Boys on Skis!

Last weekend, the boys and I left poor Tom behind with his calculator and balance sheets and we headed to Michigan. Our overnight stop was at the Dupins, which was so much fun as the boys played with the girls...trading DS games! Whatever quiets them down so I could catch up with Chad and Sara! Early to bed for all since we had to leave at 6am to get to ski school on time. And the 6am wake up call was brutal, but we made it to Crystal just in time!

Ok, I'm not a skier and didn't realize how much time it takes to get everyone ready. I was sweating trying to get boots and skis for everyone. And, of course, as we crossed the parking lot to ski school you could spot us from a mile away. I was carrying Jeb, who's ski boots didn't fit, two pairs of skis, a backpack, and a bag full of winter boots. We didn't fit the mold of a "skiing family," but we finally got everyone where they needed to be before Sara and I met up in the lodge.

It's pretty wierd to sit and relax not knowing where your children are in the sea of skiers just outside the window of the lodge. In fact, I'm not sure if we ever relaxed. We ended up searching for our kids. Jeb, was pretty easy to find - surrounded by 2 instructors obeying his every command, even to be picked up. Some things don't change. I spotted Aiden by his huge smile as he snowplowed down the medium hill. He had managed to ski ahead of his class and had an instructor to himself (good value for money is what I thought!). But, I couldn't spot Jacob. So, I headed to the chairlift and as I looked up the big hill, I saw him coming down. It was like seeing him walk for the first time. Jacob doesn't always look too natural at sports, but he was so comfortable sking down the hill and even managed a wave as he passed me by. It was the highlight of the day.

Oh, not to worry, there were lowlights to. I will document them to ensure my boys will read this one day and know how terrible they were in the car. The dinner stop was at McDonalds - with Jeb saying the meal was disgusting and throwing it on the floor (really?! A Happy Meal?!). After answering a billion questions of Jeb and Aiden, I finally heard Jacob from the back - "I have to go to the bathroom soooo bad!" Really, after he told me he went at the end of ski school...clearly a lie. We were in the middle of downtown Grand Rapids, with no where to go. Out came the water bottle. Unfortunetely he was a first time user - we had laundry to do when we got home. And lastly, I decided to get a car wash only to be stuck in the car wash for a half hour after driving 2 hours. I wasn't too happy.

I'll take the good with the bad, cause it all adds up to fun. There is nothing like being Queen of my house and taking my princes out of their kingdom for a few days.

Blizzard of 2011!!!

It's now classified as the third worst blizzard in Chicago's history, but to us, it was the first real snow for our boys in three years.

Tom was in heaven, having to snow blow the drive twice at night and twice in the morning. But the real fun happened when we opened the kitchen door that leads to the side yard. Drifts that were taller than Jeb greeted us. In a flash, the boys were in their snow gear and out the door. Snowforts and snow tunnels were dug, snowangels were created and getting stuck was the common theme for Jeb whose legs were just to short to trudge through the snow. The highlight for the boys was daddy lifting them up to the rooftop (and breaking the picnic table while doing so) and then jumping off the roof into the huge drifts below. I was more than a bit worried, but it actually looked like fun and the boys loved it! I have made them promise NEVER to do it again. Especially in the summer!

It all reminded me of snowstorms when I was little. We had a lot of fun. And then we looked out to see the newspaper. Tom decided that if the paper could make it's way to our house, then he could make his way into work. Bummer. So I took over digging tunnels in addition to my normal duty of making hot cocoa. Here's to winter...and may it be over soon!

Building forts in the drifts

The surprise behind the door

Jacob's jump

Aiden's jump!

Bahama Mama!

When in a new city, it becomes a must to say yes to everything that you are invited to. This is purely to meet as many people as possible with the hopes to create an inner circle of new friends. I never thought that I'd be invited to a girls weekend...in the Bahamas. But, I had to listen to my own advise and Tom was 100% behind me. So, off I went with 13 other moms for a girls weekend away.

The airport shuttle picked me up at 3:00 am on Thursday and we were on the plane by 6:00. I looked out my window 4 hours later to see beautiful blue waters and white sandy beaches. I was pumped! I turned to talk to my friend and looked out again to see clouds, right as we were descending. Nassau was covered. Just our luck!

We made the most of it and the next day it was partly cloudy. No one got sun except for me - I can manage to get burned in the cloudiest weather. I knew it was bad when a little old lady informed me of my burn in the elevator. But, upon close inspection, I determined it's what the Dutch call "a tan." With full sun the next day, SPF 50 became my new best friend.

