Posts Tagged ‘Jen’

The boys and I went with Mom and Jen to the balloon launch at the Wellsville Balloon Ralley. I remember going to the hot air balloon festival in Colorado Springs a few times, but just for the evening lightings, never for a launch. We strolled around a while, checking out the vendors, looking at spinning balloon porch decorations and standing in a long line for some fresh-squeezed lemonade. The launch was supposed to start at 6, but it was about 6:30 before they started dragging out the balloons and inflating them.

The boys loved it! When the first balloon started to inflate, he covered his mouth and giggled giddily. He'd constantly point and declare "balloon" at every new one that went up. Rhino threw some dried grass at the lady sitting in front of us, which actually started a sweet little friendship.

Smile!

We saw about 15 balloons launch into the evening sky, one after another. There was a cute turtle balloon that was of course a big hit with the boys. I heard that at another launch, one of the balloons dipped into the water and when it rose again, released a waterfall from the sky. I would have loved to see that! I remember morning walks to school in Colorado and seeing balloons drifting in the distance. I miss it! It's been a while since I'd seen hot air balloons in flight. They're so beautiful and I'm glad we were able to check out the balloon rally with the boys!

Guess where we went!

And it was definitely worth the 4+ hour drive! Phew!

Rhino especially is so train crazy. He's a huge fan of Thomas the tank engine! These Day Out with Thomas events are held all over the country and I'm glad we were pretty close to one while we have been in the US.

We showed up and met Sir Topham Hatt first while Mom picked up our tickets. Then the boys played for a while at the train tables while I checked out the gift shop tent. I got them each a conductor's hat, some stickers, and then a pop-up Thomas tent to share. I wanted to get a picture of them in front of Thomas and tearing Rhino away from the train tables was very painful. I thought he would have been so excited to see Thomas, but he was too upset about not getting to play anymore.

It seemed like a good time to board the train, so we left the line for the Thomas photos. There were two covered cars and three open cars (on a very hot, sunny day.) Because we had an infant, we were allowed on a covered car and got the last seats. I'm so glad we weren't baking in the sun for an hour!

Mom sat with Heron, Jen sat with Raven, and I sat with Rhino. When the "Thomas songs" started to play over the speaker, Rhino was bobbing his head and dancing in my lap. We enjoyed a short trip past farms, ice cream stands, and a line of people with cameras and small children along the tracks. Heron decided to leave Mom's lap, take off his cap, and toss it off the train. Woops! It would have been difficult to drive through neighborhoods to find the spot where the hat dropped. Since he was on Mom's watch, she bought him a new hat. Thanks, Mom!

The boys did get their photo with Thomas! We then drove to a nearby dinner for some dinner before making our four hour journey back home. The boys seemed to have such a great time and I'm glad that we had the opportunity to visit a "real life" Thomas! Or as Rhino says "BBIIGG Thomas!"

Mom heard from a friend that the Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, NY had an exhibit about Japan. You can dress up in kimono, use chopsticks, etc. It sounded like fun – to go get a little bit of home while we're visiting over here. So she planned for a day off work and she and Jen drove the boys and I two hours up to Rochester.

We've been to a few children's museums in the past that we've really enjoyed, but this whole place blew me away! We spent about four hours there and still didn't see everything. There was a lot to do for young children like mine, but it seemed like there was plenty for older kids to do as well (which I thought the Denver Children's Museum lacked.) First we went to visit with the Berenstain Bears, where the boys worked the cash register at a restaurant, played with shapes and tools, made a helicopter fly, and created music out of rolling balls.

I forgot to bring a stroller or carrier for Raven, so we used one of the free museum strollers. It was meant for larger children that can sit up for themselves, but we made it work with lots of padding from extra clothes, a blanket and jacket, and some diapers!

There was a small butterfly garden in the museum that we walked through and saw turtles, a toucan, some swallows, and plenty of butterflies and moths. One landed momentarily on Raven's head before flittering off. If I didn't have boys to keep in line, I could have spent much longer in there chasing butterflies for photos!

Aquariums are always a huge hit with the boys. There were a few large displays with fish (of course the clown fish was very popular and every kid would scream "Nemo!")

The main attraction was the train, of course. Anything train-related is always at the top of the list! The boys played for a bit with the train tables. Then Mom took them on the train, which went around a track maybe a dozen times! They saw cows and cacti along the way. Rhino was hyperventilating with excitement!

