Learning About Nature

Today I took Brendan and Madelyn to a local Nature Center because they were having a Pre-School Nature Program. While waiting for it to start Brendan got to pet a Snapping Turtle, he is really into Turtles right now. (Okay he is into anything that moves) Anyway, there were a couple stories about nature and then the kids got split up to go on a nature walk. We went with Mister Farmer who works at the center. He caught a grass hopper so the kids/and moms could feel the feet, he also caught a couple of butterfly's and showed us the long tongue and also the eyes. Brendan had a great time learning about nature and Maddie liked the bumpy stroller ride and trying to grab branches that came close enough.

It's A Pirate Party!

We had Brendan's Pirate Birthday Party on Sunday and what a good time. 8 Kids, 15 Adults all in our tiny little backyard. But what a blast. Pirate Boat cake, Treasure Chest Pinyata (spelling?) and Presents. What more could a 4 year old ask for.
Here are some pictures:
First we have Miss Maddie all dressed up for her brother's big day.Next is that pinyta, don't by the cheap ones they have taped sides that you can't bust open.That Pirate Ship Cake.And his presents, he got his big pirate boat that he has been wanting for about a year now.

Happy 4th Birthday Brendan!

Can you beleive that Brendan is now 4 years old. Time has just flown by.
To celebrate his birthday we took him out for pizza last night. But also he has been getting cards and packages the past couple of days and I think that is one of his favorite parts about his birthday.Of course Grandma and Papa Tatz all ways makes sure that his package gets here in time and Brendan was so excited about getting a big box. And he now has a new favorite shirt, and of course there was something in there for Maddie and he just as excited about that as well. Here is Brendan showing off his new duds.

First Day of School

Here is Brendan's First Day of School at his new Pre-School, also the school that he will probably go to for Elementary as well.
I woke him up as Brian was making his first day of school breakfast, cinnamon Rolls. And he had his snack in his Batman Lunch box inside his Pirate Backpack and he was set to go. This school is a lot closer than the one last year just over a block and a half. So on nice days Maddie and I can walk to go pick him up. (I don't think that Brendan will be up for that much walking at 8 o'clock in the morning). School starts at 8:15 and we get buzzed in at 8:13 to put his bag and coat in his very own locker (they don't have locks) and I sign him in to class and they start out on the circle rug. And then class gets out at 11:15, again parents being buzzed in at 11:13. He likes his teacher and her aid, and there are lots of kids in his class so he should enjoy this school year. Here are some photos.

Sittin' Pretty

Well Miss Maddie has mastered the art of sitting with no help. Boy, she doesn't know that she is just 5 months old. She is a very relaxed baby and on a very cute tight schedule. Here is a day in her live: wake up about 8ish, breakfast at 9, nap at 10, wake up about 11:30, lunch about 12:30 - 1 o'clock, nap at 2, wake up and snack at 4, dinner 5-6ish, nap at 6, wake up 7, eat and bed at 8 with a snack about 6 in the morning. Every day the same thing. It is kinda cute. Now Brendan on the other hand is just like me and will use every excuise in the book to try to stay up later past bed time.
But here is Miss Maddie sitting by herself. And playing with Brendan.

Treasure Hunting

We all went Treasure Hunting this past weekend at the Sterling Height Nature Center. They have bike trails, nature paths, baseball and soccer field and Brian even got to hold a snake in the Nature Center Building.
We went on our hunt, but first Brendan and Daddy had to figure out were to go.Madelyn had no problem with trusting their advice. She was happy just chewing on her seat strap. On our walk we spotted deer tracks and a couple of frogs. But the Treasure was located by Brendan in a thick part of the woods (see Mike this really does work out most of the time.).And Brendan got a frog toy as a trade item.

Today's "Customer"

This past week has been very busy for Brian and I in regards to our photo business. So there have been quite a number of people coming and going here. Well today while we were checking out something outside Brendan said that he wanted me to close the door. So I closed it and he knocked, I asked what can I do for you and he said that he was here for pictures. So I took him out to the studio and took some pictures. And this is one of the ones that I got.

Woodward Dream Cruise

Well we had the Woodward Dream Cruise last weekend. Berkley has a parade of classic cars on Twelve Mile every year, some 400 cars long.

So we took the kiddies down with Jim & Sharon to watch. Brendan enjoyed it and Maddie of course took a nap about half way through. But here are some pictures for you all.

Madelyn's First Camping Trip

Well, Miss Madelyn is an outdoors girl. We took her on her first camping trip this past weekend to Osetgo Lake State Park. We played on the beach, swam, and went on a canoe ride.

Brendan's Birthday List

To make it easy on people here is Brendan's Birthday list that he made.

Brendan's Wish List

Playmobil can be found on-line at www.reallygreattoys.com

that is the web site for our toy store down the street. Or www.playmobil.com.

