Hunter and Zanders World

Out of SPACE?!?

2011-01-22T19:12:00.000-05:00

WHAT????? Blogger is telling me I'm out of space. Seriously......How can this be? I mean I know I take a few pictures here and there and post them on the blog but have I really used up all my space? According to my calculations of how much 1G of memory is, it takes about 2500 pictures to use it all up....And I have no more space? So what blogger is telling me is that I have posted over 2000 pictures on Hunters World blog in the past 3 years? Hmmmmm.... yah, okay, I guess that's possible.

What does this mean for Hunter's (and Zander's) World blog? While I will no longer be posting updates on this blog, I will be still posting updates on the website Jason and I put together. The website is http://www.tooparents.com/ and has everything from stories and pictures about us to book reviews, parenting topics, ideas and suggestions, crafts and activities, other product reviews that we have come to find cool, and many other exciting things that I am sure will be added here and there. And the good news.....There is NO space limit (atleast that I know of). So we really hope that you will continue to be curious about our family and join us over at http://www.tooparents.com/.

For those of you that actually read and like this blog, I will still be keeping it up since this is my little journal of what my boys have done throughout the years. I have to try and print or save all these posts because I want them for when the boys are older so they can also see what they were busy doing while growing up. Usually I would post a picture with this post, a good-bye picture, however, since I am out of space there will be no picture to be posted, sorry:(

Christmas 2010

2011-01-09T09:09:00.002-05:00

Every year as it nears closer to Christmas we get that worried feeling wondering if Santa will be able to provide our boys with the presents they have asked for. Will they have a Christmas that they’re happy with? Money is always tight and each year a new set of challenges present themselves. However, every year our kids have experienced great Christmas’s and when we walk downstairs Christmas morning and see all the wrapped gifts under the tree we think, “did Santa actually go a little overboard?” This year was no different and the results the same.

Hunter got a ton of great gifts including all the spy equipment that he could ever wish for; he says he has an actual military spy watch, more transformers bringing is total to too many, puzzles, games, racing matchbox cars; the ones like on Fast and Furious because these are the only ones he will play with, he is very peculiar when it comes to his racing cars, and a Tony Hawk bike, helmet and ramps to do cool tricks on from Mommy and Daddy. Zander’s Christmas was a little lighter this year because frankly he could really care less about all the gifts that he got and already has. The kid only likes going through the bathroom drawer in search of his toothpaste and tooth brush or going through the cupboards in search of the syrup, everything else might as well not even be in the house. He did make out pretty well with the gifts that he did get, his monster truck that sings and makes cool noises, a cool racecar track, Little People Airport, a scooter, and some other little toys. But Zander’s favorite gift by far is his vacuum he scored from Grandma and Grandpa Folgmann. The kid is a freak when it comes to vacuuming. He tries to confiscate my vacuum all the time. I just wish the darn thing actually worked because Zander has vacuumed here, there and everywhere. My house could be the cleanest house on the block, but sadly Zander’s vacuum just makes the noise so my house still remains a little on the messy side.

Me, I scored pretty well on Christmas too. Jason got me my cool new boots that make me feel like I am 20 again and I strut around with my jeans tucked in them feeling like I have a little fashion sense even though I am a Mom in my 30′s. Hunter picked me out a sparkly, gorgeous bracelet that was $8 (Jason told me), Hunter actually asked the store clerk if they had the bracelet in purple because that is his mommy’s favorite color but they didn’t (brought tears to my eyes when I heard this, he’s so sweet!), so my bracelet is pink, blue and light green and it sparkles like crazy, this is why Hunter picked it out for me. He also picked me out a brand new Fossil watch that has sparkly’s on it too. Does my boy know me or what? I have always like glitter and stuff that sparkles!

Jason got a gift certificate for Cabela’s from me, which again was all wrong when I should have just gotten him one to Gander Mountain, but what is Christmas without me screwing up his gift. You see there is no way I would even try to guess what to get Jason. I really wanted to buy him some new shoes that he has forever been in search for, but how in the world would I be able to find him shoes without him with me when he can’t find shoes that he likes how they look and feel with trying on 100′s of pairs in 100 different stores? Impossible. And if you think I could just pick something out for him for hunting, HA, not a chance. So I feel that a gift certificate is a safe gift because then he can choose what he wants, but then I get the store wrong, oh well! Hunter got Jason a portable ping pong net set because we don’t have a ping pong table and we know Jason loves to play ping pong. I don’t know if Hunter got this gift more for him or for Jason. The net is set up on our kitchen table so when anybody gets the urge to play a little ping pong it’s already set up. Pretty cool huh?!?

Adorable!

Milk and cookies for Santa and a few snacks for the reindeer

Our stockings are hung by the chimney with care…
Santa will have to use his magic key to get in our house though,
there ain’t no coming down the chimney here!

Zander loving his Monster Truck

Hunter’s new super fast sled from Santa

Spy glasses that can see in the dark!

Zander and his favorite gift, his very own vacuum

All that vacuuming makes you thirsty!

Hunter with his new Tony Hawk bike – he also got ramps to do tricks on

Even the dogs get tired playing hard on Christmas morning!

Hunter with his letter that Santa wrote him
and Santa used Hunter’s candy cane pen, oh he was sooooo excited!!

Playing ping pong on the kitchen table

Zander getting in on the action!

Can’t keep Zander off of the table wanting to play ping pong
even in his diaper!

And for Christmas dinner, this gorgeous bird~
I had to take a picture of it because I could not believe how pretty it turned out!

We hope all our friends, family and those we don’t know enjoyed a joyfully fun holiday season.

May your blessings be abundant during 2011!

1st Tooth

2010-12-28T16:58:00.000-05:00

Looks like Hunter will be visited from the Tooth Fairy tonight. Just last night he was trying to eat an apple when he mentioned to us that his tooth hurt, sure enough it was loose. Grandma Lori actually put a piece of yarn around it and yanked a little bit but Hunter wasn't havin' any of that for too long, with just a little push with his tongue, out it popped.

In the past week Hunter has had a birthday, Christmas and now lost his tooth, what an exciting week!

I wonder what the going rate is now-a-day's for a tooth?

Happy 6th Birthday Hunter

2010-12-22T20:02:00.001-05:00

You have grown into a smart, funny, sweet, athletic, zuberant, imaginative, loving 6 year old. You have always been good-natured and a safe-conscience little guy. You are the one who is the first to tell us if somebody is doing something that isn't safe (which usually lately involves Zander) but you like to have fun no matter where you go. This year your interests include hockey, ice-skating, roller-blading, t-ball, Xbox, Wii and Nintendo DS, Florida (you discovered you love Florida after our trip there), Fast and Furious or anything to do with cars and bikes racing, you are learning to read more and more each and every day, you are doing great in kindergarten and excelling in gym class (per your report card that came home), you love to wrestle with anybody bigger or smaller doesn't matter and you love being around your family; cousins, grandma/grandpas, aunts/uncles, and of course mom, dad and Zander.

We love you too much to put into words and you have made us very, very proud that you are our son. Can't wait to see what accomplishments and fun are in store for you during your 6th year.

Highglights from your birthday party:

"Happy Birthday to Hunter" his class singing to him.

Cool Star Wars cake

Looks like he enjoyed the frosting

The birthday gang

Ninja Game

Air Hockey from Grandma & Grandpa Folgmann

Lovin his air hockey

Once again....if you leave your food Zander will get it!

Rockin out!!

Music to my ears

2010-12-21T19:47:00.002-05:00

"Dashing through the snow, in a one horse open sleigh........" The sounds of 60+ Kindergartners actually all singing together makes me speechless and brings tears to my eyes. I was glad to hear of other mothers who had tears in their eyes at seeing their children up there performing for us.

Hunter was so excited to see me, Grandma Lori and Zander all there to watch him. He was front and center and I was glad to see him having such a good time while performing. I will NEVER be able to get through any of these school musicals without watching them through tear streaked eyes.

Hunter's right smack dab in the middle of 'em all!!!

Have a Groovy Holiday Season!!!

2010-12-20T16:31:00.000-05:00

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Dear Santa

2010-12-19T17:37:00.006-05:00

During a raging blizzard outside Jason had the idea of venturing out to see Santa Claus. Off we went in the snow, through the woods and over the bridge to see Santa. We were anxious to see how Zander reacted to Santa; some thought he would pull Santa's beard but instead he was timid and his little lip pouting as he sat on Santa's lap with his big brother. Hunter got to tell Santa the top 3 gifts on his list; a new Tony Hawk bike, Call of Duty XBox 360 game and spy stuff, Santa heard him and took note of these 3 things. Although at first Santa thought Hunter said a Call of Duty bike, Hunter chuckled at telling us this afterwards. Hunter's been a very good boy this year so I believe his chance of receiving the gifts on his list are pretty good. Zander on the other hand......hmmmmm........we'll just have to wait and see come Christmas morning.

"Come on and sit on my lap little guy"

Zander not to sure about this stranger

"I want a bike and an XBox 360 game and spy stuff so I can be a 'real' spy"

Awe, there's the pouty lip, he's about to lose it!

Good picture with just Hunter and Santa

Chopper

2010-12-17T15:46:00.000-05:00

Chopper is the latest lost dog that we have befriended. I found Chopper and his sister running in the middle of a fairly busy road heading towards a very busy road, so I pulled over and called to them and Chopper, a German Short Hair, took me up on my offer to get in the van and go home with me. I couldn't coax his sister to do the same, but I later found out she made it back home safely. After getting a hold of the vet that was listed on the tags, finding out his name is Chopper, he's a 4 year old neutered male who is up to date on all his shots and finding out his owners name I was able to track down his owner through Facebook. While Chopper was in our care he made himself right at home playing with the kids, standing by Zander's chair while he ate, curled up in the chairs and left his paw print on our hearts! If we didn't already have Sage and Skye, we might have kept Chopper for our own selfish selves. Hunter didn't want him to leave and was sad when Choppers owner came to pick him up. I hope Chopper stays close to home and out of traffic and maybe we could visit him someday since we found out he lives pretty darn close.