We tore them away from the train and found the food court for some lunch. Then we hit up Sesame Street! Heron played chess with Aunt Jen, drove a taxi, and was on TV with Elmo. Rhino put together puzzles in Elmo's World, worked a hot dog cart, fixed the taxi's engine, and performed a dance routine for us on stage.

Of course we had to get pictures at the mini post office! Dad is a postman and, although he couldn't make it to the museum with us, would love it! They could write and send post cards and sort and deliver mail. I love how cute they are in the giant uniform shirts!!

I wish we could have stayed longer, but it was naptime for Heron, we were all a little worn out, and still had a two-hour drive ahead of us. We didn't get to stop by the Japan exhibit, but I think it may have been a little old for them anyway. What a great museum and such a fun day!

My sister-in-law, Jen, and I love looking at amazing baking projects from around the blogosphere. We wanted to try out hands at the outline-and-flood method of cookie decorating, as seen on three of our favorite sites, Bake at 350, i am baker, and The Sweet Adventures of Sugarbelle.

Mom and Dad live out in rural New York, right on a high-speed road. All sorts of poor animals get hit by cars out here. Hence, our inspiration. Flat cookies, flattened animals.

Here's what we did:

I used Sweet Sugarbelle's sugar cookie recipe, but added in some black food coloring to make some ugly, gray cookies. I also shook up some granulated sugar with a few drops of black food coloring in a baggy and let it dry on a plate. After we cut and transferred the cookies to a baking sheet, we sprinkled black sugar on them. When they baked, they looked like a paved road.

We made up some royal icing using Bridget's recipe, then tinted separate portions yellow, red, pink, black, gray, brown, and light brown. We used a size 5 tip to draw yellow lines on the paved road.

I drew some ideas for different flattened animals: deer, possum, raccoon, porcupine, and skunk. We used size 2 tips to outline the animals and blood pools onto the cookies.

We watered down our royal icing and put it into squeeze bottles. Once the outlines dried, we flooded the animals with their appropriate colors. We left them overnight try dry. In the morning, we used edible markers to draw on X eyes, claws, and other details. When everything was dry, we ran a toy motorcycle through some black icing and drove over the cookies to leave some tread marks.

Finally finished! Here, we have some unfortunate porcupines, deer, skunks, raccoons, and possums. Yum?

Yum!

No, we didn't eat this one …

It was a little bit more work than I usually put into cookies, but it was worth it! What awesome treats have you made lately?

When we went to visit Matt's family last January, Jen and I went out to do a little amateur-model / amateur-photographer shoot together. We got some lovely wintery shots of her. Now that the boys and I are back out here in the springtime, I thought it would be perfect to do another photo shoot and do a Seasons of Jen series!

So she put on her pretty green dress and we went out early in the morning to check out the countryside.

We found tractors, broken down barns, pretty red barns, fields of flowers, a junk pile in the middle of town, some fancy doors, and a majestic church to play with.

Jen is so much fun to photograph and can be quite a ham! Plus, she's gorgeous!

It looks like we'll still be here during part of the summer, so be sure to look out for our third installment: Jen in the Summertime!

Hello Heron, honey!

You're now nineteen months old and have definitely grown into the toddler role! You keep me chasing after you (and now, with my big belly, you're usually faster than I am!) and pulling you down from tables and shelves! You will play with toys on your own or with your brother for an extended period of time. You love musical instruments, your baby doll, ride-on toys, Lego Duplos, and animal figures (all of them make the same growl, which right now is your only animal sound effect!) You're saying "no" and causing trouble and also having sweet little conversations and offering up hugs and kisses all the time.

You went on your second big trip to the US and back. This time, to visit Daddy's family in New York! You met for the first time your Uncle Jason and Aunt Kay, Great-Aunts Connie, Barb & Sherry, second cousin Josh, Great-Uncle Brian, Great-Grandpa, Great-great-aunt Ginny, Mom-mom & Pop-pop! You warmed up quickly to everyone and enjoyed playing and eating everywhere we went. We stayed a week and a half at Grandma and Grandpa's house with your Aunt Jen and had a fun, relaxing visit. You got in a lot of exploring, playing, becoming buddies with the dogs, and getting spoiled by Grandma and Grandpa!

You're such a good eater and enjoy almost everything we put in front of you. So far the toddler pickiness hasn't set in! You love soup and lasagna, will at least try most vegetables, and devour any fruit. You're starting to use a fork and spoon sufficiently (though messily!) and have almost mastered drinking from a normal cup without spilling all over yourself!

