1st family road trip... a success!

Our first road trip with the boys went relatively smooth, all things considered. We encountered some bad weather (snow storm) on the way down going through Iowa, but other then that, the boys were on their best behavior in the car. During the two days we managed to see a few sites of Kansas City, as well as spending quality time with the Leys' clan and enjoying some good turkey. One of the highlights was having Zach share a room with his two cousins. They had an absolute ball and stayed up till almost 11pm talking about who knows what. It was hilarious to stand outside the door and listen to them. I wish we would have taped their conversations, oh well, maybe next time.


Nana & Grandpa Leys trying to manage all 4 grandkids in an attempt to get a decent picture.

Zachary, Charlie and Emily showing off their Indian shirts that Aunt Jackie made for them. They were a big hit!

Train ride at the beautiful Kansas City Train station. They also had a huge train display and fantastic Children's Museum that were both worth checking out.

Quality time with a surprise visit from Uncle Paul from LA

On the road again....

Off to Kansas City tomorrow! We will be spending Thanksgiving with Mark's older brother, Chuck and his family, and Mark's parents. Mapquest says about 7 1/2 hours, so we plan on adding about 2 more hours to that estimate, with stops for the babe. This will be our longest road trip to date with 2 kids, so hopefully its full of laughs and memories. Well, a mom can hope right?

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. We are truly thankful for all of God's blessings!

Here's couple pictures of the boys at similar ages, can you tell who is who? Do they even look a like? We can't decide.

Introducing...

Our friends, Jason & Kris Haartman, gave birth to their second child yesterday, a beautiful baby girl!

Her name is Kasey Lynn and weighed in at 7 pounds, 7 ounces. Delivery went well and the second time around mom is also doing well.

I stopped by for a quick visit this morning and she is absolutely adorable. She has an amazing head of dark hair, with caramel highlights throughout (long may the natural highlights continue, as those of us who regularly need highlights, know how ridiculously expensive they are :-)

Here is her blog debut, posted with Kris's consent of course. Congratulations Jason, Kris & big brother Seth!

love Fall, well except in our back yard

Just look at the 'sea of leaves.' You can't even see the grass, that's how many leaves have fallen! And the front yard is just as bad. I just dread this time of year in our yard, as it seems like endless weekends of raking.
I can't wait for the boys to grow up so I can make this their responsibility... As I have fond memories of my parents making me rake the leaves on the weekends!

Fortunately we don't have to bag them, just put them on the curb. Our last pick-up is coming Monday, so you know what we will be doing ALL weekend. Anyone feel sorry for us and want to stop by to help????

Timothy in the future?

Yesterday we attended an open house at Timothy Christian Schools. Hence the shirt Zachary is wearing, "I love TC," as every family received one. He walked around wearing it the rest of the day, despite the fact it came down to his ankles.

Even though we are a few years away from Zach officially staring Kindergarten/1st grade we are in the beginning stages of trying to decide whether we will send Cameron and him to Christian schooling. This will be a difficult decision for us, as Mark grew up in a Christian school system and I am a proud graduate of Naperville Public schools. I feel there are many pros and cons to both, so this will be a decision that will take a lot of thought and prayer. I know this is an issue that several of our friends will also be wrestling with, so it makes me feel better that we aren't the only ones in this boat. We will see what the future holds....

first playdate of many

Yesterday we had our first play date with Zachary's little friend Max. As many of you know Max is the son of my close college friend, Sara. Sara & her husband, Bas, are moving here to the western suburbs after 5 years in Amsterdam. We are thrilled to have Sara back in our neck of the woods! Her and Bas are in the midst of house hunting (which is such a joy in pricey Chicagoland), so we volunteered to keep Max for the day, so he didn't have to tag along for a full day of in and out of the car.

The boys (who are 2 months apart) had a blast playing together. They are boys thru and thru, as they spent many hours chasing and playing trucks and trains. As well as enjoying a leaf fight, which was hilarious, until they turned on me and chased me down. Which by the way, Sara, was Max's idea...

blah blah blah blah blah

Nothing to blog about....

I have been struggling to find things to blog about as we have just been going about our weekly routine. Which is pretty much the same thing every week, Mon-Thurs - school, Little Lambs/MOPS, school, spinning class at the Y, and then a free Friday for playdates.

One exciting addition to this week's routine was watching my friend Megan's almost one year old, Hailey, on Wednesday night. Zach had a great time with her and I think she enjoyed her first bath with a boy! Well, it may not look like is in this particular picture,but she did.