Andrews Family

Dinner Date

2012-01-31T18:42:00.001-05:00

Now that the kids are getting older they are becoming more social than ever!! Play dates, movie nights and now dinner out. (it helps my best friend is the mom)

Buffalo Wild Wings will never be the same again.

Snow Day!!!

2012-01-29T16:33:00.001-05:00

Snow Day!!! We are finally getting some snow!
The kids have been all excited and they finally have something to go play in. Brendan is all excited to learn how to use Brian's new huge snowblower & Ben just wants to build a snowman.

Knights

2012-01-28T17:56:00.001-05:00

Today we went to Berkley's Winterfest, although we has no snow this year (but that's a whole other story). We got to see the craft show, Maddie entered the coloring contest and also got a snowman craft to make.
But the highlight for the day was getting to watch the knights demo. Ben loved it the most! Of course afterwards Ben then proceeds to beat Brendan up and the two were playing for a good 5 minutes, someone came over to tell us about a kids program they have so we will have to check it out for Brendan.

Lunch Date

2012-01-27T12:02:00.001-05:00

My favorite thing (and somehow it's the part I also don't like) about Madde's kindergarten class this year is that it is half day. That means we can still have our lunch dates.
On Wed. we meet my girlfriend out at Hogger's (great BBQ) and one other day of the week we just go out.
This week it is TLC (great soups, sandwiches & wraps).

Till tomorrow.....

Blog on iPhone

2012-01-26T08:39:00.001-05:00

I gotta say I love my new phone. Now I am even able to blog right from my iPhone!!!
Here is my Benny date (at least once a week) after we drop the older to off at school.

Snow Hill

2011-01-13T14:09:00.002-05:00

Well with all the snow we had on Wednesday of course we had to take the kids out to play in it. (And I use we very loosely, meaning Brian helped the kids while I toughed it out in the warm truck taking videos and photos)

Here are the kids sledding.

Maddie showing off her stellar balance skills while sledding down on Brendan's snowboard.

Ben waiting for Brian to come and get him to be carried back to the top, Maddie being a little snow bunny can carrying the snowboard up the hill her self, and Brendan acting goofy to make Ben laugh.

I have some very cool videos to edit (once I remember how) and will post very soon.

But in the mean time here is a photo of everyone:

Ben is such a ham these days.

Christmas Videos!!!!

2010-12-26T10:12:00.002-05:00

I have the Christmas videos up on YouTube but for some reason I can't the videos to load correctly (videos are in wide screen and blogger doesn't like that) so rather than cut off part of the video here is a link to them on my You Tube channel.
(note:it may be smart to subscribe to the channel, you may get emails when I add videos).

Here are the links:
Link #1: Christmas Video

Link #2: Christmas Video 2

Hopefully next time I will know how to edit the videos correctly.

Benjamin's First Hair Cut

2010-11-10T08:02:00.000-05:00

Benjamin's First Hair Cut at the Chop Shop.....on Aug. 26th....

he wasn't quite sure what was going on....

he was two face, well two hair for a bit....

he was so done....

I don't think he likes it....

but once he sees the new do he was all smiles.....

Great first hair cut Ben.

Halloween

2010-11-09T09:45:00.000-05:00

Here are the kids in their Halloween costumes this year.

We have Brendan the Ninja.....

Beauty and the Beast.....

with Benny as the Beast....

The kids had a blast Trick-or-Treating with their friends and of course getting tons of candy. It is cool now that Brendan is in school, we run into alot of his friends while we are out, plus it helps being a street over from 'the Berkley Boneyard'. Next year we will have to video tape it on one of our nightly visits.

Maddie & Trouble Maker

2010-11-08T21:09:00.003-05:00

Madelyn's End of the Year School Picnic.

Of course she loves her Benjamin.

Maddie with her best friend from the school year.

Trouble maker Benjamin.

Ben can clear all the toys off the shelf in 3.5 seconds it seems. We need the shelf here to keep him away from the tv, dvr box and playstation but he just can't play if there are toys on the shelf.

Photos from June 2010.

Summer Update

2010-11-08T20:57:00.002-05:00

Now that I have a little bit more time and the computer where I can be on it daily I will try to get photos updated and try to keep on top of it better.

Right now I am trying to figure out how to get the photos web ready and up to the blog and then I will work on some of the videos that we have as well.

So stay posted as hopefully I can even have some photos up today.

Maddie's New Bike

2010-06-01T16:25:00.001-04:00

Here is a video of Maddie riding her new bike that she got yesterday from Papa & Grandma Andrews. This is her second time going down the street. She is a natural. And today she rode all the way to Brendan's school and back.

Ben & Maddie's Birthday Party

2010-04-14T08:50:00.004-04:00

A couple of days before their party Madelyn wanted to spend some of her birthday money on some clothes. Here are the dresses that she picked out. Ben got a cute summer outfit too. (But girl clothes are so much more fun).....Benjamin wanting to go outside to help the guys grill. They had the front of the garage rocking the 'man cave' with the grill, smoker, chairs & of course a mini-beer keg......
Ben saying "It's my party I will cry if you hold me" but he said that to everyone. He wasn't having what we would call a 'good' day his party day......
The Princess Maddie opening her presents....
Brian trying to help Ben open his.....
Maddie with their cake....Happy Birthday To You.....
Ben trying to blow out his candle....I did teach him to blow for the last week but of course all he wanted was to lick the candle....
And throw the cake on the floor.....yes that is really what he did....and yes of course I said don't clean it up yet I need my camera....(but we didn't get any cake photos of ben since he didn't want his cake).....
The kids birthday cake...we also had lots of cupcakes...

Okay for those I haven't talk to lately......Ben is Brendan all over again. He is in the cabinets, he climbing out of his high chair, climbing up the stairs, trying to fall down the stairs, climbing on the couch...just all out trouble. So we are ready to pass the trouble around....who would like him shipped to them first?
Just kidding, we love our little trouble maker. (and yes Miss Maddie has given him that nick-name)

Easter...Almost

2010-04-03T21:06:00.004-04:00

I finally have my photo viewing software on my laptop so hopefully I can keep a better update on this blog.

Getting ready for Easter around here. Our first event was the Marshmallow Drop at the park down the street on Friday. Here are some photos from this event:
The helicopter dropping the marshmallows from the sky.....
Here are the kids (with Brendan's girl-friend who was with us for the day) with their marshmallows in their nets......
After all fun we tried to go to the zoo but it was CRAZY busy so we went to our snow-hill park instead for a picnic instead. Here is crazy Benny on the swing...

On the slide....(he makes that scrunched up nose face all the time)
See nose note again....
On Saturday morning we had Breakfast with the Bunny. Here are the kids looking cute. (Nose yet again).....
My Maddie Princess....
My good-looking Big D....(so handsome)...
All the kids, with no one crying, sitting with the Easter Bunny....
After dinner it was time to dye the easter eggs to leave for the Easter Bunny to hide.....
Tomorrow is the big Easter Day...
Here comes Peter Cotton-tail,

Hopping down the Bunny trail,

Hipp-a-dee Hopp-a-dee,

Easter on its way!

Happy Easter Everyone!!!!

Maddie's Hair

2010-03-26T09:58:00.004-04:00

We are getting ready to have Madelyn & Benjamin's birthday parties on Saturday and I wanted Maddie's hair to be curly. I remember these pink curlers that my grandma used to put in my hair so I get some at Target to do to Maddie. She was soooo excited that she had no problem letting me play with her hair last night (normally she doesn't let me play with her hair as much as I would like to).
Here she is letting me put the curlers in last night:Here she is with a head full of curlers:And the final result this morning:
She is so cute. I asked her if she would let me do it again tonight since this was just practice to see if her hair would curl. She said yes, yippee more mommy play time with her hair. Now I am thinking I should get a small and large curling iron, a crimmper.....hum what else can we do to her hair?

Of course we can't forget the boys. Here is Ben with his natural curl after a bath:
Brendan playing goalie in his last pillo pollo game last night:

First lost tooth & Pinewood Derby

2010-03-18T20:53:00.004-04:00

Brendan finally lost his first tooth. It was so much fun to pick on him to try to let us pull it out. Here are the loose tooth & hole in the mouth photos:
Yes his tooth is still in his mouth in this photo, he could just push it that far.

Finally the tooth is gone :)!!!!!

Helping daddy work on his pine wood derby car for the Cub Scouts.
The race track....
The leader board...(Brendan came in first in that race)
Over all Brendan's first pine wood derby was a great success. He came in 1st place in the Tiger den & 2nd place over all in the finals. Here he is with his pinewood derby pin & trophy.

