.my art gallery.

I don't know why it took me so long register for an art class in high school. I think it was my junior year when I finally decided to take the class: Art 1. Maybe I thought I wouldn't be any good. Maybe I thought I wouldn't 'fit in' with my classmates. Those artsy types can be pretty intimidating ;o) Maybe I was too busy with my yearbook responsibilities. Whatever it was, I'm glad I finally decided to take the class. Regardless of my skills, it was fun to think inside and outside of the box and put things I liked to life on paper.

And then it was over.

I did take an independent art class my senior year of high school with the intention of writing and illustrating a children's book per suggestion of my art teacher, but that was a lot harder to put on paper and I never finished it. I think I turned it more into an independent yearbook class so I could get all my designs and edits done.

So no more big art projects. Kinda sad really. It's not that I was all the awesome at it. (I'm no Lynnsy Deferio!) It's more that it was a fun outlet for me. But now that I think of it things were similar with my writing classes in college too. Maybe it's not sad afterall. Maybe it's just who I am. Little chunks at a time of bits and pieces of subjects. Can't be tied down to one thing afterall. Yep. I'm seeing my commitment issues coming out.

Okay, anyway. I never had the heart to throw out my favorite art pieces from that year. At the same time, they weren't something I wanted to frame and hang up in the house anywhere. So they got shoved away in the closet only to resurface when I dated Mark to impress him with my mad (one year of high school art) artistic skills.

That is until Sunday. I'm not sure how we got on the subject, but I mentioned to a friend that I had created some art in high school, but then ruined it with a "violent" scene of two sword fish fighting and ultimately stabbing the other. Tommy overheard this and was instantly intrigued. When we got home he reminded me throughout the day to bring out the painting so he could see it. When I showed him it, he was pretty impressed. Actually, really impressed. (He said he could ignore the blood on the sword fish so it would still be appropriate to hang in his room). I showed him more art pieces. He was shocked! How did I learn to draw like that? They were soooo good ;o) It's no secret that words of encouragement and affirmation are one of my biggest love languages, so you can imagine how much I loved the praise of my six-year-old! He thought I was the best artist in the world! And then when he asked if we could hang them around his bedroom and the playroom, well, it's safe to say I felt pretty stinkin' special. Somebody likes my art. And I'm more that happy that it's from my six-year-old boy!

So now when you come to my house, you will be entertained with sword-fighting fish, man-eating turtles fishing for humans, ants fishing off a paper bag, turtles and fish swimming in an airtight jar with humans swimming in the water outside of them. That's classic entertainment friends. Classic entertainment.

And as much as you may want a 'jayne bankhead' original for your own home, they're not for sale. They've been sold to Tommy and Lou for their enjoyment!

{i personally like the 90s tie-die shirt and cut-off jeans}


{are you starting to see a reoccurring element in my art?}


{you guessed it. turtles.}








{tommy thought hanging this one on the playroom door and writing "welcome" underneath in "cursive" would be a nice touch}

.boo-day.

{didn't Mark do an awesome job cutting the pumpkins? this was is Tommy's and the top one is Louie's}

One thing that I do enjoy about Halloween is the good times we have with our neighbors and regular Halloweeners that come to our house: the b.fam, james and this year we added some newcomers: lincoln, amaya and owen.

We cooked hotdogs over the fire and made our way around the houses. I made my opinion known that I did not want to go back to the neighborhood we hit last year with the freaky, bloody mask guy, that apparently scarred me more than Lou.

So here's a bunch of pics. As much as I don't like Halloween, I do like it when there's some creative thought put into a costume. I think I like family groupings the best. Like Josh, Bria and Amaya as Little Red Riding Hood. They definitely win a family prize for best costume.

Best attitude to match your character goes to Lincoln as Charlie Brown:

Most "in character" as far as stealthy-ness. Tommy Ro as Jedi:

Sweetest Cheeks goes to Aaron as a Crocodile:

And, really weren't all the kiddos just so cute? How 'bout Gavin with the his "Elf" costume. It was his from when he was a baby and he insisted on wearing it. I love it!

Scooby (Owen) and Batman Pirate checking out the costumes:

and jumping in leaves!

