Preschool

I don't think I have posted yet about Drew's school. He goes to Meridian Hills coop and loves it. It was a rough start, he didn't want me to leave him. It was also an incredibly hard decision, never would I have imagined something like preschool would have been so hard before the kids came along. Nevertheless, we made the right decision because now he is so confident at school and has lots of friends. In fact, he is pretty popular(this is what im told!), and is very into the school parts of the day (circle, music). This is a play based preschool, so while it is low on academics(which lines up with my education philosophy for this age), it is so great for social interaction. His teacher, Mrs. Shipley is wonderful and that makes all the difference. They have gone to plays, raspberry picking, the fire station and more. They play out side for at lease 30 min everyday and always have new things on the science table and sensory table. She allows the boys to wrestle, ride scooters down the hall and play balloon volleyball. They also do creative crafts (not the cookie cutter variety) and she does not push my non crafting son to do art if he doesn't want to...he did make a great gingerbread house! I also love that it is a coop because there are always parents and siblings there and it makes for a real community.

Nora and I went to school last wed for a cookie exchange with the parents but she ended up staying all day in the classrooms while I drank coffee and chatted down the hall. She was so on task that she wasn't a problem at all and when I would come in the room, she wanted me to leave. This may have hurt my feelings if I hadn't already dealt with clingy mcclinger (drew). But now it is refreshing. Once again, they prove how different they are!!


Nora and the big girls at snack.

Drew and his boys

Nora playing "Doggie, Doggie where's your Bone"(flawlessly i might add)

Making pizza (with a meticulous touch)

Front and center for story time

Go Colts

Val has been going to Colts games with Pop and the other family colts fans since we have lived in Indy. A couple of weeks ago, Drew got to take his place. Drew is a bonafide sports fan (must be genetic) and was ecstatic at the opportunity to go...


Ryan, Uncle Dave, Grandpa and Drew

Grandpa and Drew

Uncle Bob and Drew with his serious football face.

Wolf Park

About an hour north of Indy there is a wolf rescue center called "Wolf Park". The have wolf howl night and a couple of weekends ago Drew, Val and I attended. It was more fun than I expected. It is hard to tell from the picture but the wolves live on acres of property and have something like 25 total. The handlers actually go in the fence with them and put on quite a talk. We got to howl as an audience, wait a few seconds and hear wolves from acres away howling back. My favorite part was when the extremely knowledgeable wolf handler stated, "now thats a coyote from somewhere else, not ours" just so impressed with her ability to differentiate the canine vocals. We went for Drew's sake because he is fascinated by animals, especially the predators but I would recommend it to anyone. We are going back in May for the wolf-bison demonstration (they have bison too!)- As an animal lover and vegetarian, it is sometimes hard to be accepting of Drew's fascination with the predator-prey relationship but as he puts it, "mommy, they have to feed their young somehow!" As a science lover, I am impressed with his level at which he understands interdependency in different habitats...


Drew mid howl

this pic of the wolf makes it look zooish but it wasn't at all

Nora is Three!

We celebrated Nora's third birthday with a pink tea party(the pink was her idea of course). It was great! Hard to believe my baby is three. She is so conflicted right now, she wants to be a baby one moment and a big girl the next....I can only imagine what 13 will be like! I hope she lets me baby her for a little while longer-

Nora's pink cupcakes baked by my personal cupcake baker (Joanne)

We played "Pin the Teabag on the Teapot" The kids loved it...


Even baby was pretty in pink.

Beatrice and Autumn

Willow and Lily

Jumping in Leaves

Halloween '08

Halloween was great this year, in part because of beautiful weather, part the kids excitement, and part the good company. Drew had a parade at school and then we had a little party that evening. I think my favorite part was trick or treating because Lily and Drew were SO EXCITED! These pics aren't the best but ah well...

Walla's Wedding Weekend

Val and I have a close group of friends from IU that we absolutely love. Many of them actually went to high school with Val which is how I got to know them. Others are from the east coast but now almost all of them live out west. The incredible thing about our relationship with these friends is that it just keeps getting stronger. Every wedding, or get together is amazing and now the group is growing with children. They are like family.

George and Cory

The beautiful bride and groom.

