These are the moments I love

This is Ethan riding his bike today at our friend Andreas. So today was a battle of wills with Ethan...I think he actually won most of the battle but their is still hope for my side I think. Anyhow he made my day today by telling me in the car "Your my wonderful mom and I love you". I live for moments like that.

Sunsets in Michigan

Lately we've taken to going for car rides in the evening in a vain attempt to get the kids to go to sleep. I've taken to bringing the camera along so well be driving along and suddenly I'll yell stop to Jared jump out of the car like the lunatic I am and take a picture then run back to the car and get in and off we go. It's really quite fun for a crazy person and I've gotten some cool sunsets I don't think I would have capture otherwise so here they are.

Grocery Shopping

Today I decided to be adventurous and went Grocery shopping with Daniel and I decided I had to write down what happened because well it was just so funny. We got there and decided to get one of those shopping cart that looks like a car but doesn't steer really well. This was my first mistake, I thought it would be fun for Daniel and maybe shopping would go better and for the first 5 mins it was great, then Daniel realized I was putting food in the cart and he couldn't get to it. So he was sitting in the car part when I put in a watermelon and the next thing I know he's slipped out of the seat belt and is standing up on the seat his little fingers stretching to reach the watermelon. Of coerce by the time I got around the cart to get him back on the seat in a sitting position he had fallen backward and hit his head on the steering wheel, poor little guy. After settling down after that I seat belt him back in and decide to bravely carry on with my shopping perhaps my second mistake but hey who's counting. So we go on getting everything we need and we actually made it threw the produce when Daniel decided he had enough of the car and simply started to climb out the side. After stopping and putting him back in a few times I put him in the top seat instead. Now for the next few mins things where great I was able to get spaghetti and bread and some meat without to much issues then he saw the grocery list. I don't know what it is about paper but for some reason every time Daniel sees it he HAS to have it. So we started the endless battle of no mommy's paper honey. I compromised and tore the portion I no longer needed off and handed it to him but it just wasn't good enough. So as quickly as I could I gather up our milk and cheese and ran for the checkout. Luck was with me and the line was short so we started to unload the cart. Evidently Daniel was very hungry even though I feed him right before we left for the store and it had only been 30 mins so when he saw bananas he went nuts quite literally. The boy must be part monkey I swear he will do anything for a banana. He has even tried to climb over pews at church to get another kids banana. Anyhow he tried to launch himself out of the cart and onto the counter to get to the bananas. Thank goodness for understanding crashers because she simply scanner our bananas and handed him one...he bit right threw the peel in his efforts to get threw the banana. I quickly peeled it for him and he ate the whole thing before they had finished ringing up our grocery. The cashier was really impressed. He left the store really happy and clinging to his little balloon that said cashier gave him.

On other Daniel news he has learned two new words this week...ball and NO. It's really funny he will point to pictures of balls and just go baalll over and over. Daniel is also part demon this week with at least 1 new molar making it's way threw possible up to three. I feel bad for the little guy but ugh I wish he would sleep so he could be happy.

Last Sunday

Today was our last Sunday in the Ann Arbor Second Ward starting next week we will be attending church in Chelsea. We've thought about this for a long time now and it still feels like the right thing to do but I will miss the things about our ward that make it so special. I'll ex specially miss some of the people but I know I will make new friends. I can't think of much more to say on the topic that won't make me cry so we'll leave it at that and I'll let everyone know how next Sunday goes.

On other fronts Ethan may at last be getting close to being done with potty training. I decided at the start of this week that we just had to put him in underpants and deal with the messes so that's what we did. The first two days were horrible with tons of accidents but he only had one accident yesterday and none today. He seems excited about using the potty and I'm excited not to have to change so many diapers a day.

In Daniel news there's not to much to report. He's getting a new tooth I think so is cranky and is running a fever...poor guy. He's walking really well these days and can't stand it if you make him stay in one spot. In sacrament meeting today he was taking snacks from me to give to daddy it was really cute. He thinks it's so fun to share, I hope that doesn't change.

In general news I switched the boys and my office on Saturday, well mostly. I still have to sort threw a ton of stuff and hopefully get rid of a ton of stuff. The boys now have the bigger room which seems to be working out well. On the photography front I'm working on organizing a photography group that will meet once a month (if anyone is interested or knows someone who is let me know) and I'm setting up a photo blog just for picture stuff. The photo blog I'm building kinda from scratch so I'll let you know when that's put together maybe a few more days. I'm still planning on keeping this blog the other one will be just for picture stuff more of a working portfolio for lack of a better word.