Hey there Chopper

Sitting pretty for a treat, except for Sage, who knows what she's doing

All curled up on Jason's chair

This kennel was supposed to be for Chopper instead
Sage and Skye thought they would relax in it

Yep, fits right at home begging for food

Awwwwweeeeee Hunter and Chopper, they became fast friends

Gingerbread houses

2010-12-15T16:51:00.000-05:00

Saturday, after hockey and Hunter's friends birthday party but before the blizzard hit us we went to Moomers courtesy of Grandma Lori to make good ole' fashioned ginger bread houses. O' boy what fun we had. Hunter's gingerbread house turned out fabulous, complete with windows a front door and a nose (that's what it looks like to us) side windows, and a back door exit and lets not forget the snowman who turned out looking more like a chinese snowman than anything else and the roof made up of a hodge podge of candies and chocolate and gum drops and icing, oh my mouth is watering just thinking of it! The hardest part of making gingerbread houses........not eating all the delicious and fun candy that you use to decorate your house and keeping Zander's little fingers away from the goodies too.

Look at all those candies...which do I choose for the roof?

Giving Zander mini marshmellows makes him happy enough to not mess with the house

We need a real roofer...anyone....roofer???

Trying to pose with Zander for a picture, more like strangling Zander to make him stand still

The builder and his creation

What a quaint and yummy looking home, except the snowman kind of freaks me out!!!

and this is what Hunter is most proud of.....a backdoor!!! Hahahaha

Hunter's cow picture he drew back in the summer is still up!

Posing with his art!

Winter has unofficially begun

2010-12-14T16:48:00.000-05:00

Winter doesn't officially begin until Dec. 21st but here in Northern MI we don't go by what the calendar says, oh no, we are complete rebels. The calendar says Fall we yell back Winter...Fall....Winter....Fall....Winter. Okay so maybe we do this because we really have no choice in the matter, we are followers not leaders when it comes to accomodating Mother Nature and her 'Fall' fury blizzards. But we have thick skin up here in northern country, I mean where else would you have surfers taking advantage of monsterous waves in sub-degree weather man? We brush winter off like it's sweet sugar falling from the sky. It leaves a sweet taste in many of our mouths except those like Jason who have already had their vehicle stuck in the snow, some more than once again like Jason, and had to shovel their way out, then the taste of winter becomes rather bitter. But while the white stuff is falling and I'm pretty sure it's here to stay for the next 4+ months, we might as well enjoy it the best way we know how; GET OUT AND PLAY IN IT!!!

Hunter going down the 'not so big anymore to him' hill on the side of our house

Trying to stand up or make it go faster, not sure which will actually work

Wipe Out!

How does the snow taste Hunter?

Lets try it again

Sage wants to go outside and play

Zander's first time in the snow, loving it for the moment

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Hold on there big guy

All bundled up

Not liking the snow too much after he fell face first into it!

Golf Anyone?

2010-12-10T23:04:00.000-05:00

Think it's impossible to golf in Northern Michigan in December? Think again....well kind of. Last Saturday we were lucky enough to get a mini-golf lesson by the GT Resort Golf Pro, Scott Hebert! The good ole' golf school building equipped with a garage door so you can hit the ball as hard and far as you can, however, it was a little chilly in that room, a cool 'real-time' camera taking shots of your swing so Scott can show you how you should really be swinging, indoor nets for hitting the golf ball as hard as you can in warmth, a little mini putting green where the littlest golfers can practice their golf club swinging abilities, EEEK!! And the best pizza to refuel the kids energy, yah energy, that's what they needed I think I was thinking more of me!

Thanks Scott Hebert for a great time at the GT Resort Golf School, we hope to come back!!!

Hunter lining up to take a swing

Where'd it go? Do you see the white ball amongst the white snow?

And there he is....the littlest golfer,
not the best one to be carrying/swining a golf club!
Not very smart of us to let him anywhere near a golf club!

Although he did have a lot of fun trying to get the ball to stay on the tee,
talk about frustration for a 14 month old, hehehe

Taking swings in the warm room

Lookin' good......

Good swing....but notice where the ball is?
No it's not one of those at the front of the net, oops!

The golf gang

Zander wiggling his way in with the big kids!

Gobble gobble

2010-12-04T12:07:00.000-05:00

This Thanksgiving was alot busier than last with the addition of 2 babies and Zander who is ALOT more active this year than he was last year. What happened to our little peanut who just layed on the chair, not able to move around or talk and was so well behaved? At barely 2 months old we didn't have to worry about him pulling off the oranments from Grandma's Christmas tree, or climbing on the table to get food, or stealing toys or anything else that Zander gets in his mind. Oh Zander you do make it lively where ever you are, that's for sure!!

Hunter had fun being with his cousins and uncles and was a little excited to be staying the night over at Grandma Lori's and Grandpa Marks. With Hunter staying the night, Jason and I thought that maybe we could hit a couple of stores on the way home since Toys R Us and Walmart were opening up on Thanksgiving night with deals. I told Jason it's probably going to be pretty busy, his comment was, "How busy could it be, we live in Traverse City?" Well we soon found out. Arriving at Toys R Us at 10pm (exactly the time the store opened their doors) the line was 3-4 people wide and wrapped around the complex which included a couple of stores. Jason attempted to go wait in line while I stayed in the warm van with Zander sound asleep. I figured it had been a whole 5 min. so I would drive around and see where he was in the line, I didn't even get to him and he was walking back to the van already frozen and in shock that it would have taken him about 2 hours to be let in the store, (they were only letting in 50 people every 10 min.) Next we made our way to Walmart, another BIG mistake. The people in there were even crazier than normal. You couldn't make your way down the aisles because everybody was standing by the stacks of toys that were still wrapped up in plastic and protecting the ones they wanted. We left shortly after arriving, but it would have been quite funny to stand back and watch all these people fight for what they wanted.

So by 11:30pm we were home with nothing to show for but we were warm and Zander was in bed and it was quiet and all was good even though we didn't cash in on the deals, and I was NOT getting myself up the next morning to shop, I was staying in bed!!!

The whole night Zander was pulling ornaments off of Grandma's tree,
he especially liked Hunters ornament with Santa

Take a closer look at this ornament Grandpa

The first Folgmann kids table

Grandpa and Hunter were being ninka-poops and kept their hands in front of their face

Zander taking a seat to finish up Hunters left over pumpkin pie

If you leave food laying around, Zander will be sure to finish it off

And he LOVED pumpkin pie

Little Alivia and her big cousin Zander

Once again trying to get all the grandkids, not working

Another Trip

2010-12-03T16:51:00.000-05:00

Another trip downstate has come and gone. As we were counting down the days until we went downstate and the 'day' was finally here I told Hunter, "Didn't that go by fast, the countdown to go downstate?" and his reply was, "Yah, but when were down there will go by fast too!" How very, very true he was. This was the longest we have been able to visit downstate, arriving Tuesday evening and staying until Sunday, however, as always of all = the things we wanted to get done only about half actually got done.

Here are the highlights:
I worked in Macomb County on Wednesday so Grandma and Grandpa Cousino were lucky enough to watch Hunter and Zander, and their comment to me was, "Grandma Lori must be a saint to watch Zander because he is active!" That's putting it mildly and kindly.

Zanders very own adorable firehouse bed at Grandma's house,
too bad he only lasted a couple hours in it each night

Thursday we took Hunter to see the big buildings in downtown Detroit. He loved going in the Ren Cen and seeing all the people and how big the buildings were. We tried to get up to the very top but we weren't allowed, so the highest floor we went to was 40 and there was nothing to see, nowhere to look out way up there. We were there on the big day that GM was celebrating being back on the market and they were setting up for a celebration with a live band, the band rocked, they were awesome! We drove around and saw Joe Louis where the Red Rings play, but we didn't get to go in. Hunter loved the Ambassador Bridge and thought it was cool that we got to drive under it and that he got to see another country across the water. We saw lots of graffiti and broken windows in vacant, torn down houses, that was exciting! Jason was not too happy that we went downtown, but I think it was great that Hunter got to see a big downtown compared to Traverse City. When we told a guy in the Ren Cen where we were visiting from, he said, "I bet your downtown is busier than our downtown!" Probably true!

Later that evening we went over and visited with Aunt Theresa, Uncle Dave, Brian, Ericka, Aunt Kim, Courtney and Isabelle. Hunter was a little shy at first and quiet but Brian took him downstairs to play video games then the wrestled for practically the rest of the night. Zander was well busy, although he really liked their cat and was actually very nice to her and she stayed by Zander most of the night.

Who knew that when we left Hunter would get sick and be in bed for practically 2 days. I had no clue that he wasn't feeling well, with the way he was acting and wrestling you would never have known. He went home with a headache and went straight to bed and the headache didn't go away for atleast 3 days unless I kept him on around the clock Tylenol and Motrin.

I love this picture of Zander smiling so big at Brian

Look at all them cute faces; Brian, Zander, Courtney, Isabelle and Hunter

And this is what Hunter had been waiting for, wrestling

Hunter thinks Brian is too cool!

Friday, Zander got his first 'professional' haircut, and I say 'professional' because I have given him many trims to keep the hair out of his eyes and ears, but this was his first big boy haircut. Let me tell you it was not easy keeping him still for the entire time. When Hunter got his first haircut at 6 months old and every couple months after that, he was so calm and still and just sat there and let them do what they needed to do, well not Zander! Hunter was still sick but he was adamant on going with us but after we were done and tried going to a couple stores, where Hunter almost puked in the store, we quickly made our way back home where he stayed in bed the rest of the night.