1. Playmobil Pirate Dungeon $19.99 (Target On-line)

2. Playmobil #3286 Pirate Ship $89.99 (He got this, but doesn’t know)

3. Playmobil #3127 Starter Set Pirates $16.99

4. Playmobil #7718 Treasure Island $25.99

5. Playmobil #7695 Float $4.99

6. Playmobil #3268 Knights Empire Castle $179.99

7. Playmobil #3372 Golden Knight $4.99

8. Playmobil #3315 Evil Knight $6.50

9. Playmobil #4436 Barbarian Knight $6.50

10. Playmobil #3174 Red Corsair $40.99

11. Playmobil #4616 Blue Knight $3.15

12. Playmobil #4646A Black Knight $3.15

13. Playmobil #7670 Green Dragon Leader $2.99

14. Playmobil #3137 Viking Starter Set $17.95

15. Playmobil #3345 Dastardly Dragon (Can’t find)

16. Playmobil #4625A Crusader $3.15

17. Playmobil #3319 Dragon Troops $11.50

18. Playmobil #4654 Angry Pirate (Can’t find)

19. Cat & Mouse Game $19.99

20. Buckaroo Game $16.19

21. 3D Slides & Ladders Game $14.99

22. Poppa’s Pizza Pile Game $16.99

23. Race to the Roof Game $19.99

24. Spin Master Toys Captain Bone’s Gold Game $19.99

25. Cranium Balloon Lagoon Game $19.99

26. Lion Sleeps Tonight Game $19.79

Clothing Size 4, needs pants and p.j.’s (size 6 for those)

New Toy & Tummy Time

Miss Madelyn has a new toy to play with now, well Brendan too kind of. We bought her one of those ExerSaucer's. Brendan likes to get in her face and help to show her how it works. Madelyn can go to about half an hour in it twice a day. So it is a nice break for me because she only likes to be on her tummy for about 10 minutes at a time. But here are some new pictures of her in her new toy and also on her tummy.

Heavy Duty

Okay now the fat jokes can really start. Miss Madelyn had her 4 month check-up appointment today and the girl is heavy duty. I was wondering why it was so hard to carry her in her car seat. Well the girl weights, get this, 16 pounds and 5 ounces. That is alot of baby. She has gained almost 10 whole pounds since she has been born. But you know we love her and all her little leg rolls.

Georgia

Here are some of the things that we did in Georgia:
1. Swimming in the pool2. Playing with his new toy from great-grandma Tatz.3. Get to drive Papa Tatz's boat.4. Sleep.

Madelyn's First Trip to Georgia

Well Miss Maddie has had her first trip to Georgia. She even traveled better than we had expected. We stopped at Mammoth Caves National Park in KY on the way down to break up the trip a little. We took Brendan and Madelyn on a cave tour. Maddie fell asleep and Brendan didn't really like having to walk the whole time but other than that it was really neat.Once we made it to Georgia it was all Papa Tatz and then Aunt Ashley once she got there for 5 whole days.

Brendan and Madelyn got Baptized while we were down there. And of course there was good food and time with the family. More to come later, so stay tuned. :)

Secret Revealed

Here it is. If you knew where it was at, I would be giving away the source of our fishing success. This is our fishing hole.

I took the photo from the road, and from the road you really can't even see it. Way out, it eventually opens up into a pond. But, all the stuff in the foreground is really shallow. I guess we have such good luck there because nobody goes out there. They must figure that they are not sure if they can make it out, or if there is even anything out there worthwhile. Here it is......

Madelyn

Our computer was down for a couple of days and then the blog site was down but we are up and running again.

Here is Miss Madelyn posing in her bathing suit that we got to get ready for our trip to GA in a couple of weeks. She is getting really good at holding her head up but just needs a little support. Here is another of her at bath time. She is finally beginning to enjoy her baths.

Brendan, Maddy, and Jen

I was moving an outdoor photo set outdoors to use. I decided to take a quick photo of the family. I did a few things wrong on this one, but at least you get to see everyone.

Soccer is Over

Brendan had his last soccer game on Saturday. He actually improved a lot towards the end of the season. When it began, he was good at ball handling on his own, but when it came to the game, he just wanted to follow the pack of kids running, and not the ball. After he figured out that if he had the ball, everyone would be chasing him we were good.

Except for the fact that Brendan didn't like the ball taken away from him, by anybody, including his own team (3 year olds are not good at teamwork, and passing and stuff yet). Therefore, if the ball got taken away, usually there were going to be a pile of kids on the ground.

Here is an action shot from one of the last games.

6 Week Photos

Here is a pre-view of Madelyn's 6 week photos that we took. At the present time Miss Maddie doesn't like to have her picture taken, either that or she still doesn't like to have her clothes off. Or just a combanantion of the two. Who knows. It took us 3 different times photographing to get these. So hopefully by 3 months we will have a more willing model.

Soccer

At Brendan's second soccer game he got to be goalie.
At his games there are about 10 3-4 year olds on the field chasing this one soccer ball, it isn't even a full sized ball, no they also come in sizes for those of you who didn't know this. So we have 10 kids on a field, 1 small(er) soccer ball and a mob of kids following. Now not all the kids are following this ball some are off just standing around of playing in a dirt circle that just happens to be in the middle of the field (very distracting for 3-4 year olds).

On each team there are only a couple of kids who actually know what to do, Brendan is in between, he knows to kick the ball and does a great job of getting it from one end of the field to the other, it is just the getting it into the goal and getting in the middle of the said mob to get the ball that he has a problem with.

Back to being goalie. This is a hard job for a 3 or 4 year old, why watch the game when they have this cool net thing behind them? Brendan blocked 2 of 3 balls while he was goalie, the last one the net proved to be more fun.

But here is our soccer goalie in action. (One he had stopped)

Papa & Grandma Tatz

Papa and Grandma Tatz came up from Georgia for a visit and to meet little Maddie. We had a wonderful visit. We went to the Zoo, Brendan had his first soccer game, we went to the park and spent a wonderful couple of days together.

Brendan loved playing outside with his papa Tatz.
Here are a couple of photos from when they were here. This first one is a picture that Brendan took all by himself. I guess it runs in the family. :)
And here is Grandma Tatz with both of her grandbabies.