Over a year

It's been over a year since the last blog update. Surely, I can do better than that.

Rather than try to fill in the holes of the past year, I'll post pictures I've taken with my blackberry. Everybody loves the pictures best anyway. And these pictures are the best, because this is how life happens. We're out somewhere, and someone does something funny. "Where's the camera?" we always ask. Doesn't matter. I've got a camera on my phone.

Jacob has been getting paid for chores. Somehow, he earned $17 (earned, or just took out of our change jar). He bought himself a stegosaurus. This dino is a pal to the triceratops the Easter Bunny brought last year. The stegosaurus has been named Gutson, and the triceratops is Horn. Gutson and Horn. Sounds like a law firm to me. Of course, they have to eat, so Jacob made them some food. I have no idea what this is, but the dinos loved it.

The boys LOVE the Children's Museum. I LOVE having a membership. It makes it easy to go for a short visit and not feel like I wasted $20 for only spending an hour there. As the kids age, different areas of the museum become more attractive. Jacob is outgrowing Playscape, and unfortunately, that means Tyler doesn't get at much time there as he probably should. But, we spend a lot more time with the Dinosaurs and Science exhibits. Here, the boys went in a tunnel that pops up in the middle of a big dinosaur scene. If you could imagine a life size t-rex fossil fighting a life size triceratops fossil, the boys are the little meerkats popping their heads up at their feet.

Tyler at Playscape

Jacob atop a statue.

Jacob will start kindergarten next year at St. Lawrence. It's where I went to school, and I'm very happy that he'll have a school to love him and nurture him. We took him to visit, and he got to play with one of their smart boards. It's a video screen, and you can use "markers" to "color" on it. He had a great time making a water horse and writing his name. I was so proud when everyone was impressed that this pre-kindergartener could write his name. He insisted on wearing the necklace he made. I mean, who doesn't want to make their own jewelry and wear it, and have strangers comment on how beautiful it is?

And, then there's Tyler who, without fail, climbs into the dryer on a weekly basis.

That's all for now. I have plenty of pictures saved up for the next time I get around to the blog.

Audrey

Calling God...

Let me recount for you a discussion Josh and Jacob had walking out of Meijer yesterday.

Jacob: I need to call God and tell him something.
Josh: Oh yeah? What's that?
Jacob: I need to call him and tell him I want to go to Bob Heavens.

How precious.

Who IS that masked man?

It's DANGER BOY, the superhero.

Family Update

No pictures, but an update.

Josh is in the midst of his ER rotation, interview season, and the Clinical Skills board exam. He spent the past few days in Atlanta to take the exam. I'd say the highlight of his trip was flying out of the new Indianapolis Airport. It was a smooth transition from the old airport except for the empty ATM machines. He's pretty sure he passed the exam, and that's the most important piece here. He met up with another IU student and they were able to eat dinner together at the airport in Atlanta, so Josh wasn't completely alone. He has several interviews coming up next month at Cincinnati, Vanderbilt, Mayo Clinic in Minnesota and Florida, and St. Vincent in Indianapolis. It's prudent to interview at other places just in case something were to happen and to see what other programs have to offer. It's fun to look at other places and imagine our lives there. Minnesota would be a great opportunity for Josh, but very cold for the family. Of course, we would miss our wonderful, helpful families.

I am settled into my new role as an IT team leader for the sales and distribution team. I really like my team, and they make my job much easier. It's the end of the year, so we are ramping up into end of year performance reviews. Now begins the tedious job of remembering everything we did all year and putting it down on paper. I also have eleven vacation days to use before the end of the year. This means that I only have ten working days until 2009. So much to do, so little time!

Jacob is enjoying being four. His favorite time of day is after Tyler goes to bed. That means we can get out the toys and games with little pieces that Tyler would find and swallow. With Josh being gone in the evening, Jacob and I have enjoyed countless games of Hi Ho Cherrio and Candyland. He's also enjoyed making crafts with Josh. There's nothing like art with crepe paper, mountains of glue, clothespins, and felt angel wings. Jacob has graduated to only using his pacifier in his bedroom. The transition was rough at first, but didn't take long. He has informed us that when he's five, he'll give it up forever.

Tyler is so much fun right now. He loves to sing songs with hand motions. We sing the songs, and he does the motions. Most of the time, he is using sign language, and he's built quite a vocabulary. Because he doesn't talk much, it's very handy and eases all of our frustration. We're up to food, drink, book, banana, more, please, all done, and various signals for his favorite songs. Last night, I figured out that he can race. He backs up across the room, I say "ready, set, go" and he runs to me for a big hug...over and over and over.

We are all doing well, and we can't wait for Christmas vacation when nobody has plans to travel or work.

