The BUG!!

Good thing we have more than one bathroom. The stomach bug has found our house. It entered via Don who was down for two days. Then it grabbed Kyle on Friday. I kept him home from school because he said his belly was not feeling great and he had been coughing pretty good all week. But as the day progressed and he played Wii, watched TV and played with Ryan all day it seemed I had been duped. As we all climbed in the car to head north to my parents for the weekend it became obvious he was not feeling well. But I decided we should push on because after all the car was packed and we were ready to go. (no worries that car managed to go unscathed)

Kyle did okay but was not able to go skiing with us. So Saturday Don, Ryan and I went skiing. Ryan did great sking a lot of different runs. Funny how Ryan has become very motivated by the candy store at the base of the ski hill. We tell him if he does not whine or say I can't all day he gets to pick something from the candy store. So far it has worked everytime.

Well the weekend progressed and Kyle started feeling better and Sunday afternoon it caught me. And then in the middle of the night it caught Ryan. So the only one left untouched is Brady. Here is hopeing he avoids this bug.

So I would love to report we are all good at this point but Ryan went to bed with what he calls a "puke bowl" and I am still wondering if having something to eat tonight was a good idea or bad. Oh well this too will pass.

So instead of posting a picture of what we all look like this week I thought I would post a picture to remind us how great our vacation was. FYI we did leave Aunt Tomeaka with a cold but she should be very happy it was not the stomach bug :).

My cool dudes Kyle (6), Ryan (31/2), Don

Vacation

Well we have returned from a sun and fun filled week in Grand Cayman. We were visiting my brother Matt and his wife Tomeaka, who live there, and had so much fun. Despite three boys with runny noses and coughs all week which resulted in not great sleep for Don and I we still had a great time. Amy (the college student who lived with us a few years ago) joined us on this trip to help with the kids and boy was she helpful.

The boys both got a little sailing lesson from their Aunt Tomeaka who sailed for Grand Cayman in the Sydney Olympics. When we arrived at the sailing club the question was asked who is going to take the boys out, Uncle Matt or Aunt Tomeaka. It was quickly decided I would trust my kids in the care of Aunt Tomeaka, before Uncle Matt, who believes faster is always better. Thank you Tomeaka for take the kids out and keeping them safe :).

We spent a lot of time at the beach. It was almost 90 degrees there almost every day so perfect for swimming and playing in the sand. Amy and Kyle did a lot of snorkeling as well. Don was so excited to have sand covering the boys every time we were leaving the beach. Lets just say Don is not a big fan of the sand.

We also spent time in the pool, and Kyle perfected his swimming. By the end of the week he was swimming from the deep end to the shallow end with no help from us. Ryan also improved but still is cautious. Brady, well he just loves the waters. Matt took us out to Stingray City to swim and play with the stingrays. If you ever get a chance to do this you should. Don and I have been there several times now, but every time it is so cool. Kyle got to swim around with them and touch them. Amy also enjoyed it, but when she stepped on one Kyle says she screamed like a girl :).

Over all is was a great vacation, and we thank Matt, Tomeaka, and Amy for helping make it special for our family.

Scuba Steve (AKA Ryan) says I had a great time!!!

(He would not wear the goggles in the water but would wear them around at night to spy on pretend people...he is our creative one!!)

The love of Grandparents

This past weekend we were up at my parents, who the boys call Papa and Dee Dee. We arrived later Friday night and to Kyle's surprise Papa and Dee Dee had a surprise for him. The last weekend we were up north another family was there and their girls had the handheld video game nintendo DS. Well, Kyle fell in love, not with the girls but with the DS. Don and I have decided we are not ready to monitor the use of a DS at home so are not planning to buy Kyle a DS anytime soon. Well to Kyle's surprise, Papa bought himself a DS and is willing to share it with Kyle when he come to visit. Papa even bought Kyle a game he loves to play. Boy Kyle is sure lucky to have such a great papa who is willing to share...his new kid toy :).

Again this weekend we headed to the ski slopes. On Saturday we got there and the parking lot was full except for the handicap spots. Kyle says "Why can't we park in the handicap spot? Papa is old." We all got a good laugh including papa. Then Kyle and Papa were off for a day of skiing together while Don and I worked with Ryan. They are now skiing the blue runs. YEA!!

Ryan has been amazing on skies. He has gotten the concept down and now he does not want any help even getting off the chair lift. I think next time we are going to be off the bunny hill and ready to hit a green run. Dee Dee came and skied with us Sunday, she was so surprised at how well Ryan was doing. Dee Dee actually asked to go in before Ryan did. I think Dee Dee and Ryan will be great ski partners in the future....they both love the hot chocolate :).

