Roller Skating

Back in September, Gavin was invited to a birthday party held at the roller skating rink. I was hesitant to go because I envisioned lots of frustration and possibly broken bones; plus, I haven't skated in years. But Gavin assured me he wanted to give it a try. I told him it was similar to learning how to ride a bike with no training wheels in that there would be lots of falls before getting the hang of it.

After two hours of skating, Gavin was getting better. Luckily, the rink staff allowed me to walk along side of him as he learned. Since the party, Gavin has been asking to skate again. We finally got the opportunity over fall break. Here is a clip of Gavin and Grandma Nancy skating.  Our next skating adventure is this Thursday with his cub scout pack.

Password is "skate"

  rollerskate from GDH on Vimeo.

Fruits and Vegetables

As promised, here is the video of Gavin and Ryan singing “Fruits and Vegetables.” Gavin learned this song at school for his Johnny Appleseed play. It is very catchy and Ryan quickly picked it up. The words are listed below because the boys start giggling and it’s hard to understand them.

Fruits and Vegetables
Fruits and Vegetables
I will eat them every day.
Hmpf
Fruits and Vegetables
Fruits and Vegetables
Make me want to shout “hooray”
Chop Chop Chop
Slice Slice Slice
Grate Grate Grate
Dice Dice Dice
Fruits and Vegetables
Fruits and Vegetables
I will eat them every day
Hmpf

Enjoy! Password is “fruit”

fruitsandvegetables from GDH on Vimeo.

Weekend Fun

I thought I would share some pictures from last weekend's adventures. On Friday night, we went to the IU homecoming parade. The boys loved it. They got tons of candy. They were also mesmerized by the IU marching band. We had the opportunity to watch the drum line warm up.  Ry could not take his eyes off all of the drums and cymbals.  We also sat at the beginning of the parade route which allowed us to see the whole band playing as they marched down the street.  We definitely be back next year for this event.

On Saturday, we went to a trick or treat trail at one of the local parks.  People were dressed up along the trail and handed out candy to the kids.  We saw characters from the following TV shows and movies: Brave, Frozen, Jake and the Never Land Pirates, Spiderman, Beauty and the Beast, Dora the Explorer and Despicable Me.  As you can see from the pics, Ryan is indeed Spiderman and Gavin is Pikachu from Pokemon.

Johnny Appleseed

First, I want to apologize for not posting since Ryan's birthday.  We have been busy the last two weeks with a field trip, a play at school, fall break and a visit from Pawpaw Joe and Grandma Nancy.

Before fall break, Gavin's first grade class put on a Johnny Appleseed play.  Gavin played the role of the father.  He had to memorize several lines.  All the kids did a great job.  They also sang some really cute songs.  Gavin has taught Ryan some of these songs.  One of my next posts will be a video of them singing the "Fruits and Vegetables" song.  Until then, enjoy these two pics from Gavin's performance.

Ryan is 3!

It’s a birthday themed post! Ryan had a great 3^rd birthday.  We started off the day by getting a spiderman balloon from the grocery store.

 He also wanted cupcakes with blue icing.  Here is the before picture.  I asked him whose birthday it was and he pointed to himself.

And the after picture... he only ate the icing :)

Here he's opening presents--added some new buildings and trains to his train set and also some new puzzles.

Aunt Barb sent him a "cooking" themed package equipped with his own utensils and an apron with his name embroidered on it.  

Lots of smiles today!  A perfect day.  As I write this post, I am reminded of how often people give the advice to enjoy the time when the kids are little because it goes by too fast.  While it didn't seem like it at the time, I can believe it today as I think back three years ago when Ryan was born.  It does not seem like he can already be three.   

Fall is in the air

With a fall feel in the air, it was time to add some spooky guests to our house. The boys are getting excited about Halloween even though its weeks away. Ryan says he wants to be spiderman. We will see if that lasts.

Here are pics of them putting up some skeletons and pumpkins on the window. They are gel stickers compliments of Aunt Beth. Ry is even sporting his skeleton shirt.

4th of July Fun

Like swimming, starting a fire in the yard ranks high on the boys’ list of favorite things to do.  Add sparklers to the mix and a good night turns into a great one.

These pictures are from our 4^th of July celebration.

Password is "sparklers"

fourthofjuly2014 from GDH on Vimeo.

Singing with Mom

Ryan loves to listen to music but it’s not very often that you will hear him singing a song.  Most of the time, he wants you to sing.  Or he might sing a short song if he is in the mood.  As many of you know, Ryan is very independent and does not do anything unless HE wants too.  There is no bargaining or bribing with this kid J

After weeks of singing this particular song, I was finally able to catch it on video.   His sweet voice warms my heart.  Enjoy!