I love this one as GI Joe Jeremy was coming over from across the street from his house.

the crew:

And I'll end on this series of sweet pics. I asked Louie and Gavin to get close together and they hugged and then Gavin went in for the kiss!

I think I'd like more Halloweens like this one!

.lou-things.

First we'll start with Halloween. Not THE Halloween post, but Louie's Halloween post. Halloween is definitely my least favorite holiday. I think I watched too many Halloween, Friday the 13th, and Poltergeist movies in elementary school, yes elementary school. So I am permanently scarred by scary things. So to have a day celebrating all those things just doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. But it is what it is and here I am.

It also reminds me of how little effort I want to put into the whole costume thing. WelI, maybe that's not accurate. I want it to look like there was some effort and thought put into the costume, but I don't have the energy to put the effort into it. So maybe it was accurate. Anyhow, I hate spending money on it, but I also don't want to put the effort into making one. So every year, it's usually down to the last minute on costumes. Because I procrastinate. Because I don't like the holiday. Just Because.

But that all changed this year. This year, I said, Heck with it! I'm tired of battling myself so I'm just gonna spend money and I don't really care how much. Yep, I said that. So a month before Halloween I found a Jedi costume for Tommy and a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle costume for Louie. I didn't even ask them what they wanted to be. I knew Tommy would like his. It was Louie I was concerned about. As it turns out he seemed to be pretty excited about it. As it also can be predicted that a month later when it was time to actually wear the costume, he wanted nothing to do with it.

So today I'm here to share with you Louie's costume he came up with all on his own. In the end there were three versions of this. The first was for the YMCA Halloween party. Introducing "Batman Pirate"

version one:

His preschool had a party on Thursday and again he was excited to be the Batman Pirate. Only he insisted on only wearing the cape. He found regular old clothes and the cape. I tried real hard to get him to wear his Batman shirt, but apparently Batman Pirates don't wear Batman shirts. They also don't wear bandannas with version 2:

{This was when Mrs. Foley was introducing him and couldn't remember what he was. There was a lot of (good) laughter when he announced he was a Batman Pirate.}

{his girl Megs is the princess in the blue dress}

Okay, onto actual Halloween night. He got more creative with his third version. When he came out here is what I found:

Yes, that is an Indian hat. Yes, those are the chip clips from our refrigerator hanging off his cape (the cape by the way was Mark's cape when he was a boy, made by his Grandma Rectanus!). And yes, the bandanna made a come back.

I like the red pants too.

See? Why did I think I had to come up with the costumes and design them myself? Maybe Halloween will be alright afterall.

There will be more Halloween pics to come, but first some other Lou-things.

I love how the pictures Lou draws are so detailed. Tiny little swirls and circles and patterns. This one happens to be a picture of an animal he made up. It's called a Foosuloouo. I think he added a few more letters onto that after I took the picture too.

This morning, since we've been so happy around here, we spent it making mazes. By we I mean he, while I took photos. I pulled a Bob Thompson and told him it was aMAZing ;o)

After that since it was so sunny and bright outside Louie decided to make a swimming pool on the couch and get his swimsuit on and go swimming.

He said, "I can swim in this pool!"

{woops, mark sorry! He's not supposed to be climbing on the couch is he ;o)}

{or diving off of it for that matter!}

Love that silly, creative boy and even all his determined ways!

.save the daylight.

sometimes i just want to post photos that i like that really don't form a continual story. this is one of those times. so here they are. i've had these in my "to blog" folder for awhile, so it's due time.

{just loved the light and green beyond the fence}

{what buds are these? for some reason i always called them willow trees when i was in elementary school. anyhow, the real reason i took it because i don't think i've seen one of these buds since elementary school. glad my eyes are finally opening}

{who doesn't love a perfect, lonely red leaf}

{or a bright beautiful pile of them?}

Oh, and i should also mention that we are officially buried in by the leaves. Too bad the fence is there.

And one last thing. I love my man's lips and nose. He has a great story about busting it up playing broom ball on the ice (those crazy oklahoma boys!). It's still a lot straighter than mine.