The weekend was great. I was well aware of being the new girl, always feeling bad for the person who had to sit next to me at the pool for the day. But, by the end of the weekend it was very comfortable. And, best of all, I was relaxed!

On Sunday night, I was picked up by 4 handsome boys, whom I was more than excited to see. They even seemed happy to see me. I think we are at the point of appreciating each other once again! Yep, a weekend away is great for everyone. When's the next one??

Boring? No. Chaotic? Maybe.

I have to admit, I have been feeling a little bored with life lately. We did live a pretty exciting life up until 6 months ago and I just can't seem to get over it. But, maybe I still am living the exciting life, just not in the same category before. You know, I do have 3 boys and something is bound to happen...like it did just ten minutes ago.

Just a normal night of getting ready for bed. Aiden was overtired, Jeb was overhyper and Jacob was involved with lego building when he should have been getting ready. I finally managed to get some pjs on Jeb and just tucked him in when I rounded the corner to the bathroom to witness a crazy sight. Now, this could go many ways considering the scene of the crime was the bathroom and there were two boys in it. Funny though, it could have happened anywhere, but thank goodness it was in the privacy of my own home.

Anyway, I rounded the corner to see Aiden full out punching Jacob in the face. Aiden does this when he is tired. He is Jeckyll and Hyde. The beautiful blonde haired, blue eyed boy can be sweet as ever when he has had enough sleep, but watch out if he hasn't gotten his 12 hours! This resulted in a right hook to Jacob's face, followed by a sound of a pin dropping. Everyone was stunned. And then we heard it from Jacob, "He knocked my tooth out!" You've got to be kidding me. But, yes, there was a bloody space where Jacob's semi-wobbly tooth once stood. Aiden was horrified, Jacob was bawling, and I, well I had to leave the room cause it was too funny!

Once I gained my composure I sent Aiden off to his room, located the tooth and finally calmed Jacob down. We walked into Aiden's room to get an apology and Aiden said, "I will never punch anyone again." Sometimes I wonder how I will ever correct a bad behavior, but in this situation it has worked in my favor. At least it stayed in the family. It's a win-win for all. Aiden learns his lesson, Jacob gets some cash, and I didn't have to do much parenting to stop a bully.

Mothers of boys, call me for parenting advice anytime...we are such great examples!

Happy Birthday Jacob!

Last Saturday we had a special day celebrating Jacob's golden birthday (8 years old on the 8th). He awoke to gold coins (chocolate of course) and a golden balloon. I would have kept the gold thee going with Golden Grahams cereal, but he did have his request as you can see!

We had said last year that it we were done with birthday parties for awhile, but that didn't fly well when we told him. And the guilt of moving him from his friends set in, so we gave in - a bit. We would go to Legoland in Schaumburg, but he could only have 3 friends. So, that was the plan. But, just before leaving, Jacob got a phone call from Fraser, his best friend in England. I didn't want to eaves drop (yeah right!), but I could hear a lot of "What?", "What?" which led to Jacob breaking out his British accent in order to communicate clearly. It was even funnier when Aiden got on the phone and couldn't understand his friend Rory. "What are you talking like?" said Aiden. "I'm talking like me!" said Rory. "No your not, you sound like Charlie and Lola!" How easy they forget!

Once that conversation was over, the doorbell started ringing and soon enough we had a houseful of excited boys. One, whom had been up since 5 am! (not even one of ours!) We packed in the car and headed to Legoland. It was very exciting to be at an indoor Legoland! The Dragon ride was first on the list - rumored to be a roller coast, but in reality went about 2 miles an hour and reminded me of "It's a small world" at Disney. But, the boys loved it.

We explored a mini-lego Chicago, played with a bit of lego before going on another small ride. I thought it was much more exciting, but the boys choose to go on the Dragon ride, again. After lunch and a 3D movie, we decided we had done it all. All except the Bob the Builder movie, which Jeb was desperate to see. So, Tom took the 5 boys and I went to see Bob. It was only 10 minutes, but a lot can happen in 10 minutes. I took one look at the boys and knew something had happened - no one was smiling and everyone looked scared. Tom explained that while on the Dragon ride he heard the man in charge yell, "Don't touch the lego." Then he heard it again, praying this was directed at the load of 4 year olds 2 cars behind. And then the ride stopped, the lights went on, and the man in charge came through saying, "I'm gonna get those kids!" Tom was praying even harder that it wasn't the ones he was in charge of. But, a few seconds later, he saw 4 boys being ushered out of the ride. Two crying, two looking scared to death. So, yes, you can get kicked off from a slow moving, somewhat boring ride. You just have to really work at it.