It's been a busy, fun month of seeing a lot of people and adjusting to different schedules and time zones. We don't have any big trips planned for the near future, so this next month we'll just be at home, playing and chasing after you! I love all the joy you and your brother bring into the home. I love you so much!
 

- Mommy

While in New York, we had some beautiful snow! It wasn't blizzard-y or slushy usually, just slow-falling, not-too-cold snow. Mom & Dad live out in a really pretty, woodsy area and everything was just so gorgeous while blanketed in snow!

I of course brought my camera with me on the trip and thought it would be nice to take some portraits. Jen is a little bit of a ham and great in front of the camera (and much easier than toddlers!) so I thought a little mini photo shoot would be a fun, sisterly thing to do! I would have loved to get nice portraits of each family member … maybe some day!

We went for a short walk in the woods (the snow was too deep for my pregnant waddle to take me too far!) and pretty much just goofed around in the back yard. We thought it would be fun to get a photo from above with me in an old hunting tree stand, but when Jen went to check out how stable it was, she fell through the floor. No, thanks! We hung out at the side of the garage, playing with an old pole, hugging trees, sitting on a trashed bookshelf, etc. Goofy, but fun!!

And Jen is just too beautiful! I love her bright red hair and vibrant coat, too!

I've been MIA for a little while because we took a super top secret trip back to the US for a few weeks to surprise Matt's family! We'd been planning it with Jen, his sister, for a couple of months. She convinced their parents to take some time off work because she had a secret trip she wanted to take them on. She played it all up with special clues throughout the weeks and everything. She was perfect! Mom & Dad didn't suspect a thing (until Jason's brother-in-law accidentally spilled the news to Dad three hours before we arrived!)

We flew in late Tuesday night and Jen had convinced Mom & Dad to stay up late and wait for her (she lives in Ohio and was driving out after work, but she had to go pick us up first!) So they were up and watching Firefly at 12:30 when we just walked in the door and this was their reaction:

I'm still recovering from the time change, all the excitement, and have pregnancy-brain, so I'm not sure I'm going to be able to touch on all of what we did for two weeks. It was tons of fun, of course! We didn't make any big plans to go anywhere or do anything, just hang out around the house and play, visit with relatives (mostly everyone lives very close) and have a relaxing visit.

We went over to Aunt Ginny's and visited with her and Grandpa and Aunt Connie for Mom's birthday. Jen and I made snowman cake pops since Mom loves snowmen! Jason and Kay came over too and we had pizza and wings, cake and cake pops, and just visited with everyone. The boys loved playing in Aunt Ginny's living room, which is full of all sorts of treasures!

We also went over and visited at Mom-mom and Pop-pop's a few times. The boys loved playing with the coasters and getting spoiled by Mom-mom with Hershey Kisses and Oreos! Uncle Brian and Aunt Barb stopped by, too. We hadn't been out to New York to visit any family since Heron was born, so it was great to be able to be out there he could meet all the family!

Aunt Ginny and Grandpa and Aunt Connie came over one day to have grilled cheese sandwiches and soup and pretty much just watch the boys play! They are wild and loved all the attention! Aunt Ginny's cane was Heron's favorite toy and Rhino kept demanding doctor check-ups from Dad.

For two weeks we watched some movies, read books, played a lot of games, went out to eat, did a whole lot of playing, worked out, played with the iPad, cooked a little bit … while the boys ran circles around us! They loved the dogs, Mugsy and Jasmine, who seemed to like their company too (usually!) They were so sweet and didn't mind that they used them as chairs or tried to ride them!

Jen and I try to do regular crafting together, even while we're so far away. It was awesome to get to do some knitting together in person this time! Mom decided to join our duo and make it a Knitting Trio! We freshened her up on the basic stitches, signed her up on Ravelry, and started picking out projects. The first thing we made was some coasters, then we moved on to dish cloths.

Matt and I got to go on two dates without the boys, which was fantastic! We went out to dinner twice and to two movies (Black Swan & True Grit.) We also did some window shopping, actual shopping, and just hanging out together. We definitely need to do that more often. Our last date night was when Mom & Dad babysat the boys when they came to visit over the summer! I love just spending time with my sweetie — and actually getting to eat a whole meal without feeding/cleaning/scolding boys!