Snip snip

Saturday - the day of the Hunter's big party, and yet he woke up still sick. At 11am I almost took him to the urgent care because his headache was not getting better but I kept on the schedule of Tylenol and Motrin off and on every 2 hours and that made all the difference. By 2pm he was up and moving and wanted to go outside and play so we took them to the park. At 4pm everybody started arriving, except for those that were also sick. Even though Hunter seemed a little quiet, he still had bunches of fun and LOVED playing with Asher, his favorite cousin ever. After having cake, ice cream and opening gifts it was time for everybody to leave which was around 9:30 pm. Hunter wanted Asher to spend the night so badly but we knew he still wasn't himself and needed the sleep. Not 10 minutes after everybody left, Hunter was sound asleep snoring next to his brother.

Great Uncle Greg with Zander

Trying to get all that smoke away

There they all are, well most of them, we were missing Avery, Addison and Trevor

Look at them tongues, those must have been some yummy cupcakes!

Of course the boys had to make a visit downstairs to see Grandpa's trains

Zander getting a little help with his present from DeLaney

Cousin Love

Hunter's very own slippers made with love from Grandma Mac

Zander dancing and being silly

Hunter letting Greg feel his spine although he wouldn't let him adjust him

Hunter and DeLaney with their slippers

Hunter and Asher showing off their cars which they
continuously sent flying down the stairs to crash

There's the boys we know!

Wrestling again, boys just love to wrestle

Looks like DeLaney spent a day at Macy's - too cute!

And they're zonked. This is about 20 minutes after everybody left,
you think they had a good time?

Sunday - Hunter woke up sick still, almost throwing up and guess who also woke up sick? Asher, yep, Asher was puking too. Thank goodness he didn't spend the night. I too wasn't feeling good either but knew we had to somehow get home. It took us about 5 hours to get home, 5 long hours, 5 long, long, sickly hours that seemed to stretch on and on and on and on and finally we pulled into our driveway. Ahhhh, home sweet home. We love going downstate to visit but it's always nice to be back home!

Haircut

2010-11-28T17:13:00.000-05:00

Why has it taken me so long to get Zanders 1st haircut? Why was it so hard to picture him as a little boy instead of a baby? His hair, when wet, stretched down his back. When dry it bounced up into just the faintest curls and waves in the back but it was bone straight in the front. His hair was the perfect shade of blonde with natural highlights and shiny. Hair that any grown woman would love to have, hair that got Zander mistaken for a girl more than once. It was time. Jason wanted me to shave it all off, that's how much he wanted the long hair gone. Me, I was just looking for a trim, but we met somewhere in the middle and the final cut is the cutest little boys cut that doesn't really make Zander look any older than his 13 1/2 months. Now I am wondering, why didn't I get this done sooner, it's just too darn cute!

Before all the hair started falling

Snip, snip, snip..I was covered in fine little blonde hairs on my shirt!

Big brother being so patient playing his DS even though he was sick

It's amazing that we were able to get Zander to sit for the whole time.
He did get squirmy towards the end.

Zander brushing my hair because this was the only way to occupy him.

Zander's angel of a hairdresser, she was the best!

Happy Thanksgiving

2010-11-24T15:02:00.000-05:00

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Just let me help!

2010-11-15T18:23:00.001-05:00

I have recently learned that trying to clean while keeping a 1 year old distracted so he doesn't realize I am cleaning just pisses him off and makes him do anything he possibly can to ruin what I have just cleaned. So in order to keep things in order while cleaning I just have to let him help. By helping, he does all sorts of household chores like carrying around a little dust broom and dust pan and brushes at the invisible spots on the floor, actually who am I kidding, there are no invisible spots on our floor those are real spots, anyhow this makes him joyfully happy.

While doing laundry instead of telling him to get off the pile of dirty clothes or stop sticking your head in the dryer while I'm trying to put clothes in it, I just let him actually climb in the dryer for a little while and then when he gets out and we fill it up with clothes, he is the one to shut the door and then he claps for himself because he was such a big help.

He vacuums with the hand held vacuum and if I dare turn it off while he is using it oh boy he really gets pissed. In the meantime Hunter is trying to watch tv, turned up as high as it goes just so his brother can act like he is vacuuming and if this makes Zander happy then everybody is happy.

When trying to take apart the regular vacuum because something rank is emanating from it, and who can believe that anything in our house would make a vacuum stink, with 2 dogs and 2 kids anything is possible! He is right there to help me with the screwdriver trying with all his might to unscrew the screws and then help take it apart and put it back together.

What would I honestly do without my little helper? Clean the house in half the time that's what I would do, but it wouldn't be as much fun!

Dig, dig, dig

2010-11-15T18:22:00.000-05:00

This year I decided that I will actually plant the three beautiful mums I bought for the fall instead of forgetting to water them and having them get bit by the frosts and then eventually die lonely in their pots only to be thrown away and never to be seen again. By planting them, they will have a new home in the nice, cozy soil and be ready to bloom next year bigger and better than they ever could in their previous homes of their little pots. Man, if I would have done this years ago, the landscaping on the side of our house would be nothing but big colorful mums. Along with the mums, I had bulbs to get in the ground and I was running out of time. I knew that the weather would quickly be turning and our days of getting outside to do this dirt-y work were numbered.

Having 2 boys who are ever so willing to help, well, if I don't atleast let the little one think he's helping he can be quite the little tornado and tear up more stuff then help, so hand him some 'safe' tools and let him go digging and think he's helping. Here is what our planting looked like:

Although Hunter did a great job at digging holes for our mums, he dug about 10 holes too many,

so he was in charge of filling them back in.

So what if he's digging with an ice scrapper,
he doesn't know the difference!

Has to be like big brother and try out the big shovel

So if you have kids and are ever in need of making many big and small holes in the dirt for planting, give them a shovel and some tools and let them go dig in the dirt that way you won't have to do all the digging! That's my secret!

Tracking

2010-11-13T15:26:00.002-05:00

Living in Traverse City, Jason and Hunter are truly in their glory. Up here hunting season is practically a holiday. Guys and some gals take off work to be able to go out in the woods and sit for hours hoping to see some type of movement through the trees and hear leaves crunching. Hunter cannot wait to go hunting with Jason, he talks about it all the time. Finally, last Saturday was Hunters big chance to go in the woods with dad and try to shoot a deer. Now remind you that it's only bow season, did you think I was crazy enough to let my oldest baby go out in the woods during gun season? Jason, maybe...Me, no way! So all bundled up in layers and dark clothing, Hunter told his friends that he couldn't play anymore because he was going hunting with his dad and as soon as Jason got home from work they were on their way to the woods.

Jason and Hunter in the blind

Jason complained that Hunter's coat made too much noise, lol

Hunter was the lookout man, using binoculars to spot any deer that might be trying to sneak through the woods and he says he did see an antler but it never got close enough for Jason to see. Their night was quiet in their blind and Hunter passed the time by playing his DS, thank goodness for video games. The night ended without any real sightings of any deer. Hunter wasn't too disappointed, he was just excited he actually got to go hunting. Jason told him that if he shot a deer while he was in school he would come get Hunter out of school so he could help him track it. And that's just what happened........

Wednesday morning, Jason woke up before any of us and made his way to the woods. On the way to taking Hunter to school I let him know that daddy was out in the woods and hopefully he will get a deer and if he does he will come get him from school. Around 9am, I got a text and then a call from Jason, breathless, telling me he just smoked a deer and then had to tell me how he missed the deer from a mere 13 feet and luckily the missed shot didn't spook the deer away so he was able to take another shot at it while they were walking away and BAM, perfect shot through the right shoulder. Jason saw her go her head go down and she couldn't really run without dragging her head and shoulder on the ground. Jason got out of his tree stand and saw alot of blood and knew that she didn't stand a chance at surviving so he made his way home to get to get Grandpa Marks truck to bring her home.

After picking up the truck it was time to go pick Hunter up at school. I guess teachers up north understand that deer season is somewhat of a holiday because Hunter's teacher was all about them going out to track the deer and taking the afternoon off of school (although Hunter is only in kindergarten, so I don't think an afternoon is going to matter). Off we all went to go help dad track the deer.

The day was perfect, although a little bit warm at 65 degrees, not optimal when were talking about a dead deer laying out in the woods, but it was perfect for us to be walking through the woods tracking a deer. Jason led us to his tree stand and then re-enacted where and how the deer was shot.

Hunter began looking for blood or "clues" as he called it, which I thought was a very smart way to looking at tracking a deer, you have to find all the clues that lead you to the deer and that's just what he did. First the broken, bloody arrow, next blood on leaves here and there, weaving us in the direction the deer went, matted down weeds leading us on the path that the deer took,

Found the arrow and inspecting it!

Any Clues?

and then......" I FOUND IT!" "I FOUND THE DEER!" Yep, Hunter happened upon the deer before Jason or I and found it all by himself. And there she was, laying there in the weeds.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1zgfljOjZ4 Hunter tracking the deer

She was a big one, probably 4 or 5 years old. But I can't help to think of her bad day....

Jason will confirm that she was a very large doe,
he was very winded after dragging her to the truck

Proud Hunters

There's our third, soon to be hunter

Zander loved petting the deer and then mommy promptly took him inside to wash his hands, lol

Lois (what I have named her) and her friend were going for a stroll through the woods on a glorious, warm, November day and then BAM a stinging whiz went through her faster than she could react, all she could do is run to try and get away but she didn't get to far before she layed down and closed her eyes, forever. I wonder if her friend, who ran in a different direction, knew what happened. Is she wondering where Lois is? Did she go back to look for her or was she too scared and shaking to retrace their steps. I know when you're hunting you don't think of these things, even though Jason does say what cool and beautiful animals they are, you somehow have to disconnect yourself from the sadness of it. Although, thanks to Lois, our freezer will be filled with meat, hotdogs, and sausages. We shall not go hungry for the next year atleast.