In the end, it turned out to be a great time, we just don't speak of that incident when referring to the birthday. We came home to both sets of grandparents, presents and cake. Oh yes, I did this one myself with no directions. A bit lopsided, but you get the picture.

Happy Birthday Jacob...hope it was as memorable to you as it was to us. Don't worry, we'll remind you of it every year for the next 50!

Building Lego cars before testing and racing them.


My masterpiece before it was cut into!

Happy 8th buddy!

A Look Back On Christmas

Now that we are back into the new year, it's time to get organized...or maybe just try to catch up. So, here is a look back on Christmas - spent in Michigan this year. We anticipated lots of sledding and maybe some skiing. Seems that we should have gone to England for that, as they received the snow and we received the rain. Oh well, it was Christmas with family just the same and we were happy to be able to spend it with our loved ones.

The festivities began on Christmas Eve at Joy's parents. Church with a live nativity made it a super fun start. And after opening a few presents, Santa came for a visit! Too bad that Jeb lifted his beard straight up to reveal my Uncle Randy! It was truly funny and the night was a hit!

The next morning, I was pounced on by Jacob, followed by Jeb and Aiden. Santa found us at Grandma's! We had a fun morning opening gifts and a nice quiet afternoon playing with them.

On to the Koops to share Christmas with our 10 cousins - 20 people in all, making it very chaotic and fun!

We headed home and found the cookies we set out where eaten and that Santa had made a stop at our house. Yes Jacob, he can get in without there being a chimney!

We had a great time. My favorite kid quotes are below:

Aiden: "Thanks for this Wii, but it's not really what I wanted"

Aiden: "My favorite gift this year was Golden Syrup" - guess $3.99 is all Santa needs to spend next year!

Jeb: "Hey, what's under this beard Santa?"

Aiden: "I know that you bought Jeb that gift and not Santa - I was with you." Opps.

Jacob: "That was totally not Santa. His gut was a pillow."

Blauwkamp cousins

Tearing open the stocking stuffers

Go Blue!

Star Wars play is going to get even more fun!

The closest we got to a Koops' cousins pic

Jeb and the girls

Yes! Guiness Book of World Records 2011!!

This is what I really wanted

I love this!

Winter Fun

With just two days left until Christmas and little Christmas Spirit in the air, we decided to get outside and sled, even with only 2 inches of melting snow on the ground. So, we drove an hour, out to the middle of nowhere, to Echo Valley - a place famous for it's 60 mph tobaggon run.

We met our dear friends, the Harrisons, there. Jacob and Andy have been friends since birth and it's clear that they are two peas in a pod. And their first request, was not the tobaggon run, but snow tubing. We all grabbed a tube and hooked 9 tubes up. The hill was so steep and I was just a little nervous with Jeb in his own little tube in the back. If something happened, it was on my head. Tracy and I searched for the closest place without any age or height restrictions. But, off we went! My heart was in my throat with fear and I looked yonder to make sure that Jeb wasn't crying. No need to fear, as he had a smile on his face and exclaimed, "that was awesome" in his little voice upon stopping. And it really was.

After a few rides down the tubing hill, it was time to take on the tobaggon run. Aiden and Jeb went with Tom and I thought I'd have it easy with Jacob. This was not the case. Seems he and Andy decided they were not going down. So, I thought it through and used the best parenting technique to get him down - empty threats. It worked. And I'll admit that once I got on and looked down the hill, I wanted to get off and head for the lodge. But we went anyway. And, to make a long story short, the boys continued for the next 2 hours.

On a side note, the local news team was there taping for the news that night. The kids were so excited. We called Grandma and Papa and asked them to tape it. It was a bit dissapointing to see that it was the camera man taking the camera down the run that made it on air. We were left on the cutting room floor. I said sorry to the boys, but Aiden seemed really happy. And we found out why when he opened his mouth - "Wow, that was me going down the run - did you see my boot? I made it on TV!!" No one had the heart to tell him it was the camera man's boot. So begins Aiden's rise to fame...

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