Rhino's 3rd birthday was pretty close, so Mom suggested we throw a little party for him. That sounded great to me, then I wouldn't worry about throwing a birthday party when we got back! Jason and Kay came over and celebrated with us. Jen and I made an amazing train cake with some mini loaf pans and lots of candy! It was a little sloppy (I'm so terrible at frosting cakes!) and super sugary, but awesomely fun and Rhino loved it! We sang happy birthday in the dark (he sang along) and when we turned on the lights he seemed really impressed haha. He is still crazy about Thomas & Friends, so we found some Thomas party hats and blower-thingies that he really liked. He got some great presents – a train whistle and slide whistle, some Thomas wall decals, a Toy Story memory game, a Toy Story puzzle, some cute new clothes, and we picked up an otter hand puppet (which he named Scarf for some reason!)

We left a week and a half later, on Saturday evening, to return home. The trip went really quickly and it's sad to leave knowing we won't get to visit again for a while. Even with the almost-free flight from Japan to Seattle, it's still really difficult and expensive to travel home often (especially considering between the two of us, "home" is in three different states!) We have just a little over a year left in Japan and then who knows where the Air Force will put us! Maybe closer to at least one of those states!

Thanks to Mom & Dad for letting us stay with you without any notice for almost two weeks! We loved every minute!! And a big super thanks to Jen for taking care of the surprise and coordinating everything for us! We couldn't have kept it secret without you! Love you all!!

I know I haven't posted much about knitting and crochet, but I do still pick up the needles when I get a chance! The boys have made it difficult lately, since they both love yarn! Rhino will pretend to crochet with his own huge plastic hook and scrap yarn. Heron just likes to tangle up the yarn. I think I've spent more time detangling yarn this year than I have working on projects!

It's getting cold out and the boys need hats. Their heads are getting larger and I can't seem to find Rhino's cute earflap hat from two years ago. (Would it even fit Heron, though?) So they each get new ones!

Jen and I have been doing a sister-in-law craft-along for some time now. We've crocheted amigurumi owls, embroidered Christmas cards, baked chocolate butterfly cupcakes, and this month we were on to knitting up little scarves for ourselves! We found a cute pattern on Ravelry — the "Cap'n Crunch" Cowl. I wanted to use up some stash yarn and also needed something to keep my neck warm and this was a perfect quick knit! I think Rhino looks pretty smashing in it, too!

I started a hat for Rhino from the Baby Beanies book (Cabled Greens) but it turned out a little too small for his huge head. So Heron gets another hat! I'm working on another one (in opposite brown/cream colors) for Rhino now with a few more cable twists so it's larger. Ohh, and I need to make some pom-poms for the tops! Here's Heron being super cute in his new cabled beanie.

I've also got a striped ripple afghan, four baby blankets, and a pair of slippers on the needles that I've been at forever. Maybe I'll finally knock those out this winter!

Dearest Heron,

Hello, sweetie! It’s been so wonderful spending time with you these past two months! You’ve grown so much and have been such a joy in our life! At your five month doctor’s appointment, you weighed 17 lb 7 oz (72nd percentile) and were 25 inches long (25th percentile.) You are sitting up on your own and reaching for toys, rolling over, passing objects from one hand to another, and babbling nonstop!

You love your brother Rhino so much. Whenever he’s around, you watch him, smile at him, and laugh at him. You can be in a terrible mood for me, but Rhino can almost always cheer you up! He likes to play with you and tickle you. You aren’t yet too interested in playing with him, but I’m sure soon you two will be having so much fun together!

In the past two months you’ve had your first Thanksgiving (but no turkey for you!), have met your Aunt Jen, starting attending the nursery in church, and had your first Christmas and New Year’s! You loved Christmas, playing with (chewing on) all your new toys and crinkling the wrapping paper. You also like going to the nursery in church where you can swing and watch all the other babies and toddlers. You usually get a little hungry and I come and visit with you, but I’m told you are usually very calm throughout church. Your brother liked nursery at first, and then eventually had some separation anxiety for a few months, so I won’t be surprised if you start to experience the same feelings soon.

You are starting to sleep better throughout the night. You still sleep in bed with Mommy (Daddy works at night so he never gets to sleep when you do.) You used to stay up with me and sleep downstairs or wait to go to bed until I did. I’ve just started being able to put you down at seven in the crib where you’ll sleep for a few hours before I come up to bed and snuggle down with you.

Daddy and I (and Rhino!) love you so much and can’t wait to have more fun with you next month!

Lots of Love,
Mommy