A new Camera, finally pictures :)

2010-02-22T09:37:00.005-05:00

My new camera came and we have been using it about every other day since we opened it. Here are some photos of the kids to give you updates:
Ben is our little monster now. (But he is soo cute) Here he is trying to bug Brendan while he plays his DS.
Every meal is a messy meal these days. Me getting Madelyn ready for the Daddy Daughter Dance at her school. Daddy & his Daughter just before they left for the dance. Maddie had sooo much fun, it was all she could talk about for a couple of days.
Of course our other baby Mojo who doesn't really like being outside for more than 5 minutes. He doesn't know that he was suppose to be a hunting dog. Did we tell you guys that Benjamin was our little monster? Yeah talk about Brendan all over again. Trying to get underneath the baby gates....Yes he is eating again. Every meal is now just a matter of what to feed the crazy man. Brendan's indoor soccer team - the Sharks. Team Photo...His trophy. Brendan is going to take a break from soccer this spring and try his hand at baseball (yes I really got him signed up this year, go me!)
Madelyn is still in dance and will have her recital in the late Spring.
Ben we are just trying to keep out of trouble right now. But at almost 11 months is not walking yet. Note the yet, any day now he is just going to stand up and start running.

Update

2010-01-18T14:44:00.003-05:00

Well I have been IMA for a while now. But finally I am back.
We had a slight Laptop crash but no photos were harmed or lost in the process. They are just waiting on our spare backup harddrive for me to find time to get to. Humm, don't see that happening this week.

But I do have photos from when we took the kids to see the Ringling Bros. Circus back in November. The kids had a blast & Brendan got all the gags that the clowns were doing between performers so it was great watching him laugh so hard I thought we was going to fall out of his seat.

Here are some of my favorites:
The motorcycle on the high-wire with the lady underneath.... All the elephants...
Brendan with is cool hat....
Me & Ben...
Daddy with all his kiddie's.....

Indoor Soccer & Easy Bake Oven

2009-12-20T20:37:00.002-05:00

Here are some photos of Brendan's final game of Season 1 of indoor soccer. His team ending the season in second place with 4 wins and 2 losses. Season 2 starts after the new year and hopefully we can get some better video of him getting some good shots in.

One of the presents that Madelyn got from Grandma & Papa Andrews yesterday was a Easy Bake Oven. Of course we had to use it today. Here is her looking at her cake bake in the oven.
Getting ready to mix the frosting for the cake.
Her mixing... (I knew she was going to be getting this so when we were at Crate & Barrel I saw these really cute mini-spatula's and had to get her the set)
Of course you have to taste the frosting to make sure it is good, I am guessing from the smile that it is.
Daddy helping to take the cake out.
Maddie & Daddy watching her cake cool.
Maddie frosting all by herself. Of course she ate the whole thing all by herself too. Reminds me of the little Red Hen book.

Christmas in Flint

2009-12-20T20:30:00.004-05:00

Here are the photos from Christmas in Flint.
Since we didn't put our tree up at home here are the kids in front of the Christmas Tree.
Maddie:Brendan:
Benjamin:
Daddy with the Benny-man. Maddie with her pile of Presents.
Ben trying to eat the paper.
Brendan loving the DS games.....
And legos.
Easy Bake oven...
and Barbies. :)
The piles of paper after opening all the presents.

Ben's 6 months Photos

2009-11-25T21:29:00.002-05:00

My baby is growing up so fast. Here are a couple of the photos that we took for his 6 month old photos. I have a couple more that I want to touch up still.
Of course we love our black & white photos. And one of all 3 kiddies. It is really really hard to get all three looking good/at the camera so this is the best of them.

Brendan's Final Soccer Game

2009-10-26T12:21:00.002-04:00

Saturday was Brendan's final soccer game of the Fall season. He of course had a blast playing for the Skyhawks. Some of the kids on his team have been together now for at least 3 years, and given that they are only 7 is quite a long time.

But as one season ends another begins. Brendan is going to try the in-door soccer and see how he likes that and of course it starts next week! No rest.

Here are some photos from his final game:
Brendan's team are in the yellow pennys b/c both teams were red. (ours Clawson and the other a Royal Oak team)
Brendan running the ball. He got two goals in this game.
Brendan's team: Brian was the other coach this season but he was gone teaching a outdoors class this past weekend.
Our silly face soccer star:
I am going to try to see if the video I shot will load correctly:

Ben Eating....

2009-10-16T19:40:00.002-04:00

As all of you probably know baby Ben likes to eat. And even though he is only 6 months old he is already eating quite a bit of solid food. For example those little baby puff bites, teether biscuits, the soft part of the bread that comes with a salad at Panera (that is one if his favorites). But the other day while eating his teether biscuit thing he looked like this....And of course everyone needs one of those baby photos with food all over the face.
And while Ben was eating (he eats all day long about once every other hour but sleeps all night so I am not complaining) the older two kids were being cute. Here is Brendan playing his DS that he got for his birthday & letting Maddie look over his shoulder to watch. What you can't hear in a photo was Maddie telling Brendan what to do like she had a clue then saying "Good job Big D!"
Brendan has a weekly spelling test now that he is in the first grade. He worked hard all week on learning all his spelling words and was really excited about getting a sticker on his test. So of course we had to put it on the fridge to show to Daddy.

Yes I have issues and here they come out. Madelyn gets to bring snack to her soccer game tomorrow and me looking for any excuse to use (and/or buy stamps) I will take it. So we (I use that very loosely here) made goodies bags for the after game snack. Her team color is red & on the back it sayes Go Bulldogs. Inside is a RiceKrispies Treat & a fruit snack pack.

Georgia Trip

2009-10-02T13:34:00.003-04:00

Most everyone knows that Benjamin and I flew down to Georgia to visit with family and for Ben to meet his great-grandfather before he past way. Luckily we made it in time for Ben to still be able to bring a smile to his great-grandfather face. Well since most of our time in Georgia was spent with red-eyes by most I wasn't able to get that many photos. But the other wonderful thing was this was the first time ever that all the grandkids where in the same state let alone the same room. So if I can I will post a photo take by my Aunt of that.

But kids are the best form of therapy and Benjamin (not even knowing it) did a wonderful job of bringing smiles out of everyone around.
Here are some of the photos that I took:
Violet really got a kick out of Ben being smaller than her, and for the most part she was pretty gentle with him.
Papa's make the best bed's for naps not at home...but of course Papa took one too.
Here is Ben with my cousin Bekah.
And with John (he liked Ben but was nervous holding hims since he wiggles so much).

And Rain. It rained everyday I was there and of course on Monday the day before my flight back home Dad's yard became river back property.
Here are some photos. This is how it looked, all dark, brown and wet.
Here is the flash on the camera showing off all that nice Georgia Red-clay water.
The rocks on the bottom of the larger pond dad had to go out and put out two additional rows from his walkway to keep the fish in his pond.
This one is blurry but you get the idea, this is normally his back yard. The row of smaller green bushes on the right side about the middle of the picture is the neighbor's yard.
My dad out standing in the flowing water, where he is standing up to just below his knee is normally grass.

Lots of Updates

2009-09-14T14:15:00.006-04:00

Here are the up-dates that I have been trying to get on-line.
Here is Madelyn at her dance class.
Madelyn at soccer practice.

Brendan's birthday cake.
Brendan's kids putt-putt party on Saturday.

The boys playing together at the family party on Sunday.
Brendan and Benjamin. My 'boys'
Benjamin with his green bean face.
The kids new favorite breakfast treat. "Dutch baby's"

Madelyn's first day of school.

Madelyn and Daddy starting a fire with steel and flint.

Brendan opening his presents on Sunday.

Back to School

2009-09-09T13:26:00.003-04:00

Here are some photos from the kids first day of school on Tuesday.

Brendan was really excited to see some of his old friends, most he didn't see over the summer. Also his 'girl-friend' is in his class & he sits next to another of his old classmates.
Getting back in the truck to take Maddie to school.
Madelyn outside of her school.

By her coat hook.
Sitting on the circle rug ready for the class to start.
I made it through the day with no tears, but I still had my Ben with me. In three years I may not be able to stay tear-free with all my babies gone. But that is a long ways off.

