sandy beach. We also discovered a new campground in Port Austin that had beautiful beaches. We'll definitely return!

Kevin made the kids their own car wash that became the hit of the summer. The boys and neighbor kids loved it.

The rest of the summer was busy with baseball, basketball camp, and visits with family, and a great trip to Wisconsin to visit the Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins and finally a trip to the lakehouse to visit great friends!

End of Pre-school for Nolan

Nolan officially graduated from preschool today. His teacher had a "Cruise Boat' themed party for their last day and all of the kids wore their bathing suits. It was so much fun for the kids. I will miss preschool and the moms that I met.

Below are some pictures Nolan created in school this year; including his first family picture and a self portrait of himself.

Allie's 2nd Birthday

My sweet little baby turned 2! We had her 2nd birthday party at our house with our family and friends. We combined it with Nolan's 5th birthday party. Thanks everyone for sharing this special day with us!



Allie's Year:

So much has happened in Allie's life this year.

*She started singing before she could even talk, and now sings all of the time. Loves music and nursery rhymes. Her favorite song is "Happy and You Know It".

*She can say just about anything and is stringing sentences together.

* Allie loves baby dolls! Her eyes light up when she sees a doll and loves to give them hugs and kisses.

* She is very attached to mom, and doesn't like to go to many other people including her daddy.

* Allie's a very picky eater. Some of her favorites are eggs, waffles, spaghetti, and pizza.

* She wants to do everything Ethan and Nolan do and gets upset when they don't let her.

* Her favorite shows are Barney and Max & Ruby.

* She loves to be outside.

* Allie is still small and petite for her age. I believe she is still in the 5% in height and weight.

Nolan's 5th Birthday

Wow! I can't believe Nolan turned 5 on May 2nd. He really wanted a birthday party with his friends this year, so we decided to go to ChuckECheese with some of the boys from his class. I've never seen Nolan so happy with his friends! He had so much fun and had a smile on his face the entire party! I'm so happy we let him have his own party this year.




Nolan's Year in Review:

*Nolan loves Video Games above everything else. If you let him, he would play the entire day!
*He plays soccer and loves it. He continuously amazes us at his ability to score goals and stick with the ball.
* He started off preschool this year shy, and has opened up tremendously and has some good friends that he loves to play with.
*His favorite shows are Max & Ruby, and Tom and Jerry.
* He likes legos and playing beyblades with Ethan
* Nolan loves to antagonize his sister to get a reaction out of her.
* His favorite foods are Fettuccine Alfredo, pizza, spaghetti, and hot dogs

Florida Vacation

At the end of April, we took our yearly Florida trip to visit with Grammy and Pop-Pop. It was a much needed vacation! The kids had so much fun at the beach and the pool. We also made it to Legoland. Legoland was great and pretty much empty, so Ethan and Nolan were able to ride every attraction multiple times.
Allie loved the beach and wanted to go every day. The boys also went to play putt-putt and made it to the train park. It was a busy, but relaxing vacation.
Thanks Grammy and Pop-Pop for a great vacation!

Finally Some Snow!

The boys have been waiting for snow all year! We've had one small snow storm in January that we missed when we were in Chicago, so the boys did not get to play in it. Last week they were predicting 7 inches of snow and we got just a small dusting of snow. Last weekend we went to our friends house in Lansing and they actually had 3 inches of snow on the ground, so the kids FINALLY were able to play outside in the snow at the end of February. Crazy Year!

 

Ethan turns 7!

Wow I can't believe Ethan is 7! It seems like yesterday he was just a baby. He decided he wanted a "boys only" party at the bowling ally and invited most of his male classmates. It was fun and one of the least stressful birthday parties I've ever planned!



Every year around their birthday, I make a list of each of the kids accomplishments/likes/interests so I can reflect back on them years from now to remember some of their achievements and quirks :)

Ethan's year in Review:

*Ethan has become quite an excellent reader. He  loves reading and has advanced into large chapter books. His favorite books to read are the "Wimpy Kid" books and "Captain Underpants". He is in an advanced reading group at school.

*He learned multiplication understands most advanced math problems. The teacher says there is no other kid as advanced in his entire 1st grade.

* Ethan has had a rough transition into full-time school this year. First grade started out really rough. He claimed he was too bored, although I think he was having a hard time adjusting to being there all day. There were many days I took him to school kicking and screaming. Rough days!

*Ethan played soccer again this year and joined cub scouts. He had a rough time with soccer and decided he didn't like the tough competitive sport, so had since decided not to play again.

*He was diagnosed with Post Streptococcal Arthritis in June 2011. Last year he had strep throat and a few weeks after having strep his legs and hip were bothering him to the point where he couldn't walk on one of his legs. After taking him to several specialist it was determined he had PSA. He will have to be on antibiotics until he reaches 18 years old to prevent him from having strep throat again which could cause him to have heart problems.

*Ethan grew 3 inches this year and finally reached the 50lbs mark!

*He is still a picky eater. Favorite foods remain to be pizza and fettuccine. Favorite snacks are yogurt, cheese- its and pretzels.

*Beyblades has been his favorite toy of the year. Loves to battle with his brother and his friends. Also still enjoys pokemon cards and playing Wii and DS games.

Christmas 2011

We were blessed again to have Kevin's family join us for Christmas. It's always great to share this time with family and friends.

Nolan was super excited about having Santa Claus come this year. Ethan is beginning to be skeptical about the entire event of Santa Claus, but he is still a believer for know. Allie didn't know what was happening, but loved tearing into the presents!

Both of the boys also had a Christmas product as school. Nolan played a "Wise Men" and had to say one line. Ethan sang several Christmas songs with his classmates. They were both great and precious!

Pilgrims and Indians

Nolan's school taught the kids about Thanksgiving by re-enacting the feast between the pilgrims and the Indians.  Nolan's class dressed up as Indians and the Kindergarten class dressed up as Pilgrims. It was really creative and fun!

Allie Jennifer - 18 Months

Allie has grown so much since 12 months that I thought I would do another post.
She started walking around 14 months and since then has been unstoppable! Her favorite thing in the world are babies. Baby dolls, babies on TV, just about anything that is a baby.
She is also starting to talk a lot. Here is a list of her favorite words...
Baby          
Baby Doll
Mommy      
Daddy
E-zhan (Ethan) - We can't get her to say Nolan, but she calls both Ethan and Nolan "E-zhan"
Wa-Wa (Tyra or any dog she sees) and now she says "Wa-Was Stop" (she must be mimicking me!)
Yum - Yum (for any food she wants; especially candy)
Ball
Hi and Bye
orn juice (for orange juice)
and many more words... we now have to watch what we say, because she is repeating everything!