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Meeting Cousin SG – weekend update

Posted on November 15, 2007 11:38 am by TheAngelForever

It only took us 7 weeks to get out west, but we finally made it to meet Cousin SG and visit Uncle I and Aunt M. We were leery of the LONG roadtrip, but much to our surprise the boys did really well not only going, but coming home as well. We did the trip in under 5 hours both times. Not too shabby and almost makes me have less fear of road trips for the future.

Thursday morning JSL and I were busy, busy, busy. We left the house early and went to get new tires put on my car. While they did that we went on a cold walk to Toys R Us and the book store. We bought a new bib for JSL to eat solids that can just be wiped off and a few other things. By the time we got back to the tire store they were done and we were on our way to BJ’s. Here I bought baby essentials – diapers and wipes. Then we went home where I panicked about not being packed and needing to pick NHL up. JL called and said he was heading home. He went to get NHL at school and then picked up a quick lunch. By the time they were home I was packed and ready to go, after eating.

We were packed up and on the main road at 2:40 and got to our destination at about 7:30. NHL was so happy to see Uncle I and Aunt M. Cousin SG was sleeping in her swing when we arrived. NHL forgot how tiny babies can be since JSL has grown so much in 6 months. SG is 4 months younger so she has lots of time to catch up.

My parents and grandmother arrived about an hour after we did. At this point it was WAY after NHL’s bedtime. We all stayed up to hold SG and talk for a while. Then we finally settled on sleeping arrangements and made beds. NHL slept on a mattress on the floor with my parents. My grandmother had her own room with a bed. JL and I were on our queen sized Aerobed in SG’s room, where JSL slept in her crip. That left Uncle I, Aunt M, and SG (along with Cousin Zoe cat) sleeping in their room. NHL was SO overtired he was still up long after midnight. He finally crawled into bed with my parents and was so giggly.

Here are photos soon after everyone arrived with SG: Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

The yummy cookies that Mimi brought with her:

Here are some photos of JSL sleeping in SG’s room:

The next morning we got up, took turns in the shower and eventually went out to lunch. We had thought about going to Chuck E Cheese, but NHL was not cool with that. Instead we went to Dave & Buster’s. We do not have one of these by us and it was amazing. Many of us had a yummy salad. After eating NHL went with Uncle I, Papa, and JL to play some games. Then they traded in tickets for a prize. (I so wish I had taken my camera out, but I did not think about it at the time.) Then it was time to head back to the house to rest before the big night at temple for SG’s naming.

Here are the babies after the adventure:

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Uncle I & Aunt M relaxing for a few moments before the big night:

SG was also kind and let her "big" cousin JSL share her favorite swing. JSL really enjoyed it. Here is a photo of him in it and some with Mimi.

NHL refused to nap and it was NOT a pretty scene. We all helped to get ready for the Shabbat dinner before temple. Aunt M’s family came over and by 6:45 we were out the door to temple. The service started at 7:30 and they did the naming quickly. The reason to do the naming at the start was that Friday night also was Kristallnacht so there was a lot for the rabbi to talk about.

We did not take any photos of anyone at the baby naming (just do not feel right doing that in a temple). Here are some photos of NHL from various times:

Saturday we slept a little later. Nobody really got moving. We finally decided to head out to lunch and came up with a GREAT place that I wish we had near here. We went to Great Northern Pizza. NHL had macaroni and cheese pizza! After a delicious meal we opted to head back to nap some before going to Chuck E Cheese with Aunt M’s cousins. NHL said he wasn’t tired. When we pulled into their driveway BOTH kids were asleep. We transfered NHL into his bed and he had a nice nap.

Aunt M went to her family to check out the little ones because they were not feeling so great. We all opted not to do Chuck E Cheese. We decided to head to the mall that had a special something for NHL. We shopped and let NHL go on this once to keep him VERY happy:

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We went back to the house for a fun dinner. By the time we got home I was suffering from a really bad earache. I thought it was my allergies (very allergic to cousin Zoe cat) or wind in my ear. By the next morning I felt even worse. *sigh* I felt so bad exposing everyone, but who knew? Of course I should have since someone always gets sick when we go there to visit *wink*

And of course Saturday night was also the night that we learned how many people can fit into a bathroom. SG had her bath and the troops all watched as previously blogged.

Sunday morning came way too quickly and it was time to do kid photo shoots and pack up. Here is the photo shoot of just the cousins. As you will notice SG slept through the entire thing.