Jen

Brian's Blackberry

2009-08-27T13:20:00.006-04:00

As most of you know Brian got a new blackberry. Lets just say I have a feeling I know what my Mother's Day present is going to be. (Since I know I can't get one until April 15th)

Well of course Brian's phone can take photos but now with his we can get them off the phone really easy and without having to buy any memory cards or anything.
So here are so photos from his phone:

We went up to Holly where Papa & Grandma Andrews were camping to have them watch the kids for a bit so I could try out our new canoe that we bought. Here are the older kids on a rock. They loved climbing up the rock. Our newest canoe on Brian's truck. (over the winter we have a trailer that he gets to modify to fit our canoes & some stuff)
Madelyn at a Robina Rhapsody concert.
Madelyn showing off some Power Ranger moves at one of Brendan's premier soccer practices. She of course has to wear her soccer gear for D's practice.
Big G-Man. At the same soccer practice. (it is hard to find baby soccer shirts but I found two - this is not one of them but looks soccer-ish)
I have no clue what she is doing. But I know we are at the zoo doing it.
Again no clue.
Oh still no clue.
Brendan doing the monkey bars - these really make you look like a monkey with the swinging you do.

On the frog outside the humm, the frog house!?! Ribbet, ribbet.
The kids being nice to one another and playing with D's leapster - I bought Maddie a couple of games so she is getting better at playing with it too.

Ben's 3 month photos

2009-07-31T23:04:00.003-04:00

Summer Fun!!!

2009-07-21T13:32:00.013-04:00

Okay, two weeks of updates all at once.
I took the kids to see a $1 movie but of course the AMC theathre that was showing it wasn't any of the 3 that are really close to us. So we made a day of it and went to the Rochester Museum after lunch.
Here are the photos from our visit.
The family farm that is now the museum was very forward thinking for the times, the women went to college and one was a doctor & the sister a teacher and her daughter was a vet who went on to make the family farm the largest dairy farm in the state. The family house. The center was original part of the house and the sides where added when the house was moved to this spot.

The remains of the dairy cow barn.
The dairy barn.

The calf barn.
This machine puts potatoes in the ground. The kids had fun guessing what it was used for. Brendan thought it might fly.
The bull barn with the bull runs on the back.
The kids playing on the play ground there.

We have also been going to see music in the park in a local city with Brian's friend. Here are the kids being good for once...hehe.
Brian thinking lady put the camera down & take your baby!!! Benjamin crying for once.
Madelyn being cute eating a ice cream sandwich.
The kids playing around of course.

Benjamin is really happy on his first trip to the 'boys' house.
Brian and the kids checking out the buffalo.
Brendan shooting my pink .22, he is a great shot with the scope.
Daddy taking his princess for a ride.

The other concert we went to, the hair was crazy but the band was great.

I took the kids to the zoo....
And we found Dinosaurs!!!
Here are the dino photos from the traveling exhibit...

(this T-rex was HUGE!, they had him ontop a hill and I couldn't get him & the kids in the photo together)
Digging for bones...

Ben was so excited he fell asleep...
Brendan and Madelyn getting to move the robo-dino.
The lazy tigers...
The lazy rinos...

Ben is now rolling over. Here he is going from his back to his belly. Of course once he gets to his belly he gets mad.

Cute smiles...
Big baby back...
And of course Brian. Once again this year I managed to get a load of wood dropped off so we can use our wood-stove for free heat. But at least this year Brian is not mad at me for getting hard to split wood. One more load like this and we will have enough for our long Michigan winters.

Camping Cont.

2009-07-07T12:05:00.006-04:00

Here are the photos from my other camera of our camping trip.
Crazy kids at camp...My screened tent that I bought last year, first time out in use. I love & I know Brian will never say so but he likes it too.
Brian's tarp (brendan picked out the color) to keep things dry but also out of the truck or teepee.
We went to the Nature Center to hear a program on Toads & Frogs and this was the toad that they had. The kids also made origami frogs.
Brendan checking out the caterpillars, his kindergarten class also had some too.
Again with the weird things that boys do. We are in downtown Grand Haven for dinner with friends.
Here are two of Matt & Tracey's kids.
Here is the third, Brendan's new girl friend I think.

Daddy helping Madelyn push Benjamin to the ice cream shop. Yes it is cold out and yes the kids still want ice cream and of course I got one too!
Brian with one of our axes 'in action'.
How to build a fire 101. Of course I was not paying any attention as I was too busy taking pictures.
Here is one of our lovely axes.
In use again....
Our beginning fire and yes we had to have Slurpee's. Can't you see how hard we have it when camping (you did see our breakfast correct?)
Here are the horses at Matt & Tracey's house. Matt's dad - Cowboy Bob - lives in the pull barn and now has these two horses.
Cowboy Bob taking the kids for a ride.
Dylan taking a turn.
Dylan did let Brendan drive around too.
Benjamin given up smiles...

His serious face...
His Elvis lip (just like Madelyn on this trick)..
And of course since all of you know that July 4th was my birthday Brian was a sweet heart and went & got me a DQ ice cream cake. (Which was a HUGE hit with Brendan & Madelyn).

Camping

2009-07-06T15:39:00.005-04:00

We went camping the week before the 4th over to the West side of Michigan. We stayed at P.J. Hoffmaster State Park. The weather was on the cooler side so the kids couldn't go swimming but we had fun anyway. Here are some photos from our trip (I have some more on my other camera too)
Our Teepee at camp:Brian cooking me and the kids breakfast:
Brian with his kiddies....
Brendan reading a compass, he is better at it than I am!...
Brian took the kids on a walk while mommy & Benjamin took a nap....
I did go on the mile hike though, and I had Ben for all but the climb up the sand dune...
Brendan spotted some deer tracks....
Still walking...
My little outdoors man....
Madelyn going up the last part of the dune...
On the top of the dune at Lake Michigan...
Daddy & Benny....
Brendan.....
Even though it is cool out the kids still had the get their feet wet...
Most of Madelyn ended up wet too...Hum I wonder why...

Horseback Riding

2009-06-30T07:23:00.003-04:00

Normally, a post like this would go here, but I already posted it here on my blog.

I don't want to re-post, so check there for lots of pictures of the kiddies.

Brian

End of June photos

2009-06-26T11:15:00.004-04:00

I bought the kids a new slip-n-slide for the summer...
Here is Brendan showing Madelyn how it is done...Maybe not...
Boys are so weird.....
Here is Benjamin at the spray park...
Madelyn didn't like the water getting her hair wet so she hang out with me for most of the time here....
Brendan had a blast being able to shoot people with the water guns & running in the spray...
Madelyn did like going into the giant maze...
Here she is following Brendan around....
Brendan drew a picture for Benjamin...
Here is his art work...
And of course Madelyn can't be out done and drew one too...(she says it says the same as Brendan's does but with her name at the end.)
Close up...
And Brendan had to show it to Ben too. (Madelyn did too but that poor girl is a moose & all I got was Madelyn butt in the photo)

Brendan's Last Soccer Game

2009-06-25T22:39:00.002-04:00

Brendan did so good during spring soccer this year. We haven't take many photos or video, so I decided of his last game.

Here is his first goal.

Here is his second goal.

A little bit of goalie.

I missed a VERY good goalie play because Maddie was off getting stuck in a tree.

That is all for now. Brendan just went to try-outs for a more advanced skills school. He did very good, so I have no doubts that he will make it.

Ton's of Updates...

2009-06-25T16:35:00.006-04:00

Okay you would think that with both Brendan & Madelyn at Vacation Bible School this week for 3 hours a day I would find time to get stuff done. Nope! Oh well. Finally here is a update that covers the last month. (well most of it anyway)

Brendan had his end of the school year picnic at Bacon park the day before school got out and here are some photos from it. I had a cake made by Cindy @ The Lunch Cafe for his class. (each student has their name written on a cone.)The class did a water balloon toss....
Brendan getting some final hugs in from some of his girls...(this one was his favorite this year & Madelyn's too)
Brendan with his teacher Miss Morrison....

On Brendan's soccer game the kids got to get the coach's with water balloon's. That was their favorite thing to do.
We had Father's Day at Papa's house a week before so Daddy could teach his class for the Solar Group. Here are the kids helping papa open his present because you know he can't do it himself. :)

Madelyn with her Ben.
The first Robina Rhapsody concert of the summer. These are put on by my Women's Club.
Brendan has the hula-hoop action going!
Daddy with Ben.
The kids helping daddy put up the teepee at the Great Campout! (we ended up taking it down again at about 7:30 due to rain drops starting to fall) (I do not camp in the rain unless I have too!)
Brendan fishing at the Bacon park!
Here we are on our GEO poker run.
Ben crying. (poor guy, tough life)
Madelyn getting to find out what her cards are.
Her poker hand, she ended up winning two tickets to either of Oakland County's waterparks.
Swimming at Mrs. Barb's house on Father's Day.
Both the kids swam for 2 and 1/2 hours straight!
Ben is his swim suit since I can't take his photo in the pool with out risking the camera.
More to come, stay tuned.

