Christmas, Oh what a time!

Jen's family was here on Christmas Eve and we had a great time! Ry received a whole bunch of toys. His favorites are the Handy Manny tool box and his Thomas and Friends trains, we also like the mikey mouse card game. Our family received a Wii and we have had hours of fun already! Even Jen plays it, which I never thought she would. She loves the Wii fit. I have just enjoyed the balance games so far, but I want to get into the yoga.

Christmas morning was terrific! I was in the playroom when Ry woke up. He noticed that there were different types of wrapping paper and he read the note Santa left, that is the way he knew that Santa came. Ry LOVED opening up all his presents! He got loads more trains, a kitchen, trios (like Lego's), a snow shovel, and some clothes. He had a typical reaction when he opened those boxes.

Kate had a blast watching Ry open all of his and her presents. Of course she got a whole bunch of clothes. She also got some toys that she can chew on.

Christmas afternoon we went up to my parents and had dinner with the family. My brother deep fried a turkey and it was terrific, my mom made a venison roast and as usual it was yummy! I have never had turkey so juicy. Ry still got a soccer ball, a Thomas tent, and more trains. We have enough trains to last us quiet a while.

The days following Christmas have been great. Ry and I shoveled the driveway and built a little ramp to jump on his sled. He tried out his new gloves that have sleeves on them, no snow got in his hands!

For New Year's Eve, we are headed over to the Wleklinski's for dinner and an early countdown. I know that Jen and I will probably not make it until midnight. I know Jen will be in bed by about 9:30 or so, and I probably will be falling asleep on the couch trying to make it to midnight. I can remember the day when I cared about staying up until midnight. Oh, how times change when you have children who do not care how late you stayed up, because they are waking up at the same time no matter what!

Enjoy the pictures and look forward to more posts next year!

Hip Hip Horray for Christmas Vacation!

It is here, well a bit into it, but it is still here. Everyone loves stay at home days! Since we have been on break here is what we have been up to:

Ry and Jen went to see the Itsy Bitsy spider, a story telling thearer in the Junior Achievemetn Center. A woman dressed up like a spider and told some stories. Ry really enjoyed it. He watched in his PJ's and enjoyed some animal crackers and juice while listening.

Ry and I went to the Library and saw the Polar Express crusing around the track. He was excited to be there when it was going. It only runs for 1 hr per day. While there we also picked up some Thomas the Train and Curious George books.

The whole family went to the indoor park at Trader Point. While there we watched Ry play and we had a picnic lunch.

Jen and Ry on Tuesday made and decorated sugar cookies, they are terrific. Today (Wednesday) Jen and Ry made Peanut Butter cookies. I helped a little, I figured out how to operate the cookie press. They are even better than the sugar cookies.

We are getting ready to host the Weyer family, for lunch on Christmas Eve. The family is excited about everyone coming over. On Christmas we will be going up to Grandma and Papa Skura's.

Ry cannot wait until Santa comes. Jen and I cannot decide whether to meet Ry in the playroom where Santa will come or hear him screaming and yelling down the hall after he discovers Santa came. I'll let you know on the next post!

It's getting closer

If anyone needs to be reminded of the pure joy a child can feel at Christmas all you need to do is come over when Ry gets out of bed. Two years ago the Schillaci (I have had 3 of their 4 children) family gave us an Elf on the Shelf. The elf, who Ry named Freddie travels every night to the north pole to report to Santa on how nice or naughty Ry has been (of course he is always nice). When Freddie flies back in the morning he is in a different place. That Freddie always finds the best places to watch Ryan. For example he was sitting in the middle of our knife holder, hanging from our kitchen light, chilling with the bananas, and dangling from the doorknob on the pantry. So after we take care of the morning business upstairs it is a mad dash downstairs to find Freddie. We love the smile on Ry's face when he finds Freddie!

Last Sunday the family had brunch with Santa and an elf @ Kincaid's in Clay Terrace. Kate was not bashful at all sitting on the big guy's lap, but Ry on the other hand would not even look at Santa. I have to ask my mom if I did the same thing, and I have a feeling that I did. Ry did get his list to Santa. Ryan was nice enough to include what Kate wants on his list also, he is such a terrific big brother.

Jen is finished teaching...for this year. She gets a nice 3 week vacation. I have another week to go before I get to enjoy the family all day everyday! In the past I have dreaded that week, but we have the students working their tails off creating a movie trailer for the book they just read, so they will be too busy to get into trouble!

It is about time for Ry to wake up, So long for now!

Thanksgiving

I want to start off by saying sorry it has been so long since the last post. I vow to keep up!

What has been going the past 5 months?
Kate Cat is rolling stone that gathers no moss. The young lady also has 2 teeth on the bottom. Kate is sitting up, she ate chicken & sweet potatoes in a booster seat today. It has been great watching her get bigger and bigger!

Ry Dog is enjoying going to school on Wednesdays and Thursdays. He still LOVES Thomas and Friends. Thanks to Grandma Weyer he has a whole station of train tracks and cars. I have to admit that I enjoy playing them too:) Soccer is still his favorite Saturday activity. He hopes to get a brand new soccer ball for Christmas.

Jen is LOVING job sharing. She feels great spending time home with the children and can still be the wonderful teacher she is! She turns the dreaded 31 next Tuesday (12-1). Ry and I have to plan something fun for her! We picked out some terrific gifts and we hope she LOVES them!

I have been well. The golf course is closed as of 11-30, so I no longer have to work on Fridays. School is going very well. I am loving using the iTouches in the classroom. The students are more interested in finding information! My teammate and I are always trying something new. For example, we are making movie trailers as a final project for our novels! I cannot wait to see them!