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Then while I was pumping milk for the road my grandmother wanted a photo with all of her great-grandchildren. I did not witness this – DARN (note the sarcasm). These are JL’s photos:

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We were on the road at 10:40 and back home before dinner. Now I am catching up on all of the laundry from the weekend after being sick.

Categories:
family fun jsl my boys nhl photos road trip weekend yummy

A Wiggly Recap with LOTS of photos

Posted on October 25, 2007 10:26 pm by TheAngelForever

Get ready for a Wiggly picture display from the concert we went to the other night. As I was looking at the photos and debating which ones to put onto Flickr I checked out the ones from last year. It was at that point that I realized we saw them exactly a year before this . . . October 23, 2006.

Since I was dragging my feet on how to do this blog entry I finally made a decision.I opted to try a new Flickr Toy that I found thanks to Bethany Actually using it in a Swaparooni post. I had a blast combining photos into fun mosaics so I could put a bunch of photos into a smaller space. So here is the concert in picture form. Feel free to click on them to see them on Flickr where I will be adding more notes to them explaining things. Plus the larger sized versions of each individual photo are also there in my Wiggles Concert 2007 set of photos.

Now hang onto your seats and remember. . . if you happen to have front row seats Wiggles sweat flying your way when they dance and jump around is something that WILL happen (especially with Ben and Sam).

Here’s NHL the night before the concert when he was done making a bone for Wags. We also brought a rose for Dorothy. Later we all noticed that NHL had placed a Big Red Car onto his creation and never knew he had done it.

This is NHL looking at everything on the stage before the concert. Note he’s holding the Henry the Octopus that we bought for him since he was so cute about wanting it. Yup, we were suckers! Please excuse my boob which also happened to jump into the shot.

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Here’s a mosaic of the stage before the show and when the Wiggly Dancer came one. The center shot of the Big Red Car was taken at the end when Sam drove it on for a few minutes before the concert was over.

Here’s the newest Wiggle, Sam. He was SO much better this year. His voice was stronger and he really seemed to be enjoying his time on stage. He was so great waving to kids, reading signs in the audience, and even posing for a photo. Yes, he actually posed for JL to take a photo. The second photo on the right was the one JL took.

Sam Mosaic

Next up is Anthony, the ring-master of sorts. Anthony does an amazing job keeping the adults in the audience laughing. He has a great time on stage with Captain Feathersword and Ben (Wiggly Dancer). He truly is a clown and joy to watch.

Anthony Mosaic

Now it’s time to play the Guitar with Murray, the red Wiggle. Murray was in front of us most of the evening since his guitar stand was on our side of the stage. NHL waved to him several time and he waved back. Here’s our photo tribute to Murray.

Murray Mosaic

And last but not lease is the purple Wiggle –> WAKE UP JEFF!!! Those of you would be pleasantly surprised to find out that we only had to wake Jeff up twice. Here are the photos JL took of Jeff. There will be more about Jeff momentarily and what he did to Murray (well – the Murray balloon really).

Jeff Mosaic

Soon after this all of the characters were brought onto stage. JL and I have a fondness for the quirky nature of Captain Feathersword. He’s an amazing character who is next to impossible to get a photo of. Last year almost none of them came out since he’s constantly zipping, dancing, jumping, flying, or skating across the stage. This year the challenge to JL was to get some decent shots of Captain. I am happy to report JL passed this test! *** Please note Captain Feathersword and his rather large banana! Sorry I just had to go there – LOL!

Captain Feathersword Mosaic

Here are the rest of the Wiggles – Dorothy the Dinosaur, Wags the Dog and Henry the Octopus. Soon after this they went around collecting the bones for Wags and roses for Dorothy. Sam’s wife (one of the Wiggly Dancer who is from the US) came over and collected the ones from NHL. She was so sweet and talked to him for a few seconds before moving on.

Here are some photos of all different Wiggles and the Wiggly Dancers.

While Henry was on stage, NHL’s absolute favorite they cued up the bubble machines that we had noticed near our seats. Quickly it looked like we were under the sea with Henry. Please note what NHL was more interested in doing. I kid you not, all of the kids close to the stage were doing this rather than watching the Wiggles. NHL pops bubbles at Wiggles Concert

Now for a funny – well at least for adults with ~~SICK~~ -er I mean creative minds. Just look at the sequence of events below on the left involving Jeff. . . then check out his reaction on the right. Pay special attention to where his head and hands are. LOL!!!