Weekend Fun!!!

2009-06-03T22:05:00.004-04:00

This past weekend we took the kids out on Sunday to Maybury Statepark. To get this gang going we decided to pack a lunch to have at the park. Of course silly Brian has to take it up a notch and make the kids Mac & Cheese instead of just packing sandwiches like we had. Here is his cooking lunch set up:He used our new backpacking pans & plate set so it was very light and easy to do. Now if I can get him to make me lunch....
Here is Madelyn being cute on the tire swing...
This sign just says it all I think. Michigan one of those great places that can turn a Sanatorium into a state park, go figure. I guess that is why I felt right at home here huh? JK.
Our main reason to visit today was to check out the horse stables and riding area that is also housed on part of the park. Since I missed the sign up for tee-ball (again! this year!) we deceided to put Brendan in some sort of horseback riding thing. But of course we aren't interested in the English style with the funny hats & jumping tricks. So this is the one place that I found (well the only place I could fine) that had western style of riding. He is too young for the summer camp this year but old enough to have private lessons. But we wanted him to have a chance to ride before we signed him up. Those horses are pretty big for even me. Both Brendan and Madelyn got a 'pony' ride while we were there. (Pony ride just means walked around the corral.)
Here is Brendan getting ready to start his ride...
Miss Madelyn riding, Brian walked next to her so she wouldn't fall off. Her poor little short legs won't be able to hold her up much.
The photo isn't in great focus but the big smile on her face sayes it all!
And after we went home and had dinner our fun wasn't over! We went and walked to Dairy Queen, and since we walked eating a sundae equals itself out, well at least in Jennifer logic!
Madelyn's icecream face...
Brendan's icecream face...

Some updated photos of Mister Benjamin...he is starting to smile all the time now....
Watching Mojo walk next to him. He loves to watch the dog most.
Showing off his rolly-pollyness. Those poor arms don't have room for any more rolls.

Funny Spoof

2009-05-28T22:52:00.003-04:00

I found this on another blog and I just love it!

Here it is:

World's Longest Post!!!!

2009-05-18T13:06:00.009-04:00

Okay instead of trying to do this over a couple days, here is just one really long post with all the photo's that I have been trying to put up. Plus I still have my other camera to do!!!!
Here are the kids Easter Egg Hunting....
Benjamin one month old! Sleeping babies are so cute!Benjamin's first real bath. Cowboy Up!!!
When Grandma & Aunt Gayle came to visit Grandma brought Brendan a real cowboy hat & shirt and Madelyn really cute pink boots.
Brendan reading to grandma...
Grandma getting some baby time...
With the younger kiddies....
Aunt Gayle getting some Benjamin time in too...
Brendan showing off his soccer skills for his visiting family...
Grandma getting some side-line cuddle time in...
Madelyn making goofy faces at me...Such a girl!
Brendan being goalie, catching the ball and throwing it back into play.
Madelyn and Violet eating lunch. Thank goodness Madelyn is good at sharing, she just lost half of her lunch!
Playing at the park.
Violet's turn...
The girls getting into trouble together...
Riding in style...
Being pulled by Grandma...
What a girl, the largest bling in the whole museum and Madelyn attaches herself to it!
The girls...
Grandma with her girls...
Madelyn digging for dinosaur eggs at the Museum...
Papa giving the girls some tickle time..
Brendan's Mother's Day Tea at school...
The poem he wrote for me...
My Mother's Day present....(we are playing Pokemon)
Brendan looking like Mr. GQ on Mother's Day at Grandma & Papa's House...
Madelyn again with the faces!
Papa also getting some faces & story's from Mr. Ben
Daddy & Brendan on the tractor. (Of course Madelyn had some rides too)
Madelyn swinging on the play set, I think!
The older kids playing together.

4 Weeks Old Benjamin Photos

2009-05-01T15:47:00.005-04:00

Okay I know I am already a week behind but here are some photos from last week when Benjamin was 4 weeks old, time is flying by!
Here is Daddy with his baby....A close up of Benjamin and his chubby cheeks...
Brendan reading a book to Madelyn....he had to take photos with Curious George for a school project.
Madelyn and her easel painting....my crafty girlie girl...
We found this cool baby holder for the bike stroller at REI a couple weeks ago and it is finally warm enough to see if it works....It does, yes! I don't have to go a year without biking around Berkley. Look for us cruising to the Library & post office and such....And yes Benjamin did like it too.
Brendan had his first two soccer games last weekend. Here are some photos from Satuday's game. Brendan got 3 goals & no one scored while he was goalie....Here he is getting his first goal. (he is the blonde head by the purple shirt.)
Right after the goal...
Taking the ball out from the crowd of kids...
Going to get the ball while goalie....
I was able to get all three kids to both games by myself while Brian was on his Backpacking class practical trip. It only hard being in that baby mode again, not really that much different in having to get 3 kids ready than it was 2.

More tomorrow....

3 Week Photos

2009-04-18T13:18:00.005-04:00

When Benjamin starts to wake up he doesn't cry. He is a squeaker as Madelyn calls him. But he also makes some of the funniest faces as he is trying to wake up. Here are some photos of him 'waking up'.
Sticking the tongue out....
Yawning....
More tongue...
On monday Benjamin's umbilical cord stump fell out. Since that is gross & nasty I will spare you having to look at it. (Plus I didn't take a photo of that thing, yuck!)
Here is our new pretty belly.....
The little guy starting to chunk up...The silly trio...

The older kids 'caught' being nice. (isn't that so cute)I don't think either of the older two are paying any attention to me trying to take photos of them.

Easter Sunday

2009-04-16T21:00:00.004-04:00

The kids woke up & were both very excited about their baskets. Of course Mojo got a basket too.Our 'other' baby, Mojo.
Brendan got a Ben10 toy in his basket.
Madelyn got a Tinker Bell toy in her basket.
Benjamin got a toy in his basket.
Easter at Grandma's & Grandpa's House.
Madelyn got Crocs.......
Brendan got Crocs.....
Benjamin got baby crocs.....

Easter Eggs

2009-04-16T20:51:00.003-04:00

Saturday we had to dye our eggs of course. The kids had a blast of course.
Benjamin got to 'help' from his swing.

Breakfast with the Bunny

2009-04-11T18:44:00.002-04:00

My Women's Club has put on a Easter Breakfast for the past two years, of course we have been out of the state the last two Easter's so this is the first year for us. The kids had a blast & it wasn't all THAT hard getting all 5 of us up and dressed and out the door at 8:45am. (Okay we were cutting it really close to being ready on time)

Here are some photos:
The bunny hat from when Brendan was a baby seemed to be perfect for today on Benjamin....
At the Breakfast we had a petting farm with all sorts of animals too. Madelyn was in heaven, she loved all the animals & held all the small ones. I am missing photos of the goats & ducks...
Baby pig...
Baby Rabbits...
Baby chicks...
More baby bunny's....
And the kids also got to met the Easter bunny too! (Madelyn has to take 'her' baby with us almost everywhere now.)

Baby Bath Time

2009-04-11T18:39:00.002-04:00

Well kind of. Since he hasn't lost his umbilical cord stump yet he is still getting sponge baths. But he doesn't cry & looks really cute so here are the photos of bath time right now. And of course Benjamin has a lot of hair and when it gets wet it curls. Poor kid.

And of course the after bath happy baby.

Benjamin - 2 Weeks Old

2009-04-07T09:38:00.002-04:00

Baby Benjamin is two weeks old today! Holy cow is time going by fast.
Since Brendan is out of school this week we have been hanging out and playing for the past couple of days. Here are some photos from just a minute ago:
My three kids!Benjamin squeaked so they both looked at him.
My boys...
Brian & I think that Ben is going to be our chubbiest baby. He is already getting some cheeks & a double chin. The boy is having no problems with eating. (And being chubbier than Madelyn will take some work!)
He can almost fit in the 0-3 month clothes all the way. The newborn clothes will fit for another week I think.

