Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!!

We had our first snow day today. We had a lot of fun sledding around the yard. Tomorrow we will be heading for the sledding hill, which I think will be a big hit. I also think Cam would love it, but need to remind myself that 19 months might be a bit too young to go flying down the hill. Despite the fact that he does do a pretty good job keeping up with his big brother.

Getting in the Christmas spirit

Despite the lack of a Christmas tree in our house yet, we did some Christmas Festivities over the weekend to get into the Christmas Spirit.
Saturday night we bundled ourselves up, by bundling up I mean that we all had on about 4 layers, as it was a balmy 20 degrees outside, and decided it was the perfect night to head to Brookfield Zoo for their Holiday Magic event with our friends, Megan & Nick and their daughter, Hailey. There was lots to do including, singing to the animals, seeing Santa & costumed characters, a laser light show. I highly recommend it to anybody in the Chicago area. Its every weekend till New Years.

Sunday morning (yes, I know we skipped church) and took a ride on the Santa Train which goes from Naperville to downtown Chicago and back. The boys had fun, as you can see in the pictures. The train ride includes Christmas Caroling, posing with Santa and lots of his helpers. The highlight for Zach was definitely expressing his wish list in great detail to Santa.... which we will see about all that!

Zach hanging with the Penguin at Brookfield Zoo.

Posing by the "Talking Christmas Tree,' which Cameron was afraid of. This was the best picture we got.

At the zoo, taking a ride in the train with the boys

All the boys with Santa

Zach telling Santa his "wish list, ", which by the way seems to be growing and changing by the day.

Zach hanging with 'Scrooge'

So thankful

Happy Thanksgiving!

We are having a quiet, but hopefully productive (I am always trying to chip away at our never ending 'to do' list, even during holidays, despite Mark's disapproval), thanksgiving break at home this year. Both of our parents are away and it just didn't work out to get together with any of our siblings. So, I think, for the first time in our married life (8 wonderful years), we are home by ourselves and will be enjoying a mini turkey breast this afternoon. I am quite looking forward to a long weekend at home with just the 4 of us.

We have so much to be thankful for this year. We have great jobs, our home, our health, wonderful family & friends. We will hopefully pause for a minute today and be reminded of our all of our blessings and truly give thanks. I hope you all have a wonderful day too with your family & friends.

LOVE IT!!

Our basement is done and we absolutely love it! The boys of course think its the best and spent many hours running in circles down there before we put the furniture back in. I, of course, think its the best too, as all the toys are gradually making there way downstairs. We definitely will be spending a lot of time down there this winter, especially since its now the warmest spot in the house. Looking at the before & after pictures its hard to believe that its the same space.

BEFORE

AFTER

fall getaway

our fall getaway

We had another great trip to Phoenix! I just love going down there to visit my parents and for the most part the weather is always perfect.

Per a recommendation of one of Mark's co-workers, we decided to check out this Safari, 'Out of Africa', about an hour and a half north of Phoenix, that was absolutely amazing. Not to mention that is a gorgeous drive up there with breathtaking views of the mountains.
The park includes a bus ride to feed the giraffes, an opportunity to feed & touch the snakes, a fabulous tiger show also with a chance to feed the them. I would highly recommend it to anybody that has some time in Phoenix and has an animal lover like we do. Zach thought it was the best.

We also enjoyed many hours at the pool, where both the boys turned into fishes on a daily basis.
It was a nice break from our daily routine and not to mention I was able to be gone during a big chunk of the construction in the basement. Which is coming a long beautifully and hopefully, fingers crossed, will be done by Thanksgiving. Thanks for having us Mom & Dad. Hopefully you have recovered from our visit!

2nd Day of Halloween

Last night we hosted the 'day after Halloween' party. I figured might as well use their costumes twice, right?

I had high hopes of getting a group picture of all the kids in their costumes, but, as I should know better by now, it didn't happen. However, I did manage to capture 3 little monkeys running a muck! (Zach with Chloe & Lauren)

Oh, and the kicker of Halloween, our NEW camera malfunctioned, aka BROKE, while we were trick or treating Friday night... some treat!
It has now been shipped off for repairs, which included ALL of our Halloween pictures that had yet to be downloaded. I can only hope that if & when the camera is returned to us, the pictures are still on there.