Jeff's fun with the Murray Balloon

During the show Captain Feathersword is invited out to show off his new ballet moves. The other Wiggles mention they are nervous because they had not seen this before he performs it. Before you know it he comes flying through the air on a rope right into the Murray balloon. Here’s the sequence of events. Please note his nifty black tutu!

Swinging Captain Feathersword w/Black Tutu Mosaic

The last mosaic is to show how well the Wiggles make kids laugh. They had a sketch leading into their famous song. Out walks Captain Feathersword in a duck outfit with two other ducks and Anthony. You already know this is going to be good. Captain is trying to convince Anthony that he is a duck, but he can’t quack. All he does is say cock-a-doodle-doo. . . he just can’t spell it. Here are a few shots from their little act and NHL’s reaction (he was in hysterics several times).

Then an hour and a half after they began (no intermission) the show was over, the Big Red Car was out and the Wiggles were heading off the stage.

It was a wonderful time had by all three of us. It was well worth the money. This morning (now two days after the concert) NHL was chatting with me in the car about favorite things from this week. He said the following to me "Mommy we need to have front row seats from now on – they were really good!" LOL

C’est Moi

Categories:
fun jl laughs nhl photos show

Wiggly fun tonight!

Posted on October 23, 2007 11:38 pm by TheAngelForever

Since the boys went to bed late and I’m still too hyper from the concert myself, I am sitting here sorting through the 324 photos that JL took of the Wiggles.

YES you read that right, he took that many.

I narrowed those down to 189 to pull to Flickr, but will upload those at one point tomorrow. We got some amazing shots of everyone. Sam, Anthony, Murray, Jeff, Captain, Dorothy, Wags, Henry and the Wiggly Dancers put on an amazing show. NHL was in shock at everyone being so close (we did a kick ass job with the front row seats)!

I will try to post more about the show tomorrow with LOTS of photos. Then JL and I have to play nice and not put adult captions on a few of the photos (like the ones with Jeff’s head in Murray’s crotch, followed by his hand and then a thumbs up). Can you tell we’re too tired now?

Here’s a sneak preview:

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C’est Moi

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Categories:
fun show

Weekend Review (10/21 – 10/22)

Posted on October 23, 2007 4:09 pm by TheAngelForever

The weekend was a whirlwind of errands and things all packed into one. Justing thinking about it makes my head hurt. . . oh wait I already had this stupid headache!

Saturday morning NHL received a phone call from Nana and Papa. They wanted to know if he would like to go with them to breakfast and out. So we quickly got him ready to head out with them. Then a little while later they all called to see if we wanted to head to the new Lowes with them. We said sure. When we got there NHL was so excited to go in. He had watched the building get knocked down and the new one slowly go up and was thrilled to see the final product. When we walked in my father knew to ask for a coupon. If you asked they had buy $25 get $10 off coupons. So we took one. I needed a new extended snow brush for my van and we also bought the new energy saving fan bulbs for our dining room. Now we’re investigating new insulation for the attic to try to help prevent the monster ice damns that form. So we used the coupon and the snow brush was free!

After that we were going to head to Sams. Then my father pulled his car over and asked if we wanted to stop at Toys R Us. He explained that he had heard on the radio the day before that they were having a special sale on all Fisher Price Sesame Street items (50% on them except the TMX line). We arrived before they opened and within 5 minutes they opened the door. We bought a bunch of things for Chanukah gifts for cousins and a few items to put away for future baby gifts. Then we went to Sams and NHL loves snacking there on all of the samples. Then it was time to head to Target to turn in NHL’s antibiotic medicine chart for a prize (LOVE Target pharmacy).

Once we were done with this we went our separate way from my parents. We went home to do lunch. JL decided to make applesauce in the crock pot. Once it was set and on we went to Michaels to buy some items for NHL to have for The Wiggles concert. He bought a rose for Dorothy the Dinosaur and bought things to make a bone for Wags the dog (photo of this to come later). Then it was back home to eat and then we went to the grocery store.

Sunday we got up and went to our Shul for a Story time and craft hour that is for 3-5 year olds. This was the first time we went. Noah really seemed to enjoy it. There were only 5-6 kids there (we’re told there are usually 12-14). They read the kids Five Little Gefiltes. The book was hilarious! Then it was time to do the craft. They had big plates, glue, and all different types of beans for the kids to make mosaics. Some kids made Star of Davids and others made their own things.