Happy Halloween

2010-11-06T12:20:00.001-04:00

The day started out dreary and cold and rainy, just like every other Halloween we've had here in Traverse City, but by the time it was time to go trick-r-treating the skies parted and we actually saw some blue skies and the big yellow ball in the sky. Though it was a tad chilly, it wasn't the bitter cold that we've had in the past where winter parkas, scarves and hats are needed.

Living in a historic town with old victorian homes makes the trick-r-treating experience that much more fun. Sure we could have gone in our neighborhood filled with new houses and acre lots, but with little kids, the houses that sit downtown are perfect because their closer together and you can cover more ground in less time. Translation; the kids can get more candy at more houses than we probably could have in our neighborhood, translation; Jason and I get more candy. Sure there were also hundreds of kids and parents dressed up but that's the fun of it. Among the hundreds of costumes, I didn't see any other SWAT team member or a bear as cute and cuddly as Zander.

The other perk to going trick-r-treating downtown is the parents also get some treats for themselves; hot cider, beer, jello shots, spiked hot chocolate! Now that's my kind of trick-r-treating!

I didn't know SWAT made faces like this!

Hunter Waiting in line for a piece of candy

Zander, again, insisted on walking much of the way and collecting his own candy

Getting up the steps to the spooky house with the spooky lady

Hunter and his friend Brayden!
Among all these kids they found each other!

Jason with his 'treat' BEER

Me and my cute, cuddly little bear!

Loved this couples costume, they looked real huh?!?
Wish I could find a cool costume like that!

Spooky decorations, loved it!

Zander checking out what they got

All he cared about was the suckers

And if all the chocolate and candy weren't enough,
Zander went into the fridge and pulled out this!

Golf Cart

2010-11-01T22:24:00.000-04:00

Last week on our way home from buying his Halloween costume, Hunter, out of the blue, asked us if we could get him a golf cart so he could ride around in it while trick-r-treating. "HAHAHHAHahhahahahhaha!" That's us cracking up and saying, "yah sure Hunter we'll go out and buy you a golf cart just so you can go trick-r-treating in, good idea though." Well, who does a kid turn to when his parents turn his request down? Grandma and Grandpa of course. So Hunter got on the phone to call Grandpa Folgmann and asked him the same question and not surprisingly, to us, he got the same reply from Grandpa. What kid asks for a golf cart to ride around in to go trick-r-treating? Apparently, Hunter isn't the only kindergartner on our block to ask for this request, however, the other kindergartner whose dad is the golf pro at the Grand Traverse Resort was actually granted his request.

Our neighbors, the Heberts, had a delivery on Saturday and on the back of the trailer was a golf cart. Shortly afterwards they came zooming down the street and shouted for Hunter to hop on and go for a ride. Since working at the golf course has a few perks and borrowing a golf cart for Halloween so the kids could zoom from house to house in it and cover more area in less time is just one of them.

back row: Susie, JP (hiding in back)
front row: Gabriel, Hunter, Zander and Aiden

Trick-r-treating downtown TC

2010-10-30T17:26:00.012-04:00

The day started out with an early morning parade at Hunter's school, Zander went to his very own Halloween parade, Hunter had a Halloween party at school and to round the day off we went trick-r-treating in downtown Traverse City. You would think that Friday was Halloween instead of actually Sunday.

Every year we make sure we hit downtown Traverse City to go trick-r-treating. Being shoulder to shoulder with strangers most of whom are in costumes doesn't deter us from joining in the fun. Hunter got many compliments and thank you's for his service as a SWAT guy and Zander was just absolutley adorable in his little bear costume (Hunter's costume when he was that age, definitely a keepsake!). Zander was determined to walk alot of the way, carrying his little Halloween goodie bag and wasn't too pleased when I would pick him up or try and put him in the stroller.

We met up with Alivia, who was a house divided little cheerleader State/UofM (Go STATE), and Mark who was Buzz Lightyear and little baby Ryder who was a peapod. The kids did great, well Alivia was a little tired and tuckered out for parts of it but was on her game otherwise. Hunter, as always, was the older cousin looking out for the little ones, plus we all had our very own bodyguard with Hunter being on the SWAT team, nobody better mess with us and try to steal our candy or SWAT will be on you like a fly in a spiders web!

The one problem we did have, which seems to be a reoccurring problem was trying to get all the cousins to sit and look at the camera to get a group shot. We will master this one year, just not this year!!

So cute!

Me and my boys!

Zander insisted on walking and holding his own bag

Loving trick-r-treating

Hunter and Mark

Me, Sonya and Ashley with our little ones

Goofball

Hunter and his friend Brayden

Zander and Gramps

Cutest bear I ever did see!

Zander did NOT want to go in his stroller
but once there he chilled for a little bit

Awe, baby Ryder

And here we go, snap 3 out of about 50 between 3 cameras

Zander loving the pom-pom until he hit Alivia with it

And Zander giving Alivia a kiss to make her feel better - not working!

Halloween School Party

2010-10-30T16:50:00.000-04:00

Why is it that my 5 year old has already atteneded so many Halloween parties in his short life, whether it be for school or friends house, and I as an adult can't go to one stinking Halloween party? Okay, I'm done pouting, but I am sure glad I can attend Hunters Halloween parties even if I can't go to one of my own.

Friday afternoon was Hunter's class Halloween Party. Being a working mom, I was able to use some vacation hours to be able to help out er join in the party. Let me tell you, those room mom's did a great job organizing a fun party full of crafts and food. The kids made ghosts and bats and spooky hats. They drank cider and ate their very own decorated cookie. There was witches fingers made out of string cheese and orange yogurt with sprinkles. The party was a hit. Now all we have to do as parents is decide where to hang all these cute and spooky Halloween crafts that our children made because if you're anything like me and can't throw out anything then we have an itsy bitsy problem.

Hunter and Riley decorating their cookie

Hunter and Riley

Making cool bats with their hand cutouts as the wings

Hunter and yep you guessed it, Riley

Hunter, Mitchell and Brayden coloring their Frakensteins while also being silly

JP making his yummy cookie

Halloween Parade

2010-10-30T16:27:00.003-04:00

Our pre-Halloween day started out very early in the morning with a parade full of glow-in-the-dark-skeletons and ghosts and a boxer who was really into his fight and witches and butterflies and Kid Rock? Yep Kid Rock was there, hilarious costume, mullet, glasses, chest hair, funny! Hunter was representing the SWAT team. Only him and another older boy were there from their squad. Hundreds of kids dressed up in their Halloween costumes and crowded in the gym for us parents to get a good look at them and once they were all crammed in sitting "criss cross applesauce" the music teacher led them through their Halloween songs. Halloween songs I have never heard before that is until Hunter started singing one song to me "Ghost of John" and now I can't seem to get it out of my head. I think I will share it with you so you can sing along with me and hopefully get it stuck in your head so I can get it our of mine.
Ghost of John
Have you seen the ghost of john?
Long white bones with the skin all gone
WOOOOO wooooo oooo oooooooo
Wouldn't it be chilly with no skin on?

Am I the only parent who gets teary eyed and choked up watching all these kids dressed up and listening to them sing? Why is that when I am so happy, instead of being able to laugh fully, I am laughing while crying, please tell me this is the only Mother flaw!

Hunter and JP and some of their classmates

Hunter and Riley

Hunter wasn't the only one who got to enjoy a Halloween parade, Zander got to go to his very first Halloween parade. Grandma Lori and Aunt Sonya took him and Alivia to a Halloween parade at the TC Library. Grandma said Zander did very good and walked a good part of the way. Him and Alivia looked absolutely adorable, you just want to squeeeeeezzzzzzeeeeee them!

Hunter's spooky pumpkin

2010-10-29T21:27:00.000-04:00

Hunter gutted the pumpkin then drew the scary, spooky face on it and then started carving it but quickly realized that carving a pumpkin is harder then it looks, so he turned the knife over to Mom, which isn't always a good idea since Mom had to get stitches before when she was attempting to carve a pumpkin. However, this year, no stitches needed and the final result was a very monsterly looking pumpkin!

Watcha Got

2010-10-23T18:34:00.000-04:00

All these toys and Zander goes in drawers and cupboards and pulls out these....

Hunter and Riley

2010-10-23T17:49:00.000-04:00

Since the first day of school Hunter has fondly talked about a girl in his class named Riley. Most evenings he manages to bring her name up atleast once. We finally asked Riley to come over to our house and play and they had a great time. They played for 3+ hours. At first Riley was a little shy and would just stand there and smile, but I think she finally warmed up realizing our house was similar to hers with having boys running around and wrestling. Although as you can see in most of these pictures, they had a chaperon keeping an eye on them at most times.

Oh boy, can't wait to see where these 2 are when they are 16!

Hunter showing Riley the spooky mirror

Watching their shrinky dinks shrink

Watching Sponge Bob and sharing a snack

Go Trojans

2010-10-23T17:42:00.000-04:00

Finally we made it to a HS football game and it was the last football game of the season and biggest rivalry between Traverse City West HS and Traverse City Central (where Hunter will be going). Hunter was beyond excited that we were going and ran up to his piggy bank to grab money saying, I'll pay to get in - thank goodness because we had no other cash in the house, yet another IOU in the piggy bank.

It was a very crisp fall evening, but with the big lights of the stadium and thousands of people in attendance you didn't feel all that cold. Zander was buried in a snow suit and Hunter ended up taking his jacket off after playing with JP and running around pretending he was playing football by himself. It was a high scoring game with West coming out on top 51-42 dang it! Even though we lost it was still a great night for a kindergartner to enjoy and get the itch to play football (maybe instead of hockey, lol).