By the way, Happy Daylight Savings! I think this is the first year I've felt it's true effect. I woke up this morning shocked that it was light out when Tommy left for school. That meant Tommy woke up happy (which he usually does), but more importantly I woke up happy and so did Lou (the two non-morning people in the house!). And It's been a bright day ever since! Hip Hooray! Save the Daylight!

{update: I'm laughing at myself right now. I just looked back to this blog post from last year and I said just about the same thing about Daylight Savings. Hilarious! How soon I forget! It's not the first time I've thought that I'm just repeating my life from year to year!}

.the soapbox.

Some things I've been lovin' lately:

One, why in the world do people obsess about raking up their leaves this time of year? The last few days that were gray and rainy I felt my S.A.D. kicking into full-effect. But then I would look out my window and see this:

It's like golden droplets of sunshine isn't it? I mean even looking at these pictures made my heart stop for a minute. I feel like I'm being covered in golden, sunshiny goodness!

I've also loved how Tommy has been saying lately about the fall leaves ... "I'd like the view better if there weren't all these signs and mailboxes and houses in the way." I agree. It reminds me of the movie Evan Almighty when God shows Evan what the land his house was on used to look like before suburbia set in. It also reminds me of this awesome song by Storyhill: Paradis Lost. Download all the songs. You won't be disappointed! It also reminds me of that "Signs" song from high school (well my years in high school). Remember that band Tesla? I'd link to it, but it contains explicit lyrics ... that are fun to sing on your own, but not fun to have your relatives go and sing to.

Off my soapbox for the moment.

Another thing I've loved. All the games Louie has been making up. I don't understand what the heck I'm doing but he seems to get it and if I just play by his rules and not try to have it make sense all is well. He made up a game with letters yesterday. He was so excited he said "I forgot I had this game in my head. I forgot I had to get it out of my head."

He is also excited about learning to read. Yes, you read the correctly. And as predicted, it's not by my teaching. It's pretty much on his own with a little help from me, Mark and Grandma Ro. It's not surprising to me that he'd want to learn things his own way. And by "read" I mean basic three-letter words. But it's a start.

Speaking of smarts. (By the way please stop reading this if you are prone to compare. Which I am, so if I was reading your blog and you put this up, I'd stop reading. Or not. I'd just compare. Then I'd be happy for you. But first I'd compare. It's sad I know.)

I received this email the first week of school from Tommy's first grade teacher:

I just wanted to let you know how much I am enjoying Tommy! He is very bright and is going to keep me on my toes with his great questions and how quickly he picks up on things! He is doing a wonderful job and I think we are going to have a great year!

At first I thought, she sent one out to everyone. But Dave Dark (an awesome elementary school teacher himself) said that she probably didn't.

Well, since then she's had nothing but good things to say about Tommy. And you know what I love? I love that Tommy is clueless about his smarts. He's just happy go-lucky and asks brilliant questions because he's curious, not because he's trying to be smart. (And I don't even think you can know to "try" to be smart in first grade, but I'm just sayin'). He took some tests a couple weeks back and they have asked him to be a part of their new Challenge Pull-Out program! I'm excited for this because it means he won't have to change schools in 4th grade which is where they previously sent kids part of the challenge program. Anyhow, I've said my peace. That's my boy. He's got himself a good set of brain genes. But most importantly, he's normal. He makes friends easily, he laughs, he has fun in life, he's an awesome big brother! Smarts or no smarts, I love you for who you are T!

Another thing about Tommy is that he was a Cub Scout for a few months this year. I wish I had nice, gushy-filled things to say about Cub Scouts, but I don't (just bein' honest, sorry fellow scouters). I can say that I am thankful that he has decided to no longer take part. There are many reasons Mark and I felt like this was a good decision. But I'm most excited about Mark and Tommy starting their own little group of fun-filled outdoorsy activities. More to come. Regardless, since we spent hard-earned cash on the uniform it shall be recorded that my boy was a Scout for a few months.

{not really sure, just thought it was typical tommy and lou interaction}

Soapbox completed. Peace.

.falling in.

{p.s. you can see this entry on my biz blog with bigger pictures}

Remember this one lone leaf from my post yesterday?

Yeah, we found that lonely guy at Minnetrista.

Would you like to see more?

