Pics from Easter 2009

We went to my mom and dad's house last night for Easter.
Blake liked his "Honey Bunny". Kyle and Danielle showing off their bunnies.
A pic of Blake, my dad and me.
me and my honey bunny. ha ha!
This was when Blake woke up today.
Eric and I went to church separately, so the kids could stay home, and so Mom and Dad didn't have to babysit. After that, we went to Grandma and Grandpa M's house. We had an Easter egg hunt:
My niece Ashley and her fiance' Jeremy put the eggs out for them. Drew wasn't too excited about the whole thing. Blake was picking eggs up like crazy.
Blakey checking out his loot.
All total, I think they have a bazillion pieces of candy:

I think they need to work on this.

I was just talking to my nephew about Jesus. He likes to talk about Mass and the priest. He was talking about the mass server who carries the cross up at the beginning. I asked him, "Who is on the cross?" He said, "What?" I said, "Jesus hung on the....." expecting him to say, "cross". I wasn't expecting him to say, "Jesus hung on the monkey bars." lol.

random picture post

Blake snuck into the snack cabinet and found some Valentine's candy
his face when he was caught

Kyle, messing with his mom
Eww! He licked her.
Obviously, I wasn't paying close enough attention to him. That towel was supposed to dry him off!
We watched Kelly and Tony's kids on Saturday evening. It was almost sixty out, so we played outside. Danielle was bummed that she wore her winter coat. Too bad I was a meanie and made her wear it anyway. Eric set up the smaller bball hoop for Blake.

And finally, I watched Kyle yesterday afternoon, and he and Drew are on spring break. They went outside to wait for Blake to get home on the bus. It snowed yesterday, so they were wearing their (matching) winter coats. Kyle was irritated with me because I couldn't get his hood closed tight enough for his liking. He said his mom could do it better.

Happy Birthday Kyle!

My nephew Kyle turns twelve years old today! I can't believe it. Time sure flies by, doesn't it? I remember the cold Friday night he was born. He was the first grandchild in our family, and boy did he turn our lives upside down. In a good way, to be sure. That child meant (and still does!) so much to me. I wasn't married yet when he was born, and I didn't have a lot of other responsibilities, so I would oftentimes stop by my sister's house to see him. Eric was on the scene and they had a special bond, too. Everyone who knows something about Fragile X knows that rituals mean a lot to fraggles. Before we even knew about FX, we all had our special "thing" with Kyle. I remember on his first birthday, I got Kyle a pair of denim overalls and an orange turtleneck. I had a matching outfit, and I wore it to his birthday party. How goofy! But, I still love to look at the picture I have of us wearing them together.

Kyle has his challenges, especially with impulsive behavior. This gets him in trouble sometimes. But, there are times when his impulsive behavior is sweet, like when he comes up and gives you a spontaneous kiss or hug. Anyway, I am sure proud of that boy, and I love him quite a lot. He wins the affection of most people he meets. And I know he is going to have a happy and successful life because of it. Happy Birthday Kyle!

Trick or Treat!

Tonight was trick or treat in our town. The boys had picked out their own costumes a couple weeks ago. Eric and I had our ideas about what we thought they should be, but when we got to the store, they both made their preferences clear.

They were both very excited about trick or treating. When Drew's aide dropped him off, she reminded him to come trick or treating at her house. They were both antsy to put their costumes (or as Blake called them--cartoons) on. They inhaled their food and wanted to go.

All ready to go

At the neighbor's house across the street from our house. Always our first stop

Drew's aide, Carol trying to get him to pose for a picture with her.
Blakey wanted Drew to hold his hand, but Drew didn't want to


Finally, we made it to Grandma and Grandpa V.'s house. Grandpa had just walked in the door from a twelve hour shift. Blake didn't mind the uniform:



I tried to get both boys to pose with me for a picture. I should have known better. It was right after we got there, and in the middle of a tranisiton. Drew started hitting himself, so we gave up. This is what we got:


My nephew Kyle and my niece Danielle:


The goods:

Just say "Father Steve"

My nephew Kyle is going to church with us today. He is very excited. I told him I was going to take his picture, and I told him to say "cheese" And he said, "Father Steve!"

Eric is taking Kyle on a bike ride today after church. They have a Family Fun bike ride, and well, Kyle really loves to ride his bike. And neither of our boys can ride a bike, so Eric called and asked my sister if Kyle could come.

Kyle is watching Eric shave right now, and Eric let him put shaving cream on his own face. I got him one of our Pampered Chef pan scrapers out, and he used it to "shave" off the shaving cream. When he finished, I heard Eric say, "There! Clean shaven." and Kyle said, "Aww, thanks man!" Talking with Uncle Eric while he gets ready

File that trip under...