Password is "sing"

RySinging from GDH on Vimeo.

Gavin's version of this song is on the April 24, 2010 blog post.

Pool Fun

Swimming lessons kept us busy throughout the month of June.  While some mornings were rather cool, that did not deter the boys from swimming.  Both of them love the pool.  Ryan has a floating device that lets him swim “all by himself” (as he says). Gavin’s swimming has improved tremendously.  He can jump off the diving board and swim to the side.  I think he asked me every day if we could go swimming.  Here are a couple of pics from our time at the IU Outdoor Pool.  

After school fun

Well, I was unsuccessful at keeping up the blog over the summer but I am back and ready to post lots of fun pictures and videos.   We had a great summer.  The boys kept us busy from sun-up to sun-down. 

Gavin has been back in school for almost three weeks.  So far, he thinks 1^st grade is pretty cool. 

Ryan and I are spending our days going to parks, grocery shopping, gymnastics and playing in his toy room.

While Gavin has been at school, Ryan has learned how to drive the jeep.  With this new skill, the boys have found a new after school activity.  Watch and enjoy! 

Password is "cars"

bumpercars from GDH on Vimeo.

Way back Wednesday

I thought it was time for another "way back wednesday" post. This video was taken in May 2012 at Andrea's house. Gavin's love of singing continues today. And Ryan now wears that truck shirt.

My posts may become more of a bi-weekly thing as our summer is busy.  It is challenging to keep both boys busy all day.  It leaves little time for other activities but I will do my best to keep you updated on our summer adventures.

McCormick's Creek

A few pictures from our recent trip to McCormick's Creek State Park. The boys loved walking the trail to the waterfall and of course playing in the water. They are already asking when we can go back to the park.

Clearly someone was exhausted after hiking and swimming.

Storytelling

Pawpaw Joe this video is for you.  Apparently you and Ryan are building a stadium with BIG sticks and sticker bushes.  He is quite the storyteller.

Password is "phone"


Talkingtopawpaw from GDH on Vimeo.

Cruising the streets

After about a month of trying, Gavin figured out how to ride his bike without the training wheels. He was so excited.

Now we have quite the parade of vehicles in the cul-de-sac: bikes, tricycles, scooters, big wheels and a motorized jeep.

Password is "bike"


firstbikeride from GDH on Vimeo.

Just another day at the office

Just like the car, the boys think playing in Dad's office is one of the greatest things.  These pictures were taken last week.  One of our cars was in the shop so we had to take Dad to and from work. Gavin was also playing; I just didn't get a picture of him.  He was sitting in a chair listening to his ipod and singing along with Taylor Swift.

Bath Time Sillies

I think the blog title says it all.  The boys love taking a bath in the "big tub" as they call it.  I captured this video a couple of weeks ago but it pretty much sums up most bath nights.  Enjoy!

Password is "bath"


Bathtimesillies from GDH on Vimeo.

Happy Easter!

The boys and I went to Grandma Nancy and Pawpaw Joe's new house for the Easter weekend.  The boys had so much fun outside.  They spent a lot of time playing in the sand pile, walking through the muddy creek with their rain boots, and throwing rocks from the train tracks.  They were two tired boys by the time Sunday rolled around.

A few pics from the Easter egg hunt. Gavin was excited about finding the eggs. Ryan was only interested in eating candy.  He has a mouth-full of chocolate in the second picture.

Rain Boots

A follow-up post to last week...rain boots have been bought! The boys continue to have fun playing in the puddles.

We had to hose them off after this picture was taken...both boys fell in. They were a muddy mess!

Rain Rain

Our house sits in the low spot of the neighborhood and when it rains we have a small river that runs through our backyard.  The boys have patiently waited for a chance to play in this water and finally got to last week. It had rained for 2 1/2 days and by Friday the river was ready for action.  The boys put on their snow boots (rain boots will be our next purchase) and out they went.

Monkey Joe's

I completely dropped the ball last week and forgot to post. I uploaded the video but never came back to publish the post.  My apologies.

Over spring break, Gavin and Ryan went to Monkey Joe's, an inflatables and arcade place, near my parent's house.  They have been asking to go to a bounce house so this was the perfect opportunity.  Of course they had a blast and are already begging to go back the next time we are at grandma and pawpaw's house.

Here is a video of them going down the "big" slide.  Enjoy!

Password is "slide"



slide from GDH on Vimeo.