Hunter and JP on the field

These are supposed to be used to cheer on the Trojans, but as any 5/6 year old boy would do, make them weapons and hit the other person....as hard as you can

Someday Hunter you will actually be playing on this field (fingers crossed)

Zander and Alivia enjoying the football game, well kinda!

Hunter playing football with an imginary ball, team and field - GO Hunter!!!

Happy Halloween

2010-10-21T21:38:00.000-04:00

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Moomers Field Trip

2010-10-20T15:22:00.001-04:00

Hunter went on his first class field trip to Moomers the ice cream place that we have been to too many times to keep count. However, he got to actually go behind the scenes and see how the ice cream is made directly from the cows out in the field and the whole process that it goes tthrough so that we can enjoy it in our tummies!!! I wasn't able to go but Laurie, my picture counter-part was able to join in the fun and take some pictures of the kids.

Patiently waiting

Mrs O's Kindergarten class

Hunter, Riley and Brayden

Mooooooooooooooo - the cows that make the yummy Moomers ice cream

Yummy

Hunter sitting next to his friend Riley

Firehouse

2010-10-19T22:18:00.000-04:00

Every year we attend Firestation #1's Open House. They always have cool things for the kids to do even if it is the same cool things every single year! Hunter always looks forward to shooting the hose, doing the obstacle course, trying on the firefighters clothes, taking a ride in the old fashioned fire truck and this year learning about the dangers of electricity from the guys at TC L&P who were so excitidely demonstrating how an electric wire can actually cook and burn a hotdog.

This year was actually Zanders second year in attendance. Last year he was only a mere week old when we made our way out of the house and downtown for the open house. That day was rather cold and began raining at the very end, what a stark contrast to this year where it was bright sunny skies and warm, warm weather.

Before we ventured over to the fire station we made a stop by the water of course to view the beautiful trees turning colors and Hunter loved standing by the "Big Ship" the Maritime Academy Ship. Don't know how many weekends we will be enjoying this beautiful weather and the beautiful leaves changing colors.

Beautiful fall trees along West Bay

Maritime Academy - Hunter so badly wanted to go on this boat,
but thought it was cool enough to be standing this close

Riding the old-time fire truck

Getting help putting on big electrical gloves

Trying to pick up the ruler wearing big electrical gloves

Do I see a future electrician? Ummmmm, I don't think so!

Whose eating?

2010-10-19T22:00:00.000-04:00

Zander is supposed to be eating, but like any other 1 year old with dogs he feels compelled to share his yummy food with his favorite canine companion....Sage.

A day at the Patch

2010-10-14T21:32:00.000-04:00

Sunday, October 10th was a glorious, unusually hot day for October in Traverse City, atleast 80 degrees. We were dressed in shorts and t-shirts and headed to the pumpkin patch (along with many other families). The patch that we settled on is Hoxie's Apple Orchard/Pumpkin Patch. It's the only one around that we are aware of that has so many cool things for the kids to do. This was Zanders first time to such an event but Hunter's been here many, many times before.

When we got there we jumped on the tractor/wagon ride to take us out back to the corn maze, which Zander slept through in his stroller. The corn maze seemed easy and small on the map but when it the middle of the corn, with the sun beating down and no breeze, plus pushing a stroller along a narrow bumpy path created by a tractor who did not cater this path for the ease of pushing strollers through, the maze quickly became bigger and harder than first thought. In the middle of the maze I found my way out, not easily, the side of the maze, pushing Zander in his stroller over cornstalks, let me tell you they are not very forgiving. Poor Zander really had a bumpy ride. We sat out the rest of the corn maze while Jason and Hunter completed it, although they said they cheated a little bit too, they still finished it and found all their letters so we could all get our free apples.

Next it was back on the tractor ride in which we met up with Hunters friend Shane from school and onto the hay barn. It worked out perfect having a friend for Hunter to play with at the hay barn, because he would not have had near as much fun if he was just by himself. They were loving jumping off the highest point of the stacked hay, and swinging high on the tire swing. Meanwhile, Jason bought some much needed cider and the yummiest donuts ever, fresh out of the oven, mm mmmm mmmmm.

The funny thing is we didn't get back to the actual pumpkin patch to pick out a pumpkin, good thing Grandma Cousino brought a couple of pumpkins with her when she visited.

Zander sleeping during the tractor ride

Which way do we go?

Hunter and Shane

Zander loved playing in the hay barn,
trying to do everything the older boys were doing of course

WEeeeeeeeeeeeee

Last Bonfire

2010-10-12T16:59:00.000-04:00

The bright orange glow, the unforgettable smell of wood burning, the chill in the air, ahhhhh Fall is here, however, on this night, October 10th we are still dressed in short sleeved shirts and shorts/capris. It was HOT today and the evening was perfect to enjoy a bonfire. Nate across the street had a bonfire but too bad we couldn't stay long since it was Sunday night and we had school/work early Monday morning. It was still a great way to enjoy probably one of the last nice evenings, last bonfire of the season and hang with great neighbors.

Hunter and Briah

I love this picture, it looks like he is pushing the sparks away with his hand
Or as Hunters says, it looks like he has the power to control the fire!

Ahhhh relaxing

Back on the Ice

2010-10-11T16:39:00.000-04:00

Hunters back on the ice, this time with Mite B and let me just say he is doing A-W-E-S-O-M-E! It's like he hasn't even been away from the ice all summer. I can see so much improvement already since last year! I just love watching him skate around out there, well when I'm not trying to stop Zander from crawling up and down the bleachers!

He's the one on the right

See him in front on the right

Speedster

Spooky

2010-10-11T08:03:00.000-04:00

One of the hallways at the Great Wolf Lodge decorated for Halloween. Was Hunter scared? Not one bit....Was Zander scared? Nope.....Was Mom scared? To death (of the creepy spiders hanging all over the place)! Thank goodness I was with Hunter who kept telling me, "Mom, they're not real!" but they were still creepy and gave me the chills!

Going on a Nature Hike

2010-10-08T08:25:00.000-04:00

It started out as a very nice, casual walk on a very well beaten path through the woods. The colors of the trees were just starting to turn and the view from the look-outs were unbelievable. We walked until the path came to an end and where there was a sign in front of some steps that read; 930 to pond access. Before I had time to think about how far 930 feet really was, Hunter was on his way down. I stood at the top thinking, you guys are crazy if you think I'm walking down all those steps with Zander in the backpack carrier on my back! Of course walking down wasn't what I was worried about, coming up is where I am sure I wouldn't be able to make it. I don't think Jason was too keen on going down all those steps either and the fact that he didn't offer to take Zander off my back and onto his made that abundantly clear.

Once at the bottom, which was an easy and steady decent, we were standing on the edge of the lake. The water was crystal clear and there was one boat with a fisherman trolling around. The perfect setting to set up an easle and attempt to paint the scene. We sat down for a few minutes until Hunter spied a suspended bridge that took you another 900+ feet deeper into the woods. We all made it to the end but by then my shoulders and back were starting to ache with the not so light body I was carrying on my back, AND we still had to make our way up all those steps. After taking another little break and walking to the edges of the water, we began our hike back up. With Hunter practically running up the stairs, me and Jay followed behind......slllllooooowwwwlllllyyy.....thank goodness for the sturdy walking stick I found, that allowed me to take a few leaning breaks and supported me on the way up. Needless to say we were a little out of breath at the top, well me and Jay were, not Hunter he was still talking and hopping and jogging and whatever else that a 5 year old with endless energy does.

Can't wait to go back to the lookout to see the trees now during their peak show of colors, but I think I might just skip the steps or maybe I will tackle them again to see if I am in any better shape since the last time!

Going for a nature hike...........wonder what we'll find!

What a view

I think this used to say 530 FT but it's clearly been revised to say 930 FT

Going doooowwwnnnn.....

Ahhhh we made it to the bottom

Little suspended bridge

Happy Birthday Zander

2010-10-04T16:21:00.000-04:00

Is it possible that one year ago we were still in the hospital for 4 days after you arrived? Wow what a difference a year makes.

In one year you.....

Gained 20+ lbs. (at your dr. appt. last week you were 26.2 lbs.).

The hard time I had trying to nurse you and in fact I think I was actually starving you. You dropped almost a full pound in those first couple of weeks and it broke our hearts to see you so teeny tiny. Once we made the decision to switch you to formula you didn't look back. You started drinking 6 oz. at 1 month of age. You were holding your bottle at about 3-4 months probably because I starved you for that first month so you wanted to make sure that nobody was going to take your food away from you. You had a horrible time with reflux; you threw up so much, it's a wonder you were able to gain so much weight so fast. You were put on medicine early on and still take it. When I notice that I have forgotten to give it to you, you sometimes grab your chest and cry, so I am thinking that the reflux still hurts you (by the way, you get this from your daddy.)

8 teeth

Your first tooth to come in was your bottom tooth followed by a top tooth. By time your two top teeth came in they were so much bigger than the rest and it looks so cute when you smile to have these 2 big teeth in such a little mouth.
You have a heck of a time when teething. You don't sleep well, you get very cranking and you gnaw on everything even people.

A few words

Mama, Dadda and I think there are a few others in there somewhere but I can't distinguish them yet. Although Mama usually comes when you want something or when you are mad about something; you are very good at saying it.

A love for your older brother, Hunter

Nobody can make you laugh like Hunter. You have always watched him carefully and when you just hear his voice you usually get a smile on your face and get so excited. Lets hope that this love stays even when you two are older and arguing.

A shining personality

oh how you can make us laugh! How does somebody so little develop such a strong and unique personality? Well you did!

A devilish temper

O' boy do you have a temper! It started showing up at about 7 months when you would tense up and put your hands into fists and grunt. By 10 months you were throwing tantrums by throwing yourself on the ground and pounding your head against the floor. Thank God you have yet to hurt yourself doing this even though you did try once to do this on cement which I managed to stop you beforehand. If you don't get your way or what you want, WATCH OUT!