Me and Sue
Mitch playing at the ceremony.
Val and Baby Jade

Eric and Mike

Sarah and Sue

sweet little Luke

Walla giving some love to Jade

Bill, Val, Don and Eric looking good!


This past weekend Val and I got to slip away to Rochester to celebrate the marriage of Matt to his awesome new wife Liz. This was our first trip away, together, with out the kids and it was just what the dr ordered. We actually camped thurs night, it was freezing but so great. The stars were amazing and that made the cold worth it. The next day we headed to Pittsford to the Del Monte where we parked it for two nights and three days. From the minute we got there to the minute we got home we were laughing, talking, partying and enjoying every minute of this weekend.

The wedding was sweet and beautiful and in an instant I could tell Matt and Liz are perfectly in love and perfect for each other. Sue actually officiated while Don was the best man. They both did a great job, Sue so professional even in the face of a snotty baby and little sleep, and Don's speech at the reception was perfect. Mitch played piano and Val did a great job on baby duty during the wedding. Eric and I both had very important roles in the wedding.

Got to meet little Luke, Sarah and Mitch's baby boy. He is so full of life, a sparkle in his eye that reminds me so much of baby Drew. We also met George's really cool new girlfriend Corey, hung out with Bill and had a great time with Valenti, one of our best friends from Portland (and IU). Andy, little Oscar, MB, Sacco, Isadora, Karen and Sam were missed but of course were there in spirit. And as always when we see this group, I think of Joe a lot...our buddy who passed away in college.

Cheers to all my friends, I am already wondering when we will see you all again!

Drewism

"MMMM this is a good chocolate magnolia bar!"

Turns out the bar was granola, but we do have two beautiful magnolia trees.

Claire and Drew's first MLB game(Cubbies of course)

me


Drew


Drew and Puckett conversing(not sure what about but my guess would be baseball)

Puckett, Joanne, Drew and Val

Whatever you say about the season and first round sweep, I gotta admit I really enjoyed watching and (haphazardly) following the Cubbies this year. It was the day Drew was saying "YES!" about runs scored all by himself in the family room while Nora sang the family anthem, 'Go, Cubs, Go' in the kitchen that I knew this team and sport was officially a commonplace in their childhood. It definitely is our past time come spring...

ANYWAY, I have been meaning to post these pictures for a while now, they are from before we won the pennant(the day before) and before we forgot to show up in the playoffs. Val, Drew and I got to go to the game with Ryan and Joanne and to be honest it was a little on the scoreless side, but with a late rally I could imagine how Wrigley could be rocking with a lead in a big game. Drew, luckily has not become cynical and thoroughly enjoyed it all. That night, we stayed at a lovely hotel in the heart of the city, had two fabulous meals, swam and hot tubbed - thanks puckett and joanne for a wonderful night away!

I know you hate to hear this Cubs Fans but maybe we really will go past the first round(or whatever you call it) next year. I certainly plan to be at one of the winning games!

Jade

We were so lucky to have Sue and little baby Jade visit us...Jade is so perfect and sweet. Nora and Drew LOVED her and we can't wait to watch her grow!

One more!

Good Times, Great Lakes

We went up to Leland, MI again this summer for a week of relaxation. Leland is in the pinky of Michigan, really the Lelanau Peninsula, surrounded by lake Michigan and a huge bay. It is absolutely beautiful and the backwoods, small town living is such a good change of pace.

Here is Pop on a hike, pointing to Pyramid Point, a huge dune that juts out into the water, Emily, Pop and Drew climbed it the day before.

Val and Drew swimming at South Manitou Island. Pop, Emily, Val Drew and I took a boat over to the ghost island for a day.

The middle of the peninsula is filled with rolling hills, farms and winerys. From the top, you can see all the way to the water. This is peaches. She was born on one of these farms.

Nora loved the beach.

Nora on the way home (these pictures are really out of order!) She had a tough time of it with the sleep thing on vacation so this was a much needed crash.

Nora with her favorite person ever, Grandma





This is a shot of a dune south of Leland. Pop convinced us to climb down (bounce would be a better word), and then we ended up walking the beach back to town. I'm glad we did, it was great!

Aunt Emmy playing with the kids, and giving me a break all at the same time:)

We climbed up this light house, very cool.

on the boat

Me and Aunt Emmy (aka Emily)