6 Days Old

2009-03-30T12:38:00.002-04:00

Can you believe that Benjamin is almost a week old! I can't. He had his first trip out of the house on Saturday. We went to his 4 day check up just to see how he is doing and can you believe that the little piggie already weights more than when he was born! We left the hospital Thurday with him weighting 6-4, on Saturday he was up to 6-11!
Of course afterwards we went to Target, Brian wanted to go to Home Depot but we didn't need anything and since no one including myself thought that he would really be two weeks early we really needed to go to Target.

Here are some photos from just a couple minutes ago......

Madelyn is my little helper. Today we cleaned downstairs & set the baby swing up so Benjamin could take it on a test drive while we ate lunch.
And of course the other kids can't be left out, and since Brendan is at school we will have to get him afterwards. Here is Madelyn playing on her computer that she bought with her birthday money.

Benjamin's Details

2009-03-25T09:53:00.003-04:00

Okay this will be quick since I don't have any new photos to post but here is Benjamin's quick birth story:
Saw the doctor that morning & she said that I wouldn't make it another week and that I would be lucky to make it to friday.
Madelyn & I walked to pick Brendan up from school & the contractions started about 10 minutes apart. We went to Chuck E. Cheese for Madelyn's birthday dinner out, on the way there 8 minutes apart. By the time we ate it was up to 5 minutes and when we left at 6pm they were 4 minutes apart.
The kids & I packed, they went to Sharon's house and Brian was playing with his knife making stuff, he really didn't think it was really happening. We went to the hospital at about 7:30ish, at 8:30 I was dilated to 3 and they sent me walking for 1 to 2 hours. I was able to walk for about 45 minutes before the pain was too close for me to walk though. Went back and was a 4 so they admitted me. Had my lovely epidural, broke my water after 10pm & by 1 am I was dilated to 6 and less than an hour later he was ready to come out. Push one was to turn him to face the right direction (his shoulders were a little sideways.) Push 1 1/2 was the head. The poor doc wasn't even able to get the scrub gown on over his scrubs.
Very quick and easy. And no we are not having any more.

Baby Ben

2009-03-24T11:21:00.001-04:00

I will let Jen handle posting the details. I was just told that Ashley demanded pictures ASAP :D

I don't want to tick that girl off, so here you go :D

Madelyn's Birthday Party

2009-03-23T14:29:00.003-04:00

We had Madelyn's 3rd Birthday party this past Saturday at Papa & Grandma's House since I really didn't want to worry about having my house totally party ready 2 weeks before my due date!
We had a full house 8 kids & 10 adults! Here are the photos from the party:
The girls playing together:Madelyn's Birthday Cupcakes...
I learned that there is a difference between using pam & pam for baking, I was out of pam for baking & regular pam just doesn't work on castle bunt cake pans.
Blowing out the candles....(we learned from last year & clipped her hair back)

My favorite photo....eating cake.
Her huge pile of presents....

Sunday playing at home with her littlest pet shop toys. (Yes she has a ton of them)

Brendan taking a break from playing to read from his chapter book. (yes he can read chapter books now, yes he is only in kindergarten!)

Madelyn's 3rd Birthday

2009-03-22T19:11:00.002-04:00

In getting ready for Madelyn's 3rd Birthday she has been getting packages, cards & gifts. Here are some photos of her opening some presents before her birthday party that she had on Saturday. Here she is opening presents from Brian's friend Michelle.

Ultra Sound Photos

2009-03-22T18:59:00.002-04:00

Here are some of the Ultra Sound photos from this pregnancy.
First we have the 36 week ultra sound just a couple of weeks ago. This is that alien front-face view.Here is the profile shot. (That is the umbilical cord in the background that looks like bubbles) Sharon & I think that he has Brian's nose.
Here is that first ultrasound where they just confirm that the baby is growing in the right spot. All you really see is a blob at the bottom of a black hole.
Here is the typical 28 week ultrasound where they check that everything is growing correctly & the right size and so forth. This shot has the head & body labeled. You can see the spine on the body really well.
Here is one of the legs & both feet too. They use the size of the head, stomach & femur bone to guess the length & weight. Of course I don't remember any of that now.

Haircuts

2009-03-11T09:58:00.003-04:00

With the weather getting warmer it is time for the kids to get their hair cuts before Madelyn's birthday party & Easter. Brendan was beginning to look like a Shaggy from Scooby-doo.
So Brendan goes to the 'Chop Shop' here in Berkley & Madelyn wanted to get hers cut there too. Here is the before of Brendan:Brendan getting his cut:
And for the most part the after: (he now is just a fuzzy duck, but a handsome fuzzy duck)
The closer it got to Madelyn's turn the more she didn't want to get hers cut. So I had to have her in my lap to get the job done, there was no way she was going to sit in that huge chair by herself (just a note, other than her first cute which just took the burnt ends off the front, her other hair cut before Thanksgiving she had to sit in my lap too.)
I will have to get better after photos of both of them.

Well it was so nice when we got home from the Chop Shop on Monday I got the kids bikes, big wheels, skateboards & scooters out for them to ride. They had such a great time that I totally forget to start dinner until Brian pulled up home from work. Opps. Good thing dinner was easy that night.

Madelyn trying to chase Brendan. Sooner or later she will be able to catch him.

Belly Photos

2009-02-17T19:46:00.002-05:00

We finally took the big-belly photos tonight. Here is one that I played with in photoshop. Here is me & my belly.
Of course we had to get the kids in too.
And of course they had to show off their belly's.
Finally me & my big belly.
Of course Brian was very glad that he just had to take the photos & not be in them.

Painting with the Kids

2009-02-10T14:37:00.003-05:00

Both the kids love to be artistic but mostly it is Madelyn who will sit at the table everyday and either color, draw, paint, or use her dot makers (like bingo dabbers). So I have finally been able to find these paint jars that help her not make a mess. Here are the kids painting...

Brendan's creation. I have no clue what he was trying to do.
Madelyn's creation.
And of course I couldn't let them have all the fun so I did each of their names for them.

And finally, since everyone has been asking for a belly photo here is one from last week. I don't look all that big but hey I have 8 more weeks to go and now most of my maternity pants aren't fitting anymore. Also I feel very large.

Winter Update

2009-02-08T17:41:00.003-05:00

We are still in the middle of our crazy Michigan winter here but at least this weekend we have had a slow thaw. (Which means we don't have water in the basement, yeah!!!) But alas, the fine warm weather will not last. It is suppost to snow on Thursday.

A couple weeks ago we went to check out the Metro Park - Indian Springs up near the Holly area. They have a cool nature center as well as a Discovery Center that they built with a tunnel under a lake. Here is what the lake looks like in the middle of winter with ice over the top of the lake. Here is the dome at the end of the tunnel, you can see the ice above us.
Along the side they have windows at the base of the building so that you can see the tunnel from outside so to speak. But you can't really see anything this time of year.
They also had a kids room with toys, books, coloring activities and such. Here they are trading each other for different animals.
And of course the kids wanted a photo with the snowmen. Now that I think about I should have put my belly in the third head, hehe. (won't be long now!)

Madelyn's Birthday Cards

2009-02-04T14:41:00.003-05:00

Well it is almost that time for Miss Madelyn to turn 3! So of course I wanted to do something super cute for her birthday invites.
Bring in all her princess dresses and some time in the studio I was able to make her cards & even got them ordered today! That is great for me, on time for once.

Here are the photos of her in her dresses for those who don't live close to come to the party:
Cinderella Sleeping Beauty.
My little woodland fairy. This is my favorite dress (but of course not hers) It reminds me of the evil queen from Snow White. But it will be also a good dress for the Renaissance Festival.
Here is an idea of what the cards are going to look like:

SNOW & MORE SNOW!!!

2009-01-18T11:12:00.003-05:00

This last week has been cold, highs in the teens with below temp often. (Brendan even had no school on friday because it was so cold, I think 10 was the high and below 15 at night).
So finally yesterday it started to warm up, it got up to the 20's! And with it came the snow, and snow and yes more snow. It snowed all day yesterday and we only got about 4 inches but this is on top of what was already here. So Brian took some photos outside for me so you can really see how much snow there is.

Some where under the snow in the middle is a chain link fence. You can make out just the top of the fence.
Our little walk way to be able to get in the trucks. It is a tight fit for me now.
And here are the sidewalks going down the street. We have great neighbor's and the guy next door uses the neighbor across the street's large snow blower so he will do his driveway & side walk and the guy's across the street & last night while Brian was gone he even did our sidewalk & driveway. So Brian only have a inch or two from over night to clean today.