Brown County

On Sunday, we packed up lunch and car entertainment and headed down to Brown County. I figured the leaves would be mostly down by now, but the weather was nice, and I was in the mood to hike around.We got to the north entrance which has a covered bridge, and Jacob was very excited. He could hardly talk. Once we got into the park, he said "This is so awesome I don't even know what words to say." He really wanted to go hiking, but we needed to drive around and get our bearings a bit.

First we found a vista with a great view. Then, we drove to the Nature Center which has the "Friends Trail", a paved path. It has an orignal gate house which you can go into, an observation deck, and some benches. I think Jacob lapped us a few times, but it was a nice easy walk that Tyler could enjoy.After the Nature Center, we went to the Discovery Train. It has 27 markers on the trail pointing out various tidbits of nature trivia. Surprisingly, Jacob was very interested. He was great at finding the next number on the trail, and wanted to know what the next question or task was. Since Tyler took ownership of the map early on, we had to make up a few. One of the first ones on the list was "What made this hole?" The answer was a man made well. After Tyler took the map, the questions became, "Count five leaves falling before moving to the next number." or "Feel the beech tree. Doesn't it feel like sand? Feel more trees and count three more beech trees." We impressed ourselves with this one. Jacob ran around to five different trees and was able to identify which ones were and weren't beech based on the texture of the bark.

After the Discovery Trail, we found a picnic table for lunch. We were swarmed by ladybugs, which was surprisingly okay until the boys went to the outdoor potty which was even worse. They came out covered in over twenty ladybugs. The bugs even got in our car.

Then, we went to the campground playground to play on the swings, four person bouncy thing, the sandbox, and the wooden house. The boys both enjoyed climbing to the top of the house. By then, we were all dirty and exhausted, so we got back in the car and came home. It was a great day had by all on one of the last warm days of the year.

Halloween

The night before Halloween, Jacob, Tyler and I carved pumpkins. Jacob had picked a design, but I soon realized it was not worth agonizing over the design, and I let the kids take over. I cut off the top, and that's where I lost control. Jacob scooped out some seeds, and I got the rest. Tyler put the seeds back in. In typical Tyler fashion, he also ate a few. At least it kept him busy while Jacob and I carved. Jacob started in the most convenient place - the top. We had already started cutting for the lid, right? Why not continue from there? He had a great time cutting his rectangle bigger and bigger. Then moved to the other side and did much the same. I gave up on our design, and made triangle eyes, circle nose, and a smile. It was simple, and beautiful. The three of us had a great time doing it, and we were very proud of our creation.

Halloween was on a Friday this year, so for some reason that makes it seem even more fun. After a quick dinner, we got the kids dressed. Jacob was a worker bee (really, no different than a regular bee, just works harder), and Tyler was Winnie the Pooh. The weather was great - not too warm for their costumes, but nobody needed an extra jacket.

We visited my parents quickly for photo opportunities and to drop off my mom's birthday gift (two cases of shop towels that can't be bought in stores anymore). When we came home, we loaded up the Radio Flyer wagon and headed off to the neighbors. Jacob has this down pat. Trick or treat, get candy, say thank you, move on. Tyler is still learning. Trick or treat, get candy, walk into the house, get grabbed by parents, kick and scream. Eventually, we'd just tell Jacob to grab one for his brother. Tyler was just as happy with leaves as he was candy. We made it about 12 houses when Jacob announced he had to go potty. We offered to go back to a friend's house which was nearby, but he was done for the night and just wanted to go home. (We were perfectly fine with that because it means less candy to get rid of later.) We came home, ate candy, watched some Halloween cartoons, and went to bed.

Jacob's Fourth Birthday

Jacob's actual birthday was Monday, October 27th. Josh took the day off to spend with Jacob. They hung out in the morning and played with all his new toys. At lunchtime, they came downtown, picked me up at work, and we went to the Old Spaghetti Factory. We got a seat in the trolley, which reminded Jacob of the Polar Express. He kept running from end to end looking for the brakes and periodically he's lose his ticket out the window.

Afterwards, they went to the Children's Museum, which was unfortunately closed on Mondays. Never fear, the Downtown Central Library is just as good. They played in the room of dry erase walls and got lots of books about germs.

That night, we ate dinner at Loon Lake Lodge with the animatronic animals. Tyler learned how to roar and ended up roaring at the fish tanks.

Finally, it was time for Jacob to open his presents from us. We got him small legos, a motorcycle, a care bear, a lobster, an Incredibles shirt and sweatband, and yes, the barbie. He's been making us watch every barbie commercial, so we'd know exactly what to get him. We did it, and he thinks she's magic. He really just likes the songs that she sings when you press her hand. We all know both of them by heart now.

It was a good birthday, and Jacob had a great time. Happy Birthday Jacob!