Random Pictures

This past week, Gavin was the "Star of week" in his class.  Each week a student gets to decorate the classroom bulletin board with pictures and facts about themselves.  It's hard to see from the pic but Gavin's favorite color is green and his favorite food is ice cream.  He chose some family pics, vacation pics and baseball and soccer pics.

Both boys think that playing in the car is one of the greatest things to do.  I snapped this pic earlier this week and now I can't help but think "oh lord...watch out for these boys in about 10-15 years!"  This pic is a true representation of them...Ryan is the gas and Gavin is along for the ride (at least he has his seat belt on)!

This was taken on one of the first nice days we had. Ryan couldn't get outside fast enough. We spent lots of time walking through our "small wooded area"...stomping on leaves and picking up sticks.  Spring cannot come fast enough for all of us. 

Gavin has spring break next week so look for another post in two weeks.  Hurry up spring weather!

Gymanstics

One of the things I think the boys miss most from Texas are the bounce/jump houses. There were several close to our house and we were frequent jumpers at all of them.

Bloomington only has one bounce house and it is more like Chuck e Cheese.  It is mostly arcade games with a few inflatables.  Needless to say I was super excited to find this gem, the Bloomington United Gymnastics & Soccer program, (BUGS for short).  They have open play several times a week.  The kids can hang on the bars, walk on the balance beams, jump into foam pits, ride a zipline, climb on foam mats, play in a ball pit, and run around a huge padded area.  Ryan and I have been several times and he loves it.  It is one place that will allow him to do all of his favorite activities (run, jump and climb).  Here is a clip of him jumping into the foam pit.

Password is "gym"


gymnastics from GDH on Vimeo.

Dance Party

If you would have stopped by our house last Saturday morning, you would have seen this performance live. The boys are currently obsessed with the music from the movie "Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked."
We listen to it all the time...in the car on the way to and from school and at home.

Password is "dance"

Enjoy :)


SaturdayMorningDanceParty from GDH on Vimeo.

Snow Fun!

After weeks of trying to convince Ryan to play in the snow, we finally succeeded over the weekend.  We got him out there Friday and Saturday.

Gavin, being the great big brother he is, took Ryan on his first sled ride. And Ryan loved it (even after being dumped face first in the snow on the second time down the hill!) After that incident he preferred to sled with me or by himself. But he stayed out there and asked to go back out the second day.

Eeek...this is Gavin going down head first, with a push from Pawpaw Joe! He loved it!

Fun at the mall

A couple of weeks ago, we went to the mall so Gavin could use the Build-a-Bear gift card he received from Santa. We barely made it in the door and the boys spied the "rides" area. Luckily they were happy just getting on and off the rides. Otherwise we would have been broke!

We eventually made it to build-a-bear and Gavin made a cat and Ryan made a bear.

Hoping today is the last day of the bitter cold. We are counting down the days until spring. The boys are ready to be outside.

Cookies!

Sorry for the late post; yesterday got away from me.

Not much new happening here. Just another cold week. We have been trying to keep the boys busy with inside activities. This past weekend's project was making cookies. They had fun using the cookie cutters and sprinkles. Here are a few action shots.

Birthday Wishes

A special birthday video for Pawpaw Joe.
I told Ryan that today was PawPaw's Birthday and he had to get the candles out and sing.
(Password: "Happy")

Happy Birthday from GDH on Vimeo.

Dreaming of warmer weather

As I write this post, it is snowing...again and I am dreaming of warm summer air.

One of our favorite Texas activities was to play at the splash pads.  There were several within a short distance from our house.  We would gather our swimming gear, pack a picnic lunch, and meet our friends at the splash pads for a fun filled day.

These pictures were taken last July at a neighborhood splash pad.  Lots of water spouting from the ground and buckets dumping water.  The boys loved this place.   They always took good naps after a morning of water fun!

Baby it's cold outside!

Wow what a stretch of weather this has been. We have been stuck inside our house since Friday. Needless to say I think everyone has a slight case of cabin fever. Hopefully tomorrow things will get back to normal. Gavin has school for the first time since Dec 20. Justin is headed to Chicago for a conference. And grandma Nancy and pawpaw Joe are planning to come and help me with the boys (as long as the weather stays clear).

Here are some pics of our hibernation activities (not pictured....lots of movie, wii and ipod time!).

Craft Time!

Moving the couches around so the boys can climb and jump.

Bath time. The boys love taking a bath in the "big tub" with the jets on. It's like a small swimming pool for Ryan.

Happy 2014! Hope it warms up soon!