Best State Fair Trip Yet! Of course, there were a few bumps along the way, but overall, it was a nice time.

First of all, the boys and I picked up Kelly and the kids from their house.

Ready To Go
We took off and stopped right away in Sidney for lunch. We went to Burger King. Drew was happy to learn that they now serve macaroni and cheese. They all had fun wearing their crowns. On the way out, Blake wiped out. He totally landed on his face. Poor kid was knocked senseless. Wha...?
He was fine after a couple minutes. We went on and made it to Columbus. Drew started getting nervous when we got close to our destination. By the time we actually had the key and were at the condo, he was freaking out. He refused to go up the stairs. And he sat down on the ground and screamed and cried. People wandered past and watched the commotion. Kelly and the kids went up and changed into swimsuits and left for the pool. I talked, cajoled, and bribed Drew. It was not to be. He wouldn't budge,. Kelly came back and offered to try. I went to the pool with the kids. And when we got back to the room (after Blake gagged and threw up in the pool) Drew was in the living room of the condo watching iCarly. Thank gooodness. I don't think he'd have ever gone up willingly for me. And believe me, he is too heavy to lift. (I tried!)

Mom and Dad had planned on meeting us in Columbus for dinner, but they were running late, and Kyle was getting agitated. So we went to eat without them. We went to TGI Fridays. Kelly and I both got fettuccine alfredo. We went back to the condo, and this time, Drew was able to go up the steps while holding Aunt Kelly's hand. Unfortunately, the pasta we ate made us both sick. We had talked about going bowling, but neither of us felt well enough to go.

Mom and Dad's room was in the loft. Drew has had a fear about steps for some reason lately, so he refused to go up. But Kyle and Blake did. Friday morning they both went up there and jumped into bed with them. Peek!

Ok, so off to the fair. My dad wanted to take the stroller, so we did and brought the kid-leash along. Drew didn't want to stay with us, so Kelly threatened him with the leash. Eventually Kelly put it on his wrist. And Drew was quite offended. He was so mad at her. It cracked me up. He probably wore it for a grand total of five minutes. And the rest of the day, whenever Kelly wanted to hold his hand, he refused. lol.After that, we went on some rides:Notice they both have their hand in their mouth.Drew was very specific about being in #5.Blake hung out with Grandpa V. quite a bit. Did you see that sky?! Kelly and I took her kids to some bigger rides and Mom and Dad stayed in Kiddie Land with Drew and Blake. No trip to the state fair is complete without visiting the butter cow.

We stopped for awhile and watched a horse show. The kids liked it, though Kyle was eager to get back to the rides. The weather couldn't have been any better. The sky was blue, the temperature was great. We left around five to go to dinner. We ate at Big Boy, and headed back to the fair. We had fun. We went on Rock and Roll You know, the one with loud music? Well, Kyle decided he wanted to ride it by himself. So, Kelly, Danielle and I went in one seat, and Kyle went by himself. He handled the loud music pretty well, but they suddenly blew an air horn. Oh boy. He let go of the car and covered his ears. When the ride was over, he was a little upset, and said, "I hate that ride!" Kyle did love the bumper cars, though. He had a blast in there.

We left the fair arounf ten o'clock pm. And got home late! We had a few mishaps throughout the day, but we had way more fun than work.

Trying it again

Remember this? File that trip under...

Well, we're leaving today for Columbus. We're going to the State Fair again. My parents usually stay with my kids in the kiddie ride area, so my sister and I can take her kids to the bigger rides. My mom doesn't want to use the strollers, since they are cumbersome, and they spend the majority of their time on rides. I decided that it is worth the censure of strangers to keep Blake safe. So, since he is an escapee, we'll be using a kid-leash. I know "safety harnesses" are a hot topic for parents. I don't even bother to call it that, though. Frankly, it is a leash. But if it does the job, I don't care what it is called.

We're only staying overnight one night instead of the usual two nights. It seems that the second day is usually spent debating about what we're going to do, then we end up doing something that is not terribly exciting. So this year, we'll head to Columbus in the afternoon, and meet up with my parents. We'll check into the condo, go out to dinner, then come back and go swimming. Then tomorrow, we'll go to the fair, and at the end of the day, we'll just go home. I think this is a great idea.

Wish us luck! I'll udate on Saturday.

Kyle and Blake and Bikes

Recently, I babysat for my nephew Kyle. Blake adores him. Kyle brought his bike with him, so of course Blake wanted to get his bike out, too.






Notice that they had the same color clothes on. Blake picked out his clothes.