New Year Up-date

2009-01-17T20:57:00.005-05:00

Once again it seems that I am getting behind in updating the Kids Blog. So here are the photos that we have so far into this year all in one post.

For New Year's Eve we started last year having dipping chocolate for dessert. The kids just love it and it makes a huge mess.

Here are some of the photos from when we went to the smaller snow hill for Brendan to use his new snowboard. The photos turned out great given that I went & sat in the truck after taking the video clips. (It was cold out & I can't stay warm now.)

Everyone wants to know what is this Cuttlebug that Madelyn wanted for christmas? Well here she is with her cuttlebug. It is a die cut machine, which just means that it cuts these little shapes out of cardstock. She has a lot of different sets already & has even started to make her own cards. Start looking in a mail box near you shortly.

Cute Kids. Brendan & Madelyn get along so well together (well 95% of the time) this is what Brian caught them doing the other night. Brendan was reading & I think being the teacher to Madelyn in their room.
Also making room for baby means moving Madelyn's bed out from under Brendan's to make room for her big girl bed that she will get for her Birthday in about 2 months. And it made sense to move their tv up from the basement since they never used it down there & were always making a mess of toys in my room. You can see the mess is still here but at least the area to mess up is smaller & they do a pretty good job of picking it up every night.

POTTY TRAINING!!! Madelyn is finally potty trained!!! YEAH!!! She can now tell us when she needs to go potty, even when we are out shopping or something.
(She kept making silly faces at me)
And of course Brendan had to come and get in on the silly faces too. (He looks just so old!)

Brendan Snowboarding!

2009-01-02T15:21:00.001-05:00

Santa brought Brendan a new snowboard for Christmas this year.

Neither of us knew how well he was going to take to the thing.

So, after about 5 minutes, Brendan had the little hill in our backyard mastered. Here is the video of that.

Next, we decided it was time for Stage 2 hill. This is much smaller than our normal sledding hill, but we figured it would be perfect for him to learn more on the snowboard.

We had lost much of our snow to warm weather. We barely got a dusting of snow, but figured we just had to try.

Since he was going faster, he was still having a bit of trouble towards the end. But still, he is doing pretty darn good. Here is a video of the bigger hill.

Christmas Lights

2008-12-27T16:49:00.002-05:00

This is the first year that we have had lights on the outside of house. Normally we just have a couple of things in the windows of the front.
Last year Brendan really wanted lights outside but we don't have any power outlets on the house & I couldn't think of a way to power them. This year I had a brainstorm! I ran a extension cord from the garage to the front porch. I also bought a outdoor timer so I won't have to remember to to turn them on and off.

So the porch & two trees were the start for this year. Next year I want to add the light to the bushes running on both sides of the front sidewalk. But this was a good start. Plus I did it all while Brendan was at school one day so being able to surprise him was great. Here is our little tree that Madelyn & I picked out from Target this year. It is the perfect size for our little house. (It looked a lot nicer filled with presents underneath, note for next year) The only presents left is one for Brendan's teacher & one for the crossing guard at his school (thanks to the snowday on the last day before winter break)

And of course I didn't put the kids stocking back up but you get the idea.

Part of Madelyn's gift from Santa was a cuttle bug. Everytime you asked her what she wanted from santa it was always a cuttlebug. I have a large green cuttlebug (it is a scrapbooking type tool) and they make a smaller one for kids, she has asked for one for months! Well here are two cards that Madelyn made today using her cuttlebug & just a little help from mommy with the markers & putting the first flower together on the paper.
Next time I will take some photos of her in action with her Cuttlebug.

Santa's Cookies & Christmas Day

2008-12-26T12:40:00.006-05:00

Of course you have to make cookies for Santa so I made the kids help by making their own cookies, they picked out the shapes & put the sprinkles on. Of course Brian thought that now would be a good time to take photos of my large belly. Here is Madelyn in her apron. Brendan getting his apron on.
The belly shot with no make-up on. It doesn't look too large, but the camera takes 5 inches off I think.
Brendan's cookies.

Madelyn's cookies.

Now the good stuff. Santa Came! Here are the kids opening their stockings. The look on Brendan's face sayes it all....
Now on Madelyn's face....
Back to Brendan...
Madelyn trying to carry her present from Santa. Trying be the key word there!
Brendan & Madelyn opening the gifts from Santa. Madelyn had a problem with the bow on hers.
Madelyn keeps pulling things out.
All the loot. Brendan got a snowboard, two transformers & playdough. Madelyn got her Cuttlebug, a die set for her cuttlebug, a board game, a princess book, playdough & a snow white barbie-type doll. In their stockings Brendan got transformer bubblebath, transformer lite-bright paper set, boxers, two face pez & a darth vader lego pen. Madelyn got tinkerbell bubblebath, littlest-pet shop lite-bright paper set & snow white pez.
Brendan playing transformers with Daddy.
On Christmas Day we went and spent the evening with our neighbor Sharon & her (large) family. Of course Santa always makes an appearance at Sharon's house to pass out presents.

Brendan getting a gift from santa.
Madelyn getting a gift from Santa.
Again this year we had to talk Madelyn into sitting on Santa's lap. So I gave her my present to hold onto to get her to sit on his lap.
We ate, we partied & the kids got a ton of presents. It was a great Christmas! Until next year.

More Presents

2008-12-25T13:27:00.003-05:00

Well you should all be proud. I made it to Dec. 23rd before I gave in and let the kids open the presents from us. Normally it is Brian who is begging to let the kids open presents.

Here is Miss Madelyn:
She got a Prince Phillip & a Sleeping Beauty Toddler (just a little different than a baby I guess)
Here is Brendan:
He got some Magnext & Knex.
The Knex roller coaster took two days to put together & really the kid had me doing most of the work. But it was really cool to watch the coaster go. We had it up for two days (you can see it takes up a lot of the living room.) They have directions on-line to build another coaster with the same set that we will have to try next.

Christmas in Flint

2008-12-24T13:51:00.003-05:00

We had Christmas in Flint with Brian's family on Saturday. I have some video from GA & Flint that Brian will have to put on-line before he goes camping with his friends.
With Brendan getting bigger he opens his presents faster & faster. He got Indiana Jones Legos, a Knex Roller Coaster, Nerf Gun game, and some other things I can't remember now.

Miss Madelyn is still at that one piece of paper at a time. So it took a good long time to get all the presents open.
Madelyn got a dress up chest, Disney talking nursery, wonder-color coloring book, and of course I can't remember the rest.
Brian & his brother Dan's favorite christmas movie growing up was The Christmas Story. Their parents found the Leg-Lamp tea light holder & got one for the both the boys. Thank goodness they didn't get the full sided one.

Chirstmas Shopping & Snow

2008-12-23T20:44:00.004-05:00

After a day of Christmas shopping with me I guess it was too much for Miss Madelyn. She passed out in front of the fire on Mojo's bed while I was putting away groceries.
I think Mojo wants his bed back.
Well Brendan's Christmas/Winter Break started a day early with a snow day last friday. It didn't start snowing until about 5 in the morning but once it started it didn't stop! We got between 12-14 inches over the day & that night. It was on the warm side (all of what 26? out)(and yes that sometimes feels warm compared to the now 8's & 12's we have) so the kids stayed out for quite a bit helping daddy build a snow fort.

There is more on this on Brian's web site but here is the finished snow fort, I don't know what he calls it.

Thanksgiving

2008-12-22T20:32:00.000-05:00

Okay, I know I know where have I been? Well I finally just took all the photos off my camera so that way I have a lot to update in the next couple of days. I totally blame this on having pregnancy brain right now. And we will take a belly photo soon.

For Thanksgiving this year the kids and I went to GA to visit with my family. Brian had to stay behind due to work stuff. But the kids did great on the long truck ride & we made it with no problems there & back.

Here is Thanksgiving Day Dinner at Great Grandma & Great Papa's House.
The kids waiting until we finish dishes to open presents.Of course we did Christmas there too.
I bought some board games for the kids to keep at Papa's house & here are the kids playing Papa at Candyland.
Finally we all got together with Great Papa & Great Grandma again on Saturday & we took some photos of us together.

Treasure Hunting

2008-11-15T10:43:00.003-05:00

We took the kids out treasure hunting. Of course Brendan was the main man in control of where we were going.
We found a crazy amount of grass hoppers. Madelyn loved watching them hop everywhere we went. We found this hidden in the woods as we were walking and of course the kids & Brian had to go check it out.
It took us a while but we finally found the treasure. It was dug into the ground with a log on it, very tricky. Here are the kids with Daddy showing off their treasure. Madelyn got a dinosaur toy while Brendan picked a pen.