After this we had to do to Verizon Wireless to get our phone fixed. My parents met us there and we all got new phones ($150 ones for FREE x 4) and added my mother onto the plan. We were there FOREVER. We left there called my friend L to confirm plans to meet at the park for the boys to get energy out. We went back home had lunch and I tossed laundry in (I found all of NHL’s old 6-9 month clothing to wash and get ready). At 3:15 we went to the park to meet L and IA to play. The boys had a blast. Here are some of the 100+ photos that JL took while we were there (he was in his glory getting some autumn shots).

NHL going down the slide:

I LOVE this shot of NHL having fun crunching the leaves. It’s a great photo representing the fun in fall.

Fall time in the park - NHL crunches leaves

NHL and IA on the train. This was one of the few times they stood still long enough for a photo with both of them in it.

NHL & IA on the train 2

Both boys on the slide together:

NHL & IA sliding 2

Most of the time NHL was running after IA. Here’s a shot of what it was like!

NHL chasing after IA

NHL on the swings being a goofballs:

The face says it all

JL decided to help both boys on the swing, so I took over on camera detail. Note that both boys were chatting with each other at one point.

NHL & IA talk as they swing

Soon after this IA was chanting "Higher! Faster!" to JL. You will see he was in heaven since we saw his feet most of the time.

WHEEE - IA goes higher per request

During this time JSL was in his stroller enjoying the almost 80 degree day. He was taking in the sites.

JSL hanging out in the stroller

Next it was time to break out the soccer net and ball. Here are a few shots of how the boys played soccer.

Novel concept - kicking the ball!

NHL saves the ball, but IA was scored

Note what the boys were more interested in

Timber!

You can just hear the leaves crunching:

Can you just hear the crunching leaves?

Here’s an amazing macro shot by JL:

The boys on top of the climbing wall:

NHL & IA on top together

My cool dude!

Hey cool dude!

JSL so fascinated with his big brother:

JSL is SO fascinated with NHL

Before leaving the boys were fooling around and they fell onto the ground. IA was on the bottom and clocked his head on the ground pretty bad. Luckily he seemed to be fine, aside from biting his lips.

From here we picked up my grandmother and went to dinner at my parents house. I now LOVE tilapia since it is SO low in points (Weight Watchers that is). I programed my father’s new phone, JL uploaded their photos to WinkFlash and we had a nice meal. JSL started crying hysterically at 7:00. Nothing stopped him. The poor kiddo was teething. As I posted before this those suckers on the bottom broke through Monday.

Well, that’s basically the weekend. I best be off to get ready. We are going to see The Wiggles tonight and have front row seats. I need to gather supplies for JSL to have at Nana and Papa’s house

C’est Moi

Categories:
family friends fun jl jsl my boys nhl photos teething weekend

Look out apples here we come!

Posted on September 23, 2007 9:45 pm by TheAngelForever

Last night JL made plans without me (*gasp*) to go with some friends to an apple orchard. This morning we decided that we weren’t really up to picking, but wanted to go there to see the place and get some apples (needed Macoun before they are out of season).

So we packed into my van and all went together.

We started off looking at the pumpkins that were able to be bought. We convinced NHL to wait to get one until the end of the visit so we didn’t have to lug it around.

Here’s NHL looking at all of the pumpkins while eating a freshly picked apple that he got with J.

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Check out the pumkin with shades on:

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While the boys were looking at the pumpkins JSL and I were hanging out in the shade. Here’s a rare photo of the two of us. Seriously I do exist

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Next we tried some samples of different types of apples and some peaches that were grown at the orchard (man there are too many different types of apples). We then wandered on to the animal area for NHL to check things out. I will skip photos of the animals (they are on my Flickr feed). Instead some of us being kids.

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From here three of the boys went into a corn maze (JL, NHL and J). Here are some photos from that.

From here we went to have lunch. We bought cider donuts to take home and got fresh made ice cream. Yes, that you read that right . . .that is what we all had for lunch. NHL and I had strawberry shortcake flavor and JL had pumpkin pie. After that we went to the store where we bought a lot of Macoun apples and some Honey Crisps (JL likes those) along with corn, honey and NHL’s pumpkin.

Both little guys were tuckered out after the day and went to bed early. One has already been up since he was gagging on drool. Poor little teething monster.

C’est Moi