Halloween Eve

We carved a pumpkin last night and the excitement is building around here. Zachary was so excited last night that he could hardly get himself to sleep. I must admit, I too am kind of looking forward to today, however Zach is still trying to talk me into dressing up like a princess. I keep trying to convince him that I already am one... j/k, well, not really considering I am the only woman in this house :-)

Happy Halloween!

celebrating a birthday

Mark's parents came to visit for the weekend and we joyfully celebrated Mark's Mom's 60th, I mean 49th birthday :-)
It was nice to have them visit us again and help with some tasks around the house. Of course the boys enjoyed all the extra attention from Nana & Grandpa Leys too. Thanks for coming.

Its amazing how Cameron won't eat MANY, MANY things, but manages to polish off ice cream and cake without a problem.... ahhhh... my #2 is something else!!

so proud

We are about to start the process of finishing off our basement. I am SO excited about this project and can't wait for it to begin, despite the HUGE & pretty Waste Management (got to give a little plug for the business) dumpster that is now parked in our driveway and will be for the next month. Please overlook it the next time you come to our house.

Since we have had to clear out the basement in preparation, it meant that it was time to bring up Zach's bunk bed, as we will no longer have room to store it. So last night I casually said to Mark over dinner, "oh, lets quickly throw Z's bunk bed together" (especially since it had landed in the dining room floor for all 3 children to break their necks over). As it typically goes in the Leys' household with such events, a quick project took a bit longer than planned, a few swear words thrown around, and a speedy trip to the hardware store for a missing part.

Long story short, Zach absolutely LOVES his new bunk bed and thinks its the coolest thing, as he can't stop talking about it and has spent ALL day playing in his room! Which I, of course, think is the coolest thing! That and the fact that we got the bunk beds for free from a kind family in our neighborhood whose kids had outgrown them.

With Caution

It is with caution that I make this post, as across the blogging/Facebook world I know our names are being cursed.
We stayed with Brad & Bradi in Grand Rapids this past weekend.
We came, we conquered, and left major sickness in our wake.
The Kreiders threw a bonfire bash on Saturday night with all the old Calvin crew, which always makes for some good laughs and a late night.
Despite the aftermath of it all, we had a great weekend together.
Thanks again for having us and please invite us back some day (once you have forgotten this minor sickness incident), as we were once again reminded that we only wished we lived closer to you guys!

And if nothing else, at least I snapped a few cute pictures of our children.


The big kids at the park


Cameron & Sydney, obligatory bath and picture together

Syd & Cam completing their reading before bed time.

Cam's Mullet

Cameron is in the process of growing a serious mullet. Now the question is, whether to cut it or just let his beautiful blond locks just grow and grow and keep the look going?
What to do?

This is usually how his hair looks every time he wakes up from a nap or in the morning. No exaggeration.

sweating it out at a Pumpkin Farm

What a gorgeous weekend is all I can say! Although a little bit odd breaking out in a sweat while trying to find the perfect pumpkin.

While Mark stayed at home hauling concrete and laying our beautiful new pathway to the front door, I got the kids out of the way by going to a pumpkin patch on Saturday morning. We met up with our friends, Kris & Sara (and hubby, Bas) and their kids. The kids had great time playing together, feeding the barn animals, going down the slides, eating fresh yummy donuts, and riding on the train ride.

Zach attempting to pick out a pumpkin.
With so many choices for a 4 year old, it was hard to choose.


The boys taking a ride on the train


Seth, Max & Zach taking a ride in the school bus

Max & Zach

A new baby's debut

Trying to make the most of this beautiful Fall day, Sara & I, plus 5 kids, headed to the outdoor Outlet Mall this morning. Although I enjoy my Thursdays, as its my only day of the week that I don't have a scheduled activity, I am slowly realizing that both the kids and I do better with a scheduled event. I think I enjoy having 'somewhere' to go as much as the kids do. However, don't get me wrong, I enjoy shopping much more without 3 little ones in tow. As a trip to a mall with 3 kids = playing at the play area or rides & eating lunch. There is no shopping involved.


Max & Zach having some fun on the rides.