And finally in case you did hear we have had our first official snow fall on Nov. 10th. Mojo had a blast & Brian told me when he dropped Brendan off at school all the boys where trying to throw snow balls at each other. It only lasted for the day and stayed a bit longer in the shady areas.

Pumpkin Guts

2008-11-12T15:38:00.004-05:00

Pumpkin carving time! I don't know how he did it but I ended up having to buy & carve the pumpkins all by myself this year. Thank goodness I had my two helpers to help me out. Madelyn and I bought the pumpkins while Brendan was at school & then brought them inside to hopefully warm up alittle (which it didn't). After we came back from going to Brendan's school for 'Trunk or Treat' we started cutting them up.
Here are the kids helping me out.....
They both did a great job helping to clean out the inside of the pumpkins.
After all the pumpkins were cleaned out & washed I was left to carve out the faces. Snow White for Madelyn.
Darth Vader for Brendan. While I was carving the kids were watching a movie upstairs. Madelyn even fell asleep.

Apple Orchard

2008-11-06T11:36:00.003-05:00

Back in September we went camping with my woman's group. And on that Saturday we went out to the Apple Orchard again to pick some apples. Here are some of the photos from that day.

Brendan loved the tractor ride. Madelyn & Brendan picking some apples.
I think Madelyn ate as many as she pickedAnd of course they had a moon bounce course that Brendan wanted to go on. He even got air born on one of the times down the slide.Back at camp enjoying more apples.

Soccer Photos

2008-11-05T11:29:00.000-05:00

Here are some soccer photos from this past Fall season.
Brendan has really improved on handling the ball and keeping ahead of the other kids.
Here are the photos:

Library's 80th Birthday

2008-10-27T11:52:00.003-04:00

The Berkley Library is turning 80 this year! And one of the things that the Friends of the Library wanted to do was celebrate this big time. (I am also involved with this group).
So we planned a party for the kids & one for the adults.
The kids party was last Tuesday and we had a wizard come out to perform some magic for us.
This guy was great, the kids were laughing the whole time, the adults were laughing too.
Brendan even got to help for a couple of tricks too. (No I did not tell him ahead of time that I had kids at this event) (Also I had Brendan wearing my girlfriends campgain tee-shirt, extra plug there too.)

Here are the photos of Brendan:

After the magic show all the kids got to put sprinkles on cupcakes, juice boxes & goodie bags. After the mess made by the cupcakes I don't think that the library is going to let us have opened food again for the kids!

Fishing with Dad

2008-10-01T15:42:00.004-04:00

The boys had a 'boys day out' a week or so ago and went fishing. Madelyn was really upset that she could not go fish with the boys. So here are some photos of the boys on their secret fishing hole. Brendan does a great job listening & following directions with helping paddle the boat. Catching some fish.

Catching a whole lot of fish. They kept only 13 to bring home & cook!
Well with all this fresh fish we have to fry it up for dinner.

Also I have been have some really weird cravings now that food is starting to sound good to me again with this pregnancy. I want things like Chick-fil-a's breakfast chicken biscuit, fried okra, peach muffins (both of these last two from my days working at Folks!) and some other strange Southern food. So I bought some fresh okra and looked up the best way to fry it. (I think next time I will see if they sell the already breaded frozen kind)
But it was so good. Brian and I almost ate the whole plate full & I had made two batches!
And of course we all ate some fish, Madelyn ate so much fish that she didn't want her hotdog that we had planned on them having (both the kids don't eat steak yet). That was all that was left from freezing half and cook the other half (that still works out to 13 pieces of fish!)

Brendan Turns 6!

2008-09-22T11:35:00.003-04:00

For Brendan's 6th birthday Madelyn & I got to take in cupcakes for his class & watch them celebrate his birthday. Madelyn like being a big girl & being in his class.
We had Brendan's party on Saturday the 13th. It was raining of course but it is better then the cold we had last year. Brian set up a beer tent to cook the outside food in & I moved some toys into the garage so all the kids had some things to play with. We had a total of 7 kids! And they all played together great.
We had food! We had fruit w/dip, chips & salsa, chips & french onion dip, Doritos, hotdogs, rolls, deep fried turkey, baked beans, taco salad & potato salad. And of course cake & icecream.
Brendan opening his presents, batman galore!

Brendan's cake.
Blowing out the candles. Way to go!
Playing inside after a hard afternoon of partying!

Renaissance Festival

2008-09-18T10:25:00.004-04:00

We went to the Renaissance Festival a couple weeks ago. Here are the photos from it.
We saw the Queen taking to the mud actors and she pulled Brian in to try to understand them. Madelyn & Brendan were shy at first but as the day went on they opened up and of course then Madelyn wouldn't stop talking.
Madelyn petting one of the jousting hoarses.
Watching the joust.

Brendan as a handsome knight.
Madelyn as a fairy queen.
After a long day of course Madelyn fell right to sleep. She would not let go of the of the sword that she wanted more than any girlie crown or girlie thing. Of course Brendan got one too, he got a long one while Madelyn got a elf one. (I am guessing that elf meant short)

First Day of School

2008-09-12T11:51:00.002-04:00

Brendan's First Day of School! Brendan was so excited about starting school again. Here is the big dog with his new shoes, backpack, tee-shirt & new hair cut! Here is Brendan by his new school sign.
We all walked Brendan on his first day. Madelyn did very good with leaving Brendan at school.
Here is Big Dog Brendan at his table. He is #3.
After only a half day on the first day of school, Madelyn is ready to have her Brendan back. Here she is waiting right at the door for him.
Finally getting let out for his first day of school. We had to sign the kids out on the first day so the teacher could find out who went with who. Here it is his turn to get signed out. Oh and yes that is his teacher Miss Morrison.

Lugnuts Baseball Game

2008-09-01T12:39:00.003-04:00

Last Tuesday we took the kids to a Lugnuts baseball game in Lansing. The kids got to play outside for a couple of minutes before we went in.
Before the game the team warms up and we found out afterwards that they also sign autographs before each of the games on the 1st baseline in the outfield.
Maddie liked watching them throw the ball.

For the game our seats were right in the front row at the first base line just past the first base. We had a lot of foul ball action going on in our area.

All in all the kids had fun, Madelyn ate her body weight in peanuts that daddy had to open for her all night. Brendan liked watching the action up close and in your face. We even had a pop-fly ball get caught in the couple's lap who was down on the level below us. I would have moved out of the way so fast.

Behind on Videos

2008-08-31T13:16:00.003-04:00

There has been a few videos sitting on our camcorder, and we almost forgot they were there. You will be able to tell that by what they are about : ) But here goes....lots of videos all at one time.

First, during the 4th of July, we had a party with our neighbors. Sharon's sister brought over a bounce house. You can see Brendan being crazy, and LouLou tumbling. She is a little tuffy!

Here is LouLou counting : )

Brendan has a little pyro in him....just like his dad and Uncle Roger! He pretty much lit our fireworks show for us this year.

Finally, a couple from Tee Ball camp. The first one is them just warming up doing running drills. But, the funny part is his little cheerleader yelling for him.

And one video of Brendan hitting. I think he does much better with a pitched ball, but they don't have that for his age group yet.

Getting Ready for School

2008-08-31T10:14:00.004-04:00

We are getting in the home stretch before school starts so one of the things I did was take Brendan to Berkley's own 'Chop Shop' this really cool guys barber shop to get his hair cut. So of course here is a before - he is not in focus but you get the idea - long blonde hair. Here he is getting it cut. He looks like such a big man.
And the end result is just too handsome. He is now really looking old!
And of course the back too.
Just to keep you updated on the troubles of Miss Madelyn. Here are a couple examples. Downstairs in the bathroom is where we keep all of their bath stuff, we have bubble bath for him, for her, shampoo for him & one for her, body wash for both, lotions for her (different smells for her mood I guess) and powder and such. Well Madelyn is fascinated by bottle tops right now. If she goes in the bathroom closes the door we know what she is doing. Taking off every singe bottle top & putting them all on the floor. So we are left with the game of which top goes to which bottle. It takes one of us longer to put the tops on then the two minutes it takes her to put them off.

