Still at grandma and grandpa's

My son is having about the best vacation that a 1 3/4 year old can have... There has been the air show. (it was loud-that is why everyone has thier ears protected- thanks to Uncle Eric). Tommy now is obsessed with planes. I do not know how this little boy is going to function independtly when he get home, after being waited on hand and foot by his adorable cousins. He is really soaking it all up. Next, we got to go ride on the Manitu, and have 5 servings of Moomers ice cream. It was amazing. The view from the ship was breathtaking. Tommy is now obsessed with boats. Tommy is also now obsessed with ice cream. Also, everyone is enjoying the new back yard! The waterfall is so natural and relaxing! Only a few more days of resting relaxing and having fun. Too bad there are no jobs for Matt and I up here... we love this area!! And I just need to mention it again... Does life get any better than this for a little boy? Tommy is now obsessed with Grandpa.

on vacation

Tommy is having a blast with his cousins! He feels like a big dude!

There once was a little boy who wanted to go outside...

There once was a little boy named Tommy who wanted to go outside. It was hot outside, but Tommy did not seem to notice. Mom let him wear his bathing suit, so the heat was not so bad.

First Tommy ran through (okay...he only really ran around) the sprinkler. That was enough to get wet though.Then, he needed a break, and took a seat in the chair.Then, he played with a pine needle.Then he played with some bark. He told his Mommy what nice bark it was.
Then, he took off his sandals. He liked the tickle of the grass on his toes.Then, the day got even better.What is that you see Tommy?Over here Tommy?Oh... over there. What is it?
Oh... a cute little froggie! How fun!Tommy chased the frog for a long time, but eventually, it was time to go inside.It was a great day. Tommy even made some artwork before bed.Goodnight!

We got a new bike rack today!

Now we can take our bikes on the road. Thanks to Daddy and Tommy putting things together.

I have no real story behind this picture. I just love my lillies

This is how I brush my teeth

By Tommy.

Step one. Let mom do the brushing.

Step two. Get frustrated. Demand to do it myself.

Step three. Get toothbrush wet.
Step four. Suck water off the toothbrush. Repeat steps three and four as many times as possible, until mom turns off the water.

what a cute little voice...

The little dude has been especially cute lately, I find myself reaching for the camera at all times. I just feel like I need to capture it all...

Here are some cute pictures of Tommy announcing that he is going to "sneak" into the garden, Tommy once he is in the garden (it must be confusing to him that I am telling him to get out of the garden and taking a picture of it at the same time, I am sure it sent a mixed message. I refer to myself as the "Mommaratzi"sometimes. I should probably put the camera down and parent...) Also included are photos of Tommy's rock collection. He is so proud of his rocks. He will tell you which ones are heavy, which are flat, etc. There is also a photo of Tommy "Helping" water the garden, and one of him eating an entire apple (a fairly large one) on his own.

We took a bike ride to the park and the lake on Sunday, there are a couple of photos of Daddy and Tommy wading in the water. Lastly, my son's favorite breakfast cereal is now Frosted mini-wheats, he will even eat them dry! In the mini-wheats photo, he is telling me to put the camera down. I should probably listen to him...


So the first video is Tommy singing his ABC's. Or at least some semblance of an attempt to do this. He is very quickly distracted by his dinosaur.

The next video is what Matt refers to as my best video yet. Tommy does 10 little monkeys. Somewhat. His voice is so darn cute! See ya later!!!

Your monthly Fall house pictoral update...

So, I know that your expectations of this blog are low, as far as updates go, but I will keep doing monthly updates at least. My job requires that I spend a lot of time on the computer now, and I just have no desire to stare at the screen once I get home... However, I do love sharing pictures of our little cutie with the world, so I will not give up on this blogging thing yet.Things have been busy as always here at the Fall house. We are loving spring!! We bought new bikes, and riding has been fantastic! Side note- I have exercise induced hives, which makes it so that when too much blood flows (increased heart rate, etc.) I break out. The breakouts are specific to the area I am working. (ie. when I am running, my thighs break out) Anyhow, I say that to say this: I love my new bike. I have never been able to ride without my hands breaking out severely due to the vibration on the handlebars (this is the same reason I can not push a lawnmower) However, my new bike has great shocks! I have not had one single issue with my hands! It is glorious! I am so excited, I ride it just about every day. We are borrowing a little bike trialer thingy from my Mom for Thomas to use, and he is loving it! "Go fast, Mommy! Go fast!" He is a great little motivator!
Tommy's language continues developing so much every day. He loves to communicate. He really can get stuck on a theme though... Matt's grandpa passed away peacefully last week, and will be greatly missed. Tommy loved to sit on his lap. We were able to spend some quality time with the Fall side of our family through this difficult time, and it was quite refreshing. Matt's sister and her fiancee flew in from New York for the funeral, and Tommy got to meet his Uncle Mike. Something about Uncle Mike really captured Tommy. He really enjoyed spending time with him. We were in the car for a half hour trip that somehow took us an hour, and practly the whole time, Tommy kept saying, "Mike! Hey! Uncle Mike! Hey, Mike!" and when Michael turned around and said, "Tommy!" Tommy would laugh, and laugh and laugh. I am not kidding you, this game lasted at least 20 minutes. I was afraid that Michael may need a neck brace after turning his head back and forth so much, but Tommy really enjoyed the game. I had a similar Tommy experience this afternoon driving back from daycare with him. Shortly after we left campus, he yelled very clearly from the back seat, "No more monkies jumping...bed" I took this as a cue to sing the song, and everytime we got to the "No more monkies..." part, Thomas would yell along. We did this the ENTIRE 30 minute ride home. My mouth was very dry once I arrived home.
Wow! This is turning into quite a long post! Here are some updated pictures of the cool little dude:
I am loving the gardening again this year. There is something marvelous about a well planned perinnal garden. The plants we have put in have continued to thrive, and we are likely in need of dividing many of them in the fall. They are just getting too big for their space. I will post some pictures of the Beard Tounge, Daisies, Sedum and other perennials as they bloom, but for now here are some garden pictures:

Some sedum that is really taking off
My favorite late spring bulb, ornamental onion.
Some bleeding hearts, Thanks Angie! They are doing great!
Phlox

That is all that is in bloom in the planned garden areas, but I went for a walk in the woods on our property and found a couple of flowers. I also took some peaceful pictures that I really like, and well, since it is my blog after all, I am going to share them.I know that this one is Trillium, because I have been on the hunt for one of these, and could not find it at any of our local nursery. Matt happened to see one out of the corner deep in the woods when he was cutting the grass. I can not believe that we have been looking everywhere and it is growing wild on our property. I have since learned that is is an endangered, protected plant, Native to Michigan, so I think I will just leave them where they are, since they are so beautiful.Does anyone know what this beautiful little blueish purpleish flower is?