A fondness for real people food.

You didn't stay on baby food too long, once we started giving you real food (you had ice cream at 3 months, a cheese puff at 4 months, we are really health nuts, haha) you never wanted to go back to the bland, blended baby food in a jar. You do such a good job feeding yourself, you can pick up the tiniest piece of food and get it into your mouth (ex. you were picking all the sprinkles off your cake first and eating those).

A fearless attitude.

I don't know if it's because you have a dare devil older brother and you want to do everything that he does, but boy you don't stop at anything. We were swimming at an indoor pool when you were 10 months and you would crawl around the pool and then proceed to climb backwards into the pool not even caring if anybody was there, thank God we were there to catch you. You started going down a big slide at 9-10 months all by yourself, once you are at the top you turn around backwards and go down feet first on your belly, although you have gone down head first a couple of times. You also learned to crawl up and down stairs at 8-9 months of age. We showed you a couple of times how to go downstairs backwards very carefully and you caught on and do great at it.

Almost walking:

You started crawling at about 7 months and by 9 months you were standing up and holding on to things while you walked around. At 11 months you were taking a step here and a step there. By 12 months you are taking about 3-4 steps and up to 6 steps at a time before you topple over. We can't wait to see you waddling around everywhere, or can we?

Have already been to Disney World:

It took me almost 33 years to get to Disney World and you were able to go at 7 months. Even though you had no clue what was going on and you won't remember anything, atleast we have lots of pictures for proof that you were there and had a great time!

Most of all, you have gained, lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of LOVE from family, friends and neighbors. Happy 1st Birthday Zander!!

Yummy! Devouring birthday cake at his 1st Birthday party.

Only seconds old

Big Brother - days old

2 months old - Thanksgiving

2 1/2 months old

4 months old

6 months old

6 months old - so precious

7 months old - Clearwater Beach, FL

8 months old

9 months old

10 1/2 months old

11 months old

Grandma goes to School

2010-10-02T12:48:00.000-04:00

Every time Grandma Cousino comes up to visit she makes it a point to go to Hunters classroom for half the day to help the teacher and children out. She always enjoys her time spent there and it seems that the kids and teachers all love having her there too.

On this day she got to see the kids show their artistic skills in art class and also see them run, do jumping jacks and play in gym class. In between classes Grandma Cousino gave each student a special gift from her, a Halloween activity pad. The kids all seemed to love their activity pad and it came in especially handy during recess time when they all had to stay inside because of the monsoon rain storm outside. Grandma Cousino savored the memories and took lots of pictures of her time spent at Cherry Knoll Elementary School, see below.

Working hard on their art projects

Quiet story time

Jumping jacks at gym

Jump, jump....singing their crazy song before lunch

Mrs. O's Kindergarten class with Grandma Cousino as the helper

Shoots....he scores!

Hunter and JP at recess

Fall Family Picnic at school

Last Swim

2010-10-02T12:42:00.000-04:00

Last week I was cleaning out Zanders little swimming pool while waiting for all the Grandma's to arrive. Well Zander had other ideas for the swimming pool, he really wanted to go swimming. So 8 buckets later filled with hot water mixed with the cold water from the hose, Zander was able to go swimming at the end of September in a very warm pool.

Diving right in, head first!

Trying to sit on the little steps to the slide

They've Arrived

2010-10-02T12:14:00.000-04:00

As a new burgundy mini-van pulls up with 3 ladies over the age of 63, I can't help to sing the song "3 blind mice" substituting with "3 old ladies" and making up versus as I go along. You have to laugh at seeing Grandma Cousino, Great Grandma Mac and Great Grandma Verdoot roll up for their visit with their walkers, canes, and all helping each other, it's quite a site to see!

The day they arrived it was a beautiful 70 degree day, endless blue skies, well that didn't last too long. It started raining Wednesday night and continued right on through Saturday. I'm not just talking about grey skies and rain showers here and there, it was a monsoon! There were thunderstorms and wind and downpours like you wouldn't believe. All our plans had to get changed but honestly I don't know how we would have fit anything else in our days, we were busy, busy, busy from early in the morning to late at night. So busy that the only time we could fit in a trip to Meijer was Friday night at 10:30 pm, we didn't even get home until about 11:45 pm. Even with all the rain and yucky weather we had a great visit and hopefully Grandma Mac liked her trip north.

Highlights from the visit.

Grandma Cousino goes to school with Hunter

Zander and I take lunch to Hunter and Grandma Cousino at school

Swimming at Grandma Macs hotel; The Grand Beach (beautiful hotel)
Don's Drive In for some good ole' Coney Dogs
Rain stopped long enough for us to go down to the beach at Grandma Macs hotel and play in the wet sand. The water was so nice that Hunter went out to just below his waste, with his pants on. Zander had sand everywhere. Thank goodness Grandma Mac's room was near so I could wash him off.
Friday morning took Hunter and Zander to gymnastics (Hunter got to skip school to spend time with his Grandma's)
Saturday hockey skating for Hunter
Saturday evening Zanders 1st Birthday Party. Great friends, neighbors, family and best of all Great Grandparents were able to make the trip for it!
Sunday, sun finally came back out. Took Grandma Mac for a ride up the Peninsula and to a winery, although she didn't go in the winery, me and Grandma Cousino did and each came out with a bottle. Hunter had fun rolling down the hill at the winery and Zander enjoyed just getting out of his carseat.
Mission Point Lighthouse. Woowee was it cold there, the wind was wipping off of the water but we were able to get Grandma Mac's picture showing that she was standing at the 45th parallel, half way between Antartica and the Equator.

Even though we got up and going each day, Grandma Mac was happy to stay in her hotel room until about 2:00 pm each day. She really enjoyed her room which was right on the bay, even though she didn't get to enjoy the view that much because of the rain it was still nice that she was able to be there!

Hopefully Grandma Mac will be able to make it back up to Traverse City next summer when the weather is nicer and she can actually enjoy the town, since we did not even get to take her walking Front Street in downtown Traverse City.

Zander having fun on Grandma Mac's walker

Me and Zander swimming at Grandma Mac's hotel

The Grandma's: Grandma Cousino, Great Grandma Verdoot, Grandma Lori, Great Grandma Mac (sitting)

Zander being silly for the camera

Hunter and Grandma Verdoot started wrestling after this picture,
and let me tell you Grandma Verdoot can whoop some butt!!

Snooze

2010-09-20T15:00:00.000-04:00

A bunch of lazy butts

wish they would make room for me!

Chinny chin chin

2010-09-14T16:01:00.000-04:00

Hunters poor chin has had stitches twice now in its 5 year existence. The first time was when he was 2 1/2 and jumped off the little step stool after going potty and came down hard on the edge of the toilet. Spent 5 hours in the hospital with a child who was drunk on medicine and still screamed horrendously as they were stitching him up (not easy to watch for a mother).

Fast forward 3 years later and his chin once again got 3 stitches in it from Hunter smacking it hard on the coffee table while doing flips and twirls and stuff. Time spent in the er this time was only 2 hours and he didn't even bat an eye while getting stitched up. This has become a piece of cake for him, but lets hope this doesn't become a recurrence.

Hunter after getting stitches showing off his towel,
looks like he got in a hockey fight

Hunter 2 1/2 getting ready for his stitches in his chin

One-two tie my shoe

2010-09-11T21:46:00.000-04:00

Hunter can tie his own shoes, YIPPEE!!!!

Over the summer Hunter was very determined to learn how to tie his own shoes. He practiced on his t-ball shoes on the way to his games. He would get so frustrated because he could get one loop but had trouble getting the other loop through. Last week Hunter couldn't find one of his easy velcro shoes so I said, "hey, why don't we get your tie shoes out and you can practice again" so that's what he did. And guess what? The very first try he got it! He tied his shoe all by himself and then he tied his other shoe and then he was so excited and proud he untied them and tied them again. It was so exciting to see him master tying his shoes and how seeing how excited he got. He learned to tie his his shoes just days after we bought him cool new velcro sketchers.

Of course I had to take a video of how awesome he is now at tying his shoes. He said he wants to put it on the computer to help other kids learn how to tie their shoes.

Click here to see how awesome Hunter is at tying his shoes

What the ?

2010-09-08T22:49:00.000-04:00

I think these pictures say it all.......Zander has a BIG friggin mouth!!

As if putting one ball in your mouth isn't enough,

lets see if we can shove both in our mouth at the same time!

Pictures at the beach

2010-09-08T21:11:00.001-04:00

For Mark and Lori's 35th Anniversary, us kids went in on a portrait session for them of our family. Lori really wanted an outdoors photo and living in Traverse City there isn't a shortage of beautiful scenery to take a picture in front of. Our scenery of choice, West Bay. Of all the days last weekend, thank goodness Sunday was the best. It wasn't too cold, not too hot and the sun was peeking out of the clouds. The boys, Hunter and Mark, had a great time playing in the water and climbing the rocks. Trying to get 5 kids ranging in age from 1 month to 5 years old to all look and smile at the same time is not an easy task, so I am anxious to see how the pictures turned out and if there are any keepers.

Kindergarten Bound

2010-09-07T20:34:00.004-04:00

While Jason is finally ending his school career by graduating with his Bachelors Degree next week, Hunter is just beginning his long school career with his first day of Kindergarten today, and the circle of school life continues.

Hunters day started at 7:10 am, he got up in a hurry, got dressed, ate about 2 bites of his requested breakfast Cinnamon Toast Crunch, brushed his teeth, posed for pictures and it was time to take off for school. Jason and I both took Hunter to school, walked him in, found his locker, and watched him step in line to go into his classroom. This year Hunter has many friends in his classroom including; Brayden, JP, Mitchell and a new friend Brady he met today. Although 2 of his friends aren't in his classroom, Chase and Shaelynn, but in Hunter's words, he was able to, "Find them in all that mess on the playground and play with them." The first day was just a 1/2 day, dismissal time 11:22am, bus arrival time 12:18. Hunter jumped off the bus and immediately yelled, "I think the bus driver needs a GPS!"