One of the other things is Madelyn likes to be pretty. She can also open nail polish too. So once she painted her toes all by herself! Well after we got back from Brendan's hair cut I guess she wanted to be pretty too. So she went and put on some make-up, again all by herself.
Here is the end result.....
Very pretty!

Updates

2008-08-30T09:59:00.003-04:00

Brian's new toy - his deep fryer, got used as a fryer recently. We deep fried a turkey breast. Oh boy was it good. The best part is we then had left overs the next night of hot turkey sandwiches.

The boys went up north to visit some of our friends for a weekend and they picked up Papa's boat on the way. Brendan was the 'big dog' when it came to fishing. Here is one of the bass that he caught all by himself. He is so proud & Brian is of course too!

Finally, the kids were playing out front with the slip & slide and Madelyn doesn't like to get wet with the little sprayers. So Brian was nice and went to get her Elmo sprinkler and set it up for them. Well of course he then had to turn the water back on. I have never seen Madelyn move so fast. And of course being the thoughtful parent that I am was on stand-by with the camera ready. So here is just before the water came out & once the water did come out. Sister can book it when she wants too.

Dream Cruise Week

2008-08-29T07:11:00.002-04:00

Here are the photos from the Woodward Dream Cruise. We went out on Wednesday night before the cruise to check out the cars that gather in the Kroger parking lot. It is really crazy all week long here. We even ran into our neighbors Jim & Sharon, so we walked around with them for a while.

After checking out some cars we went to sit on the grass off Woodward in front of Madelyn's word right now - McDonald's. (She is so funny, she doesn't like to food too much just likes the playgrounds so she points them out when ever we pass one) Brendan & Madelyn were being cute while I took photos so here are a couple of them too.

Finally on Friday before Dream Cruise Berkley has the official kick off parade down 12 Mile. We walk down to the end of our street sit & watch the parade every year with Jim & Sharon. This is the best part, there are tons of cops from the local area who come over to help the Berkley Public Safety officers. We had one with a Ranger-type vehicle who hand cuffed both kids.

After the parade we walk to 'downtown' to see a street concert & eat some treats. This year they had about 7 different food trailers, anything from smoked pork & ribs to cotton candy. I did get the kids a cotton candy and by the time I had my elephant ear, theirs was gone.
Of course we run into tons of people that we know and it takes a while to walk back home after the oh so healthy snacks. And of course the kids had a blast.

Boy Toys

2008-08-28T21:53:00.002-04:00

Brian got Brendan this really cool knife for him to use. It has an additional finger guard so it keeps his fingers clear of the blade better. Brendan knows that he has to be with mommy or daddy to use his knife and is really responsible for just being 5 about it.
Here are some photos of his detailed trimmings.

Also I have been slacking lately so I have alot to catch up on before school starts on Tuesday. (So sad)

Brendan's Boys House

2008-08-10T13:31:00.003-04:00

A couple of weekends ago we took the kids out to Brendan's Boys House and spent the night in our Teepee. The kids had a blast riding the 4 wheeler & Ranger, fishing & seeing all the animals there.
Here are the photos from that weekend:The kids fishing & riding in the paddle boat with Daddy.They LOVED all the rides. Everyone was taken them around.Of course will all the space Brian likes to shoot. Brendan is getting really good too.
One of the animals that Kerry has are rabbits that he let now run wild around the barn. We caught a baby bunny the first night and that was all Madelyn wanted to do, catch & hold the bunnies. Well Kerry let us have one! So once we got home our to do list for Monday was to build a bunny house. Of course Brendan was a big help too.

Tee-Ball Camp

2008-07-31T10:42:00.001-04:00

Here are some more photos from Brendan's Tee-Ball camp.

2008-07-21T15:14:00.003-04:00

Here is a catch up of what the kids have been up to the last couple of weeks. Brendan and Madelyn at Drummunity at the library. The kids had a blast getting to play all sorts of different drums & percussion instruments.
The kids have been outside swimming at home & at my girl-friends house as well.
Brendan is a little water bug & getting better at swimming all the time and of course if Brendan is doing it Madelyn has to too - me too!

Brian bought a deep-fry thing and we had a sea-food boil while the kids at Grandma & Papa's house. I love Brian's toys!On Wednesday nights we head out to the zoo for their Wild Summer Nights concert series. The kids have fun dancing to some cool music from around the world.
We also go early sometimes to check out some animals.
We went to Brian's friends house this past Saturday and the kids got to play with their friend Alex. We went to a slash park by Alex's house. Brendan loved getting wet Madelyn not so much. But she did have fun. Madelyn also got to play with Alex's dress up clothes & princess shoes! She loved that!Brendan had his first day of Tee-ball camp today. And while he can hit a ball pitched to him, he is only old enough for tee-ball. They learned how to throw, catch & hit today. He loved it. (The lower left photo is him throwing the ball-it is on the other side of the telephone pole up just above the tree line)

Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore

2008-07-06T19:32:00.003-04:00

Photos first then story:We went camping up at the Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore part of this past week. We left Saturday after my women's club had its year end party on Friday night. We camped at the National Park Campground this time - it was fantastic! We were on top of a very small hill so the kids had something to ride their mi-mi's down.
Of course once you drive that far up-north you have to stop at Jay's Sporting goods. We didn't see anything that we needed from there but I did get a nice Amish picnic basket at that same stop.
On Sunday we went rafting down the Platte River right into lake Michigan. It was a nice 1 1/2 ride and only took Brian 10 minutes to go back to get the truck. I bought a big 4 person raft & we used the big snowsled to float down on. The kids had a blast and I could not control the raft to save my life - Brian thought that was the funniest thing watching me & the kids spin in circles.
On Monday we went up to visit some of the surrounding area and found a neat little part of one city - Fish Town. Brian loved this place. Of course we had to stop at a couple of wineries for me. Then we went to the beach to let the kids play in lake Michigan.
On Tuesday we went on the world's worst hike and then again the kids wanted to swim so back to the beach. (If you want to hear the story of the hike it is better in person than written, so you will have to call)
On Wednesday we packed up and went to stay the night at my girl-friend who has a cabin about 1 hour south of where we were camping. They have 3 kids (1 boy & 2 girls) so the kids had plenty to do and had a great time.
Finally home really late Thursday night (12:30 in the morning!) and got ready for my birthday on Friday the 4th!

Storytime @ the Library

2008-07-05T16:26:00.002-04:00

The kids had a summer story time event at the Library the other week. This years summer reading program is 'Catch the Reading Bug' so Little Creatures Co. came out with all sorts of little buggie things & things that eat buggies!
The kids had a blast getting to learn about the cool kritters.

Also I found a new way to scrapbook the photos of the blog so check this out:

Andrews Family

Dinner Date

Snow Day!!!

Knights

Lunch Date

Blog on iPhone

Snow Hill

Christmas Videos!!!!

Benjamin's First Hair Cut

Halloween

Maddie & Trouble Maker

Summer Update

Maddie's New Bike

Ben & Maddie's Birthday Party

Easter...Almost

Maddie's Hair

First lost tooth & Pinewood Derby

A new Camera, finally pictures :)

Update

Indoor Soccer & Easy Bake Oven

Christmas in Flint

Ben's 6 months Photos

Brendan's Final Soccer Game

Ben Eating....

Georgia Trip

Lots of Updates

Back to School

Brian's Blackberry

Ben's 3 month photos

Summer Fun!!!

Camping Cont.

Camping

Horseback Riding

End of June photos

Brendan's Last Soccer Game

Ton's of Updates...

Weekend Fun!!!

Funny Spoof

World's Longest Post!!!!

4 Weeks Old Benjamin Photos

3 Week Photos

Easter Sunday

Easter Eggs

Breakfast with the Bunny

Baby Bath Time

Benjamin - 2 Weeks Old

6 Days Old

Benjamin's Details

Baby Ben

Madelyn's Birthday Party

Madelyn's 3rd Birthday

Ultra Sound Photos

Haircuts

Belly Photos

Painting with the Kids

Winter Update

Madelyn's Birthday Cards

SNOW & MORE SNOW!!!

New Year Up-date

Brendan Snowboarding!

Christmas Lights

Santa's Cookies & Christmas Day

More Presents

Christmas in Flint

Chirstmas Shopping & Snow

Thanksgiving

Treasure Hunting

Pumpkin Guts

Apple Orchard

Soccer Photos

Library's 80th Birthday

Fishing with Dad

More Videos

Brendan Turns 6!

Renaissance Festival

First Day of School

Lugnuts Baseball Game

Behind on Videos

Getting Ready for School

Updates