We are so blessed to have such wonderful people (yes mom and dad I am talking about you) in our lives. Thank you for all you do for and with us.

We head out Saturday for a week in the sun in Grand Cayman. We are all excited to go visit Uncle Matt (my brother) and Aunt Tomeaka and we are very excited to sit in the warm sun.

Boys will be Boys

It is so fun to watch our boys grow and grow and grow. In fact we have talked about how we will be able to feed these boys someday. Right now we buy 3 gallons of milk every week can you imagine how much we will need when they are teenagers. We are already thinking about where we are going to put the extra fridge.

Last night we had some singing and wrestling...at least they are well rounded. Brady I think just though his brothers were very entertaining. Check out the videos below.

They are growing fast but they are still such sweet boys. Both Kyle and Ryan love to make Brady laugh and always make sure to give him hugs and kisses before they go anywhere.

Hills

What a fun weekend we had with skiing and sledding. It was so fun to see Ryan get it. As we headed out to the ski hill he saw the kids his age learning to ski in ski school on a very small hill with a magic carpet and he says to me..."That hill is way to easy I want to go to the big hill" so off we went to the chairlift and he did it. I have to say it is a workout teaching your kids to ski...my upper body was a bit sore from picking him up he weighs 40lbs after all.


It was clear Ryan was also tired after all the skiing and he talked his dad into a better way for him to ski into the lodge.




Kyle was so fun to ski with this weekend. He has figure out what he is doing and is having fun doing it. At one point Kyle was skiing with my dad and Don and somehow they ended up on a black diamond and for all you non-skiers those are the most difficult runs. Anyways it was hard but he did get down...part of it on his bottom but he made it. Following he was pretty proud to have done it even on his bottom but later that day he saw the chairlift that took them to the black diamond and he said to me "no, no, no I am not going on that chair lift". I know he had a long day skiing on Saturday in fact at the end of the day as we debated going up for another run I hear him pipe up and say "I am out". It almost sounded like he was going to ski himself into the lodge without us.



We ended our long weekend with sledding. It was fun we had the hill to ourselves and it was fast and steep. The bad part Ryan thought it would be better for him to get a ride up the hill...did I mention he is 40lbs.



Look at the little speed demon. He might be small but he is mighty...go Ryan.

We had to have Kyle bail off the sled or he would have ended up in the parking lot he was going so fast.

Firsts

Fun week...we first got to cheer on the Chippewas to a bowl game win from the comforts of our living room. The boys were so excited to wear their new jerseys Aunt Tomeaka and Uncle Matt gave them for Christmas. They did have to go to bed much before the game ended after double overtime. But it was exciting that for the first time (I think) CMU was ranked 23rd in the nation. They ended the season as the best college football team in Michigan...what a great year.



The next first was Brady finally learned how to roll over...well kind of. If you put him flat on his belly with his arms out...no way he will do it but if you tuck the one arm for him...he has a chance. Come on that is pretty good he is a boy after all. Brady also went to the doctor this week to get his shots. He is 5 months and weights 20 lbs. Yes he is a big boy. He actually is in the 90th percentile for weight, height and head...I was kind of proud that his head was actually still on the chart...come on it is rather large. He did get 4 shots and did pretty good. Sure is easier getting shots for a 5 month old than our 6 year old...Kyle is very hard to hold down.



The final first was the carnival Kyle and Ryan performed for Don and I. Don also had a small roll. Don caught some of it on video I am going to try and download it and post it on the blog. Lets just say there was a few musical number and some acrobatics. Don says we don't have to worry about our kids becoming "carnies" their acts is a bit shaky :).

Funny Ryan

Well we have successfully put away the Christmas decorations. I have to tell you I am the kind of person who would love to have the Christmas season last 2 months. I love to have the decorations out and to play Christmas music. Don however holds me to Thanksgiving day to just a day or two after New Years.

He did as a surprise this year hang icicle lights on the house and with the temp being only 12 degrees today he decided it would be okay to leave them up a bit longer. I am glad so I can still have a bit of the holiday continue. I just hope he does not remember to unplug the timers so they continue to go on every night :).

So Don and I were comparing notes on Ryan today and Don said to me "Ryan asked me how God made people" he had asked me the same question yesterday. Don responded "Ryan with God all things are possible and he makes people just like he made you and me"....I had responded very similarly yesterday. Ryan then said "Dad did God use paint on you?" and to that Don responded "something like that Ryan". Just don't be surprised if he asked any of you the same question...seems he is trying to get confirmation he was painted by God.


This is Ryan and Uncle Matt...Ryan loves headbands and talked Dee dee into buying him some at the dollar store. Uncle Matt showed him another use of headbands. He is all tied up with them.