Let's hope that Hunters first full day of school goes just as good as his 1/2 day, hoping he meets many more new friends, learns tons of new stuff and hope that the bus driver learns the route a little better with or without a GPS.

Last game

2010-09-07T15:13:00.000-04:00

We scored free tickets to the Beach Bums last game of the season (thanks Jen & Todd) so along with 8,000 + fans we watched them win their last game. It was so crazy and busy when we got there it took us almost 30 min. to get into the park and as we were standing in line for some food, Jason noticed that a table seat (businesses buy these) was vacant so we became employees for that company and enjoyed their seats. After standing in line for food for over 20 min. we sat down at our new seats, the waitress came and took our order and delivered our food 5 min. later, another score!

Hunter got to run the bases at the end of the game and we watched the last fireworks show. It was a perfect night for a ball game and fireworks. This was our second year attending the last game, we are going to make this a new summer time tradition.

Giving Sun Tan high five before running the bases

And he's off.....

Zander sitting on top of the dugout watching Hunter run the bases

Lets Bowl

2010-09-06T21:59:00.005-04:00

Lets bowl, lets bowl, lets rock-n-roll, hey come on lets get the show on the road.....(can anyone name what movie that song came from?)

Friday night we went bowling with friends/neighbors and aside from chasing Zander everywhere (the kid would not stay still) we had a great time. Hunter held his own and bowled really well, even beating Megan one game (sorry Megan, had to put that in). Hunter now wants to join a bowling league. Note to self; we have to stop taking Hunter places, because everywhere we take him he wants to join a league or a new sport.

YES! Excited he got the spare

Double thumbs up on getting a spare

Come on, when is it my turn?

Bubble fun

2010-09-03T16:01:00.000-04:00

Ho, ho, ho it's Santa Clauses boy, the sparkly eyes, the white beard, looks just like him minus the jiggly gut.

Zander loves being in the bathroom when Hunter is taking
his bath and does his best to crawl over the side to join him

Karate Kid

2010-09-03T15:54:00.000-04:00

Hunter has always showed us his karate moves around the house even without taking any lessons. Well he finally had a mini lesson and actually got to break a piece of wood. Watch the video to see the strength and concentration Hunter and his buddy Taiger have when breaking the thick, solid piece of wood:)

The snake or the bird or whatever this move is called....

For a better quality video click Karate Kid

Sliding

2010-08-31T11:12:00.003-04:00

Zander definitely has the hang of going down a slide all by himself, you would think he's a 2 year old instead of 11 months.

Ever since we taught him how to go backwards when he goes down steps or stairs, now whenever he goes down stairs, steps, ramps or slides he knows to turn backwards and go down that way. That's why in the video he turns himself around and slides down on his belly going backwards. He's so smart:)

Click on the link below to see video of Zander sliding down the slide.
Zander Sliding down the slide

Another trip downstate

2010-08-26T16:53:00.001-04:00

The countdown was officially on 10 days before our trip downstate to visit Grandma Cousino and Asher (and many other family members, but these are the 2 people that were top on Hunters list). The excitement was at a heightened level but the dreadful drive was well dreadful. Thankfully we were able to break the drive up into 2 days on the way down, stopping half way to visit Jason on Thursday while he was in training in Greenville. Friday morning Grandma Cousino and Aunt Mary made their part of the trek north to pick us up in Greenville only to make their way back downstate with us in tow.

Friday was a beautiful day and we decided to get all the young cousins together at the park so they could get all their shyness out of the way before the family picnic on Saturday. The kids ran, rode, laughed, climbed, swung, found sticks to make as imaginary guns, and just played....hard. Hunter, Asher and Delaney decided to have a sleepover at Grandma Cousino's house, staying up until 1am watching Polar Express (that movie never gets old even after watching it 1000x).

Good thing the kids were able to get some energy out at the park on Friday night because our much anticipated, extensively planned family picnic got totally rained out. Saturday, we woke up to rain that was supposed to clear up by 1pm with a chance of thunderstorms in the afternoon. Well, the thunderstorms never made their way to us but the rain didn't leave us either. Christie graciously offered up her beautiful, spacious house for all of us to cram into, afterall we didn't want all of the food we prepared to go to waste. The kids still had fun running around up and down and all around the house and when the rain finally decided to stop in the evening out came the water guns and the water fight began.

Highlights from the Cousino-McFarland Reunion

Mary, Ryan and Sarah (Ryan's very pretty and sweet new gal pal) made the long trek north from North Carolina
Hunter, Zander and I ventrued south for the weekend
It rained all day on Saturday, the only day it rained and the day of the picnic, cancelled the park and ended up at Christies
Lots of delicious food
Food fights broke out between Dennis and Kevin with Dennis smearing a cupcake in Kevins face

Kevin enlisted Diane to get back at Dennis by smushing an entire cupcake in Dennis's face, only to have Dennis tackle Diane in a food frosted hug that had Diane with more of the frosting on her than either Dennis or Kevin

Water fights with water guns between all the kids
Dennis and Dar getting into a big water fight with Dar attempting to dump the whole water filled bucket on Dennis

Do you notice the common demoninator with the food fights and water fights? Anyone, anyone? answer: Dennis

Yummy Food
Happy Birthday to Dennis and Big Greg
Did I mention lots of yummy food?
Afterwards a Bob Jo's visit for some frozen custard

Sunday we took a step back in time and took the kids to Greenfield Village. Hunter had been there only once before when he was only a year old so we wanted to take him back and let me tell you this kid is like a history nut. He loved going in all the old buildings and houses and hearing about how the people worked, lived and played in the olden days. He especially loved the trains and the train ride. We spent 5 hours there and still didn't get through the entire park, woowee were we ever tired. Then we made our way to Chads house and my lovely, fairy Godmother Renee's house so she could see the kids.

It was fun but our time is done! Were already counting down the days until we go back to visit, which is kind of hard since we don't exactly know when we'll get back downstate.

Punks! Mean looking punks!
I definitely wouldn't mess with them!

Cutie Patootie Delaney

Zander having so much fun on the playground

Hunter, Asher and Delaney at their sleepover at Grandma Cousino's

Okay, everybody look here, smile, say cheese...
Zander look here....Lauren look here....this went on for way too long, haha

Silly, silly kids

Happy Birthday to you...Dennis and Greg

Zander found the perfect spot to perch his little bum

Water fight after the rain stopped

Dennis and Dar in their own little water fight

Zander at Greenfield Village

What a good lookin' gang

Hunter and Brendan at Greenfield Village

Oldest Wind Mill in the United States

Fairy Godmother Renee with Zander and Hunter

Riding the train at Greenfield Village, if only Zander would sit still for 2 seconds

A River Runs Through it XXII

2010-08-25T16:20:00.000-04:00

I have posted many posts in the past couple years about us going down to the river to swim, and all of these posts have been title "A River Runs Through it". I have no clue what version I am on so I randomly picked a rather high number XXII.

Zander got his first feel of swimming in the very clear yet pretty cold water of the Boardman River. After his bum became numb he started to enjoy it and tried to crawl to deeper younders. Hunter as always was a goof ball and had fun trying his best to skip rocks. We don't get down to the river nearly as I often as I would like, but when we do the kids always have lots of splashing fun!

Stair Master

2010-08-13T10:45:00.000-04:00

We have a new stair master in our house. And I don't mean kind of stair master that you would exercise on because really who has time for that?!? Nope this stair master crawls ever so quickly to the edge of the stairs while constantly looking behind him to see if anybody is chasing him and then proceeds to climb the stairs as if he is thinking he can get away from whoever is behind him chasing him.

For the past month, Zander has been mastering the stairs, and I do believe he has mastered going up them and is actually starting to learn how to go down carefully backwards (with one of us behind him of course in case he falls), however, it's catching him before he starts ascending the stairs because the little bugger is quick!

This video doesn't show the quickness of Zander going up the stairs

because of the other minor and annoying distraction that is on the stairs with him, haha!

Helping myself

2010-08-12T14:25:00.000-04:00

Sometimes Zander likes to help himself to his food as you can see in the pictures below.

Haha, the angle of this picture makes his head
look like a big bobble head!

Car Wash

2010-08-12T12:55:00.000-04:00

Since our cars have not seen the inside of a car wash in a long, long time and we have not had enough rain to wash away all the dirt, Jason thought it was finally time to actually wash the cars by hand....with a little help!

Well he hasn't gotten sick yet from what he puts his mouth on

Super clean

The Winek's and a Verdoot are here!!!

2010-08-06T15:05:00.002-04:00

Aunt Kim, Courtney, Isabelle and Grandma Nancy made the far trek north last week to visit their long distance relatives. Between movies by the bay, miniature golfing, beach romping, playground playing, Friday Night Live attending (with glimpses of Michael Moore), old fashioned fire truck riding, visiting, visiting and more visiting there was hardly enough time for resting. We had fun, fun and more fun, especially Hunter who loves when his cousins come up to visit and Courtney who has to know at all times whose coming over, where are we going, why are they leaving, why aren't they coming, why do we have to leave, can I stay....Courtney definitely loves coming to Traverse City to visit everyone and we love it just as much!!

Here are some highlights from their visit:

Great Grandma Nanc and the gang

Zander loving being pushed around

Mini golf, Isabelle kicked butt!

The boys wouldn't leave Courtney alone!