That is all for now, I promise, I'll be back soon!

A LONG two months

1st of all looking back it is hard to believe that I have not written a post since Ryan's birthday back in February. A few things have happened since then. You will notice the slide shows on the right showing you what we have been up to.

Kate is doing extremely well. She is trying awful hard to be a great sleeper at night. Sometimes she is makes her mother proud and other times not. She is smiling and one would think laughing at her brother. Ryan is great with her. He will lie next to her and repeat whatever Jen or I say. He really loves her (let's hope it stays that way!).

So far this summer so far we have made it out to the zoo. Ryan determined that the dragon there is a good dragon. He also liked watching the lemurs, zebras, and of course those crazy penguins. Next time who knows what he will like. Kate slept through the entire trip cozied up next to dad in the baby bjorn.

Ryan received his first set of golf clubs. We have bee out to Zionsville Golf Course a couple times to play. I am not sure if he likes riding in the cart or hitting the ball more? We have a blast doing it!

Friday, June 19, we surprised Ryan by going to, A Day Out With Thomas, in the scenic Connersville, IN. He LOVED it ALL! We saw Thomas pull into the station and got to ride on one of his passenger cars. While there there were many things to do such as, riding a small train, shop in the gift shop, watch Thomas movies in the AC of the depot (Jen and my favorite), and there was a petting zoo. Ryan worked the nerve to ride a pony. He had a blast, but Jen got sneezed on by one horse and peed on by another. Kate and I watched from the shade:)

That is what we have been up to so far this summer!

3 Years

Last Saturday we had some family and friends over to celebrate! Both Gramdmas and Papas were there along with Great Grandma Spanburg. We cannot forget JJ and Uncle Top. His little friends that were there are Lydia, Parker and Lauren, and Hannah and Matthew.

Ryan received anything and everything Lightening McQueen related. His two favorite are a L.M. car that you can make into a monster truck, he likes running over all the othe cars. The other favorite is a L.M. bike. He took plenty of laps around our kitchen. He even learned why it was important to wear a helmet!

Ryan turns 3.

Yes, can you believe it, he is three. I'll never forget traveling back and forth on 146th St listening to "Bad Day" by Daniel Powter every time we were on the road (4 total).

Now on to the good stuff... Ryan and I got to leave school early and go to Dr. Jim's. After a stressful time at the Doc's, we went to McDonalds. We ate ALL our chicken nuggets and apples, and drank most of our milk. He was one hungry boy!

We then went home to nap, or what I thought was supposed to be a nap. After going down at 1:00 he did not fall asleep until 2:30.

After waking up we had a nice snack and dinner, pancakes (his favorite). We waited for mommy to get home from a meeting so we could open presents!

Finally mom got home and Ryan got to open his presents. He received a Tractor, Guido, and Luigi (CARS characters), a couple hats, crocs, plates, plastic ware, a tee, scissors and glue. Needless to say he received all he asked for.

January

Boy January sure did go by fast! The family has been cooped up indoors most of the month. We did get to go out side after the foot of snow on the 28th. Ryan loves being pulled around on his sled. It takes more energy than I can remember to pull a sled.

Jen is feel fine, she is just tired which is to be expected. Little Baby Skura is doing a fine job of growing.

We are getting ready for Ryan's birthday coming up in 2 weeks. Lately he has been in to Thomas the Train, Clifford the big red dog, and puzzles. It seems as though that is all we do when we get home from school.

One big change is that Ryan has started Soccer. This is taking the place of gymanistics. He is going with Brady (a friend from school). They love kicking the ball around and having fun.

Another big event is that he moved up to the 3-5 year old class. His first two full days have been SPECTULAR! He has napped (thanks goodness) and come home totally happy and ready to play. Next week Jen and I decided to start taking him to the library to pick out books, so we will see if he likes it!

I'll be back after Ryan's party!

Wrapping up a GREAT 2 weeks!

It has been a terrific two weeks. It all started with a visit to Griffith. We spent three nights visiting. Ryan made a new friend (Cha Cha). Grandma and the three of us stopped by the Lake County Visitor's Center to check out the 'The Christmas Story' exhibit. It was the same exhibit that was at Macy's in NYC last year. My favorite scene was the leg lamp scene. Ryan LOVED the opening scene when the boys were looking in the window, and of course there were two trains running.

(Ryan wathing the trains)

Jen and I are sure gland he stopped talking about Cha Cha once we got back home. That is the last thing we need/want right now is a dog.

(playing with Cha Cha)

We stopped by Busia's on the way home. It was nice to see everyone there! Busia and Stan got Ryan some awesome dinosaur pj's. He loves them! He has worn them every night since he opened them up.

(Christmas morning)

Yes, Santa came to visit us! He was sure nice to wrap all of Ryan's presents in 'CARS' wrapping paper. Ryan unwrapped ALL of the presents. When he unwrapped mine and Jen's he gave us the box and then looked something else to unwrap.

We then went down to Ferdinand to visit Grandma Weyer and Pops. Uncle Keith, Aunt JJ, and Uncle Tom were there for two nights with us. While there Ryan enjoyed playing with Ashley (Jen's cousin who is in 7th grade).

(Opening presents at Grandma and Pop's)

After coming home we have hung out and played with new toys (way too many). We also completed some tasks around the house: Made a Ginger Bread house, built cabenits for the play room, painted the baby's room (chocolate), with help from pops (Jen's Dad), and did a whole bunch of cleaning out! Now it is back to school for all.