Twins on the Way Photoshoot

New Toy

I feel like I'm 5 years old again telling everyone one look I got a new toy isn't it cool but well it is cool. This week we upgraded our camera from the original Canon Digital Rebel to the Canon Digital Rebel XTI! I now have 10.2 mega pixels at my disposal! It's a lot of fun but also a little bit of an adjustment. I've spent the last few days just trying to get the auto focusing stuff halfway under control..it's weird going from 5 auto sensors to umm I think this one has like 9. I'm pretty sure it will be great once I get it all figured out. My only complaint with the camera is actually it kinda noisy so it's a little harder to get those shots when no one is paying attention but I can be stealthy so I don't think it will be to big of an issue. I also got to do my first pregnancy photo shoot which was so fun, a little nerve racking ex specially since the new camera came only umm 5 hours before the shoot but I think it all turned out well. I'll post a few pictures from that after this.

In crazy kid news Ethan is considering his possible future as an arsonist which has me checking the smoke detectors and the fire extinguisher. We all know it's in the blood with Jared's obsession with fire and well there was that time I caught my parents bathroom curtains on fire but still I wasn't really ready for this gene to appear so soon. This week I was feeding Daniel and noticed Ethan was being really quite, never a good sign, so I called out "Ethan what are you doing" and got the response "Trying to start a fire mom". Umm NO! I found Ethan sitting in the front closet with Jared's soldering torch (it's a little soldering iron that looks like a torch and works like a lighter) sure enough trying to start a fire. Maybe I should put more fire extinguishers on my Christmas list this year.

A Girls Weekend

Friday night on the way home from picking Jared up from the Airport he handed me a plane ticket. I was totally shocked and honestly didn't believe at first that it was a real ticket. He told me when we got home I need to pack and get to bed since we need to be back at the airport early. I thought he was joking but he wasn't! My head just about exploded. I really do few things spur of the moment, everything is very thought out exspecially trips with every detail planned etc. so to have him just hand me a ticket and say I'm leaving in the morning was well a little hard for me, exciting but hard. I know this is rather pathetic but when packing I make a list and place everything on the list next to the suitcase then put it all in it's a rather drawn out proses really but it always makes me feel better. I was told no list ugh I ran around the house once we got home trying to figure out how to pack. Jared simply sat on the bed and laughed at me of coerce sweet man. By the way at this point all I knew is that my flight left for St Louis at 8:45 the next morning. I didn't even know who I was going there to see (Both my sister Susan and good friend Jen live in that area) it was exciting and wonderful and kind of annoying all rolled into one. The next morning Jared and the boys loaded me in the car and took me to the airport. Getting threw security was such a breeze without the kids and since Jared got me first class tickets I just breezed threw and walked strait to my gate. It was so nice to be able to sit down and read while I was waiting to board the plane thought it wasn't a long wait. Once on the plane I carefully removed the envelope Jared had prepared the night before from my bag and tore it open. I had instructions not to open it until I was on the plane so the suspense was killing me. Enclosed were was a little note letting me know my sister would be picking me up from the airport which of coerce lead to the did I tell her I cut my hair thought and do I remember what her car looks etc. The next page had our hotel room information with a little notation at the bottom that I should be at the spa in the hotel at 3:45. He had even included traveling cash. It's times like this that I really love the man I married. The flight there was wonderful! I sat back and read my book which was called Austenland by the way another gift from my husband which I fully recommend if you liked pride and prejudice. At any rate my sister knew exactly were to stand so that I would be able to find her as soon as I passed security and our adventure was off. We got breakfast then headed for the mall. After the mall we checked into our hotel and just sat around the room reading for a while...we tried to take naps but umm that didn't really happen. After lunch in one of the hotel's restaurants I headed to the spa. Jared had scheduled an hour long full body massage for me. So sweet! Afterward it was off to six flags because lets face it I'm a roller coaster junky. We ended up not getting there until 6 at night but all the tours and stuff were just leaving so we were able to one miss the heat of the day and two just walk right up to the rides and get on it was awesome! We road every roller coaster in the park I think. We even watch the fireworks from one of them it was the best time! Around 10 though we called it good and headed back to the hotel. Sunday we didn't do much I went for a pedicure after breakfast then we were off to the hill to meet Jen for a little hang out time and lunch. We tried to eat at one of those really cool restaurants but umm nothing was open so we settled for noddles and company and a book store. Then off to the airport to come home to my boys. To be honest by this time I was quite homesick....silly but I really missed my boys exspecially when I found out they all had the flu!