My friend, Sara, admiring her beautiful 3 week old baby, Elisabeth. It is with her consent that I post this picture, as she has yet to update her blog with some pictures of her newborn and says she isn't sure when she will be getting to that task. Elisabeth is an adorable little babe and is entitled to her debut in the blogging world! Welcome from all your admirers, Elisabeth Ruth!!

a weekend at home

Saturday night we had our annual cul-de-sac party with all of our neighbors. We grilled out, had a bonfire, and one of the Dads put on a firework display. Zach had a blast with his neighborhood friends and I even allowed him to stay at the party past 10pm! As I am usually such a stickler for bedtime, but oh well, I guess every once in a while I can bend the rules. However, we did pay the price on Sunday, as he was craaaabbyyyy.






Mark & our ever so kind neighbor, who works in the concrete business, were busy chopping away at concrete over the weekend. We are in the process of putting in a new pathway and stoop. The old path is demolished and removed, so hopefully this coming weekend the new path will go in.

blogging blues

I feel like I have been in a bit of blogging rut the last few weeks, as there isn't much new to report. But due to a little bit of nagging, I thought I should at least post something.
The boys are doing well, as we are in the full swing of Fall, with preschool, babysitting, swimming, and soccer. Our days seem to be passing by quickly.
One development is that my Mom & Dad left Naperville this past Sunday and drove back down to Phoenix till Christmas time. We were sad to see them go and slowly adjusting to them being gone. However, we did just get tickets to go visit in November, which I am really looking forward to.

At the arboretum

making phone calls together

We might need to build an Ark

Will it ever stop raining today?
Enough's enough!

Our backyard, flooded

Our cul-de-sac, flooded

just because

I took these pictures two weekends ago on potentially the last hot weekend of the summer :-(
The boys spent a couple hours running through the sprinkler and had a blast doing it.
I sure will miss such simple activities when Fall officially arrives!







Zach to Cameron, "Okay, listen, are you ready for more?"

Cam, just chillin'

Action packed Labor Day weekend

We had a fantastic long weekend up in Wisconsin. We were joined by our friends, Megan & Nick, with their daughter Hailey, and then my Mom & Dad for one night. We spent lots of hours on the beach in the gorgeous weather, but also managed to pack in lots of activities. One last hoo-rah at the end of summer!

Mark & Nick taking the kids down the Fun Slide.







Zach loving the carny rides at Sheboygan's Family Fun Fest downtown (sorry Beth - I know, safety hazard :-)

Megan & Nick at the bonfire on Lake Michigan

Cameron and Zach at Sheboygan's County Fair. Boy of boy, nothing like spending time in the heat, in barns with lots goats, sheep, horses, cows, pigs and lots of you know what. Soooooo not my kind of scene, but things you do for your kids I guess. Zach is a HUGE animal lover and absolutely loved it.

My Mom & Dad came up on Sunday and spent the night. I think they thoroughly enjoyed their R & R on the lake and are planning a trip back.

Thanks again Mom & Dad Leys for hosting us, our friends and my family. Much appreciated!

full circle

It seemed strange to be back in Grand Rapids visiting my sister at their new house this past weekend. Although we have visited GR many times since moving away in 2005, this time it just felt different. It doesn't seem that long ago that my parents were the ones visiting us and now its our turn to visit my sister, life seems to have gone full circle for the Woolleys'.
I do enjoy going back to GR, seeing old friends, and hitting old favorite restaurants and spots. Now with my sis there it will allow us to make more frequent trips. The challenge now will be balancing out all the people I like to see and things I like to do. A nice challenge to have I guess!

My weekend masterpiece; painting Dayna's bedroom




Kiera & Zach playing dress up

Leys' daycare - back in business

Its official... summer is over! And let me just go on the record and say, that this was one of the FASTEST summers ever. Does anyone else feel that way? I feel like it flew by. I know its not technically over since its not even Labor Day yet and (hopefully) we have many warm days left, but for us its back to business and structure.

I started back with babysitting Hailey today as her mom, Megan, headed back to the classroom. No tears yet, as Hailey has been as good as gold. She has grown up quite a bit over the summer but fits right in with the busyness of the boys.

Taking a dip in the front lawn.

Zach, Hailey and our neighbor girl Alex.