Just chillin'

Hunter staring out into the great blues of Lake Michigan and pondering the
effects the sun has on the tide, hahaha

Hunter hanging like Spiderman

Lori and Kim (sisters)

Save the Knees

2010-08-05T16:28:00.000-04:00

Zander seems to be numb to the fact that crawling on grass is alot easier on the knees than crawling on the cement, because as soon as we put him on the grass, no matter how many toys are in front of him he makes a bee line to the cement. And as the ever caring mother that I am and wanting to save him from years of agonizing pain of having bad knees at such a young age I tried putting Hunters Power Ranger knee pads on him. Knee pads for babies...what a great idea I thought, we could market these, but after trying to crawl with them on for 2 sec. Zander didn't think it was that great of an idea. After stopping Zander numerous times to fix the knee pads, I finally gave up trying to save his knees, took them off him and off he went back to the cement as everybody around him winced in pain.

Trying desperately to take them off after trying to crawl with them on

Zanders first ball game

2010-07-23T14:12:00.000-04:00

Our neighbors shared their tickets with us last Friday to the Beach Bums game. This was Zanders first Beach Bums baseball game and although we spent 1/2 of the time at the playground and the other 1/2 in the toddler room so Zander could crawl around and play with toys,we still had a fun time with our neighbors.

And you know us, we try not to let anything touch Zanders mouth that isn't home grown, organic or contain sugar in it, haha, yah right, we decided to get the kid hooked on the most sugary food there is, cotton candy, and oh boy did he like that!! After the game the fun continued with watching the fireworks.

The night was perfect, the Beach Bums won and Zander is closer to becoming a sugar addict than ever before....Good times!

This was the first time that Zander show he was actually scared of something,

he was not taking his eye off of Sunburn!

Skinny Dipping

2010-07-21T15:36:00.000-04:00

Don't worry there isn't much to see here but a cute, chubby 9 month old's little cheeks!!

The other day we broke down and bought a new pool for the boys complete with a slide and everything. And it's so big we couldn't even fit it in the van but had to tie it down on top of the van and hope we could get it home safely. Zander loves his new pool and Hunter, well, he can touch the bottom of it and still be above water, lol. I didn't have swimming diapers or a bathing suit handy the other day for Zander so Jason stripped him down and put him in. Oh man did he love being nakey, and thank goodness we didn't have to evacuate the pool on accounts of a floaty, haha!!

Pictures of the great big pool:)

Follow the leader, if you dare!

Hunter wishing his brother didn't just plop his bare butt down on him

Oh there's the cheeky butt!! Look at that physique!!!

Where'd ya get those shorts?

2010-07-21T12:07:00.000-04:00

Ok, Hunter is going to kill me if he knows I'm posting this and I told him I was erasing the pictures, so please, please, please do not mention this to him, but it is just too darn funny to keep all to myself!

Last night while cooking dinner Hunter said, "Mom, come look at this" going into the bathroom where he was washing his hands, he wanted to show me his glow in the dark t-shirt he had on. Before he turned off the lights and shut the door, making it pitch black with just the glowing snake jumping from his shirt, I noticed he had on a pair of navy blue, cotton, right below the knee, form-fitting with enough wiggle room, shorts on. After the lights went back on and he was walking out in front of me I asked him, "Hey Hunter, where'd ya get those shorts?" "Oh, I got them out of the van." We had just gotten home from swimming at his friends house so I thought, oh he must have got them out of the swimming bag that was still in the van.

As I continued staring at Hunter and studying his shorts, thinking to myself that I don't remember Hunter ever having navy blue, cotton shorts that fit just below the knee with front pockets and a drawsting and then it hit me.......No, Hunter doesn't have navy blue shorts that fit just below the knee, but Zander has navy blue, cotton pants with pockets in the front and a draw string. Tugging Hunters shoulders and turning him around, pulling up his shirt and yep sure enough my 5 1/2 year olds little tush and skinny legs fit into my 9 month olds chubby legged 12 month pants.

And you know me, this was the perfect picture moment that Hunter was not having, but yet he kept these pants/shorts on for the rest of the evening, even playing outside in them.

HAHAHAHAHAHA Oh my gosh I'm still cracking up!!!

Here's Hunter lunging for the camera

And here he is walking away not too happy that I snapped a picture

Day at the Park with Daddy

2010-07-19T16:34:00.000-04:00

With Jason not working for the past month (he did get a new job and starts in a week, woohoo), he has been spending ample amounts of time with Hunter and Zander. Jason decided to take the boys to the Civic Center park last week, which when asked he is not afraid to come up with some kind of fabricated story about how he is a stay at home dad or how his wife left him with the 2 boys, just to gain sympathy.

At this stage in Zanders life he (a) does not sit still (b) crawls everywhere and climbs everything (including the stairs) and (c) has no fear yet, which makes the park a perfect place for him to roam around discovering new inlets and outlets to crawl through, around and over. Although 2 little girls were not too happy with Zander sitting smack dab in the middle of their avenue, he however didn't seem to mind at all and gave them his all too cute, dumbfounded look. Zander also has a love of swinging. He swang while Jason pushed him, he swang while Hunter pushed him and he just enjoying sitting in the swing while nobody pushed him. I think we found the answer to some of our problems at home with Zander getting into everything, we just need to install a swing hanging from our kitchen ceiling to keep him reined in, man would that help me be able to cook in the kitchen without the little man under my feet.

Cherry Festival week

2010-07-17T10:13:00.000-04:00

You would think since we live in Traverse City where the National Cherry Festival is held every year that we would head downtown to the open space everyday for all the fun events that take place. But with me working during the festival, really the last place I want to be is back downtown in the midst of the crowds standing in lines to do the fun stuff.

We did get to enjoy some of the festival, like the Cherry Connection (well since my work puts this on every year we should attend it, even though I'm working it!), The trampoline jumpy thingy that Hunter loves to go on and do flips both front and back, Rock-climbing wall (Hunter was mighty speedy climbing up the wall), Midway where we get to ride the safest rides any carnie could put up in 20 min. or less that cost $4 a pop to ride, the Air Dog jumping competition (one of our favorites), Hunter and Zander loved standing next to the pool while the dogs were jumping so they could also get a doggy bath, the 1/2 day long parade (really it's not that long, but it feels like it, even if we do get there an hour late), the car show, and finally the fantastic finale fireworks show. Phew, typing that out I guess we did get to do alot of stuff during the Cherry Festival.

Some of our highlights caught on camera!!!

The boys, Taiger, Hunter and Coop on the tractor Orchard Tour

Holding the bunny with the crazy fur to match Hunters crazy hair!

Zander enjoying the Orchard Tour, 10 min. later he was lulled to sleep by the slightly bumpy ride

My turn to get a picture with the Cherry Queens

Jason and Hunter on the bumper cars. Hunter could barely reach the pedals and drive at the same time but he still managed to ram into Jason

The Cherry Knoll Elementary (Hunters school) float in the parade

We couldn't believe how fast Hunter climbed up the rock wall

Alivia in one of her many cherry outfits

Zander and Alivia are 5 months apart, of course, Zander looks huge compared to little Alivia

Grandma Lori and 1 of her 5 Grandchildren

Hunter being sneaky with his new, noisy, light-up, gun which he proceeded to shoot the fireworks with

Hunters way of watching and shooting the fireworks. I finally talked him into laying down on the blanket instead of the cement.

Zander loves fireworks

Envy

2010-07-16T16:48:00.001-04:00

Zander was the envy of all the boys and men at the Cherry Connection.

Getting held by The National Cherry Queen and the other beautiful girls with tiaras on their head!!

All Zander wanted to do was keep touching them and staring at them.

Finally we got him to look at me long enough to snap a picture with the look on his face saying, "Hey Mom, look where I managed to strategically place my hand!!

Congratulations Maria LaCross, The New National Cherry Queen (2nd from left)

Lets go for a spin

2010-07-16T14:43:00.000-04:00

When Grandpa Cousino and Uncle Chad came up to visit they brought a big toy for Hunter. Hunter has been bugging us lately that he wants a dirt bike, ha, fat chance, I don't think he realizes he is only 5 years old. The other thing Hunter has been talking about lately is the go-cart that Uncle Chad brought up with him last year, Hunter thought that was really cool and all of a sudden he started saying, "I wish Uncle Chad would bring that go-cart up again", well Hunter you got your wish. Not only did they bring the go-cart but they are giving it to Hunter so he can ride it any time he wants. I hope the neighbors don't mind us zooming up and down the street on our super cool new toy!

Hunter driving while Jasons pushes the gas pedal

Kaitlyn taking me for a spin

Zanders turn

Nate taking the go-cart for a ride, trying to go baha-ing with it and instead I think he left some parts laying across the yards.

4th of July

2010-07-15T16:32:00.000-04:00

What better way to spend the 4th than with family, friends, lots of good food and a body of water to cool off in. That's exactly how we spent our 4th of July. We spent the afternoon at the Twin Lakes Park which has a great little beach and playground for the kiddos and a fantastic pavilion complete with a stone outdoor fireplace, however, with the temperatures hovering between 85 - 90 we decided to forgo using the fireplace. The kids had a blast splashing around in the lake, even Zander loved being in the water.

That evening, we were pretty beat from spending the whole weekend in the sun so we decided not to go downtown for the fireworks, but watch them from far away atop a big hill that overlooks Traverse City and the bay. And although we had easy access with a fast escape, there is nothing like being right underneath fireworks when they are being fired off.

Sweet lil Alivia:)

Hunter, Taiger and Cooper having fun shooting each other with the water guns

Oh, poor Alivia

I won't tell you why Jason was giving Alivia the football, lets just say she was acting like it was her mommy, LOL!!!

Todd and Jason

Everybody enjoying the delicious food

The Fireworks
Zander wanted that can of pop so badly, he kept on leaning over trying to sip what he could out of it. Don't think it was working too good though.

Zander looks like a 2 year old with how big he is sitting in this chair.

Hunter passing the time until the fireworks start

Kaitlyn, our neighbor, tagged along with us since her parents weren't going!

Hunter has a nice relaxing spot to watch the fireworks!