These are just a few of the leaves that fall into our backyard every year. It's a pretty good amount I'd say.

Then you look up.

and you see that the tree is still absolutely filled. Not only that tree, but the other 4 large trees in our yard, not including the neighbors trees whose leaves inevitably make it into our yard as well.

But as it's probably been told many times before (but that's how stories stay with us right?) when I was in middle school my neighbor, Amy and I really wanted to jump in some leaves. My yard only had pine trees. No leaves. So Amy and I headed down the road in search of leaves. We found some at a home a couple blocks down and started raking and bagging. The owner of the home came out and I think we actually thought we were going to get in trouble. Because of course we weren't necessarily doing a good deed. We were 'stealing' her leaves so we could take them back to my yard and jump in them. We were surprised when she actually wanted to pay us. I think we each got a quarter. Then we headed back to my yard for a ginormous fall leaf pile!

Turns out I don't have to go hunting for leaves anymore. And neither do my kids.

Once all the leaves fall I'm sure posts will follow about how I'm drowning in leaves and if it weren't for that one time in middle school when I went and stole the neighbor's leaves I wouldn't be swimming in them now ... and forever.

But lets not ruin the moment quite yet with thoughts like that. Right now, all I see are beautiful colors, ginormous piles, huge smiles, killer jumps ... and all I hear is laughter and giggles and "watch this" and "make the pile bigger!"

I can hardly believe it's that time already! And the weather the last couple days was absolutely perfect. Perfect!

And I took about as my photos as we have leaves! I honestly did narrow them down, but I'm still about to post a zillion. Every second of these beautiful days must be documented before the gray and frost sets in. When those days come, you can come back and visit my blog and look at these photos and remember that the sun will shine again ;o) ... at least I know I'll need that!

Let's start with how awesome the light has been.

Wow. I think I'm in love.

Okay, so you ready?

First we'll start with the very important task of raking.

Now it's time to get ready for the big jumps! You have to accurately access what your dealing with here.

One, Two, Three ... Go! {You can imagine how many times I said that this day!}

{yep, they're sweet}

And this one? Cute right?

But I think you'll want to sit down for this one:

And the fun didn't stop there. Don't worry, there's more. But let's interrupt the leaf jumpin for some bug finding shots. Tommy, he's alright around bugs. Definitely much better than me (that's not sayin' much by the way).

But Louie, he calls them his friends.

This is the second time he's befriended a Daddy Long Leg. And eventually I tell him he has to let it go because I start to feel bad for it.

But he really does have good intentions. Even while he was jumping in the leaves with a big beetle on his shirt, he said, "that's okay, he's my friend." I'm thankful he doesn't have my fear of bugs. But when he brings them over for me to play with I draw the line.

Okay, now back to the regularly scheduled fall program.

The next day we headed back outside for some serious leaf fighting. I'm not kidding when I say that I had many o'leaf in places where you definitely don't want scratchy leaves to be. But such is the price to pay for a good leaf fight I guess.

Let's start with Lou:

{don't you just love his expressions?}

Tommy's turn:

It's safe to say we had ourselves some fun over the last few days

It's rare for me to get so many natural looking photos of Tommy in one "roll" (let's be honest I took much more than the typical "roll" on these days!)

But I'll take it!

Oh and I can't forget the neighbors. Remember this little motorcycle baby?

What a cute little chunk he's becoming, ay?!

Anyhow, I'm sure this won't be the last. But I feel better now that it's been officially documented! Happy Fall! Jump on in!

.nature.

It's been pretty unbelievably amazing outside the last couple days. The colors, the weather, the leaves filling up my lawn. It really couldn't be any more perfect.

But before I get to all the zillions of photos I've taken over the past couple days, I thought I should start with some photos of last week before the sickies set in. The boys and I headed over to Minnetrista to scout out some photo session locations. We ended up on a nature walk and we all loved it! I think I need to get outside — I mean like out in the woods — more often with them. At least the suburbian Minnetrista woods ;o)

{and i know the majority of you wouldn't even notice this, but this is for my sake when i reread this when I'm 80 ... picasa web albums seriously does some crazy sharpening to my photos when uploaded through iphoto! 'nuf said}

Good