It was a wonderful weekend all in all and one I hope to repeat again maybe next year in ohh Ohio so we can go to cedar point maybe:) I am so glad Jared thought to give me such a wonderful surprise. It was the perfect girls weekend!

Maine pictures 2

Ethan and Amy taking pictures at the top of our hike



our family at the top of the hike up clubhouse bluff

view from clubhouse bluff.

Ethan being well Ethan.




So even though this cabin is out in the middle of no where it has a tennis court...made of clay. Anyhow Ethan thought it was the coolest thing ever and for a while we were playing pretend tenis then he found a tennis ball so we could "play real tennis". I'm really glad he loves sports so much.

Maine Photos part 1

This is our Cabin in Maine









We went swimming every day at the small beach by the cabin so here are a few photos from that.






Meet the Fetch and Carry IV...Fetch for short. This is the only motor boat on the lake so this is the boat you take when you come into the lake to get to your cabin with all your stuff. For us we park our car then take the Fetch about a mile up lake to our cabin.





This is one of the views off the dock. Ethan was looking for Frogs which we found a few...they like to hide under the dock.


Here is a picture of Ethan and Dad on top of the rock outside the cabin. Ethan just had to climb it every day. He said it was the biggest rock in the whole world. We even asked him to name it because he liked it so much so it's "rock really big rock". I said that maybe Bob would be a better name but was informed that No that's silly.

This is Daniel exploring around the cabin.
Ethan making sure Daniel doesn't fall while walking around the cabin.

Ethan and Dad kayaking out and back to whale rock...so named because it looks like a whale but Ethan says it's a dolphin.


Ethan learning to fish. Every morning we found ourselves on the end of the dock with a chunk of ham which we used for bait (great bait btw) catching fish. He hasn't quite figured out you only need to put the line in the water not the whole pole but he caught a bunch of fish so I guess it doesn't matter much.
So we went out to town one day to get cake and ice cream for our neighbors birthday and brought it back with dry ice. Jared of coerce had to play with the dry ice so this is what it looks like when you put it in a pop can. We also used a golf club to chip some into the pond...side note it just shatters because it's not that tough. We put some in balloons and watched them blow-up and then put a lot in balloons and watched them explode. And since we all know Jared loves to blow things up we put some in pop bottles sealed them and watched them explode. It was a lot louder and more destructive than we thought it would be
The the sunsets on the lake are really great here are two different ones I got a chance to catch on film.
Another view of the lake. This is at the club house during the annual picnic...it's one of the only chances you have to see other people while up at the cabin.
Ethan skinny dipping at the picnic with another 2 1/2 year old we meet up there....they are both very high energy kids and decided they were going swimming so just pealed off the clothes and in they went.

Maine

Well we made it back from Maine. What an adventure! Ethan got home sick so for the first 5 days we were gone he would cry every night for his house and his car...and yes his friends. Besides that fact it was really a pretty good vacation. Daniel learned about donuts and all there greatness. It's a tradition to get donuts for breakfast while in Maine so no one has to cook at 5 in the morning when the sun comes up. Anyhow you could not let Daniel see you with said object without him running to you and demanding his share. It was really quite amusing and I started referring to him as Homer. Hmm I am a little concerned that he seems to be going threw all the Simpson characters...first Meggy with the pacifier now Homer I can only hope Bart is not next. Daniel also learned to walk really well while were in Maine so now he is cruising right along...he's even started running a little though that usually results in falling. As for Ethan outside of the home sickness part he had a great time. He got to go swimming everyday with his "surfboard" which was really a kick board but we could never convince him of that. Dad also taught him how to fish which he really loved and would spend hours on the dock fishing away. I lost count of how many fish he caught but lets just say it was well over 25. We didn't feel like cooking fish so we just released all he caught but I've never seen him so happy. There was a huge rock outside the cabin that had to be climbed at least 4 times a day. And of coerce Ethan feel madly in love with my friend Amy. It was so sweet at night to see the two of the curled up together reading Curious George. I really enjoyed spending time with Amy and wished she lived a lot closer!! but I guess I can always go visit. We only went on one hike this year up club house bluff but I think that's good for this year all things considered. Well that's our vaction in a nut shell...I'll post pictures soon...I have to sort threw the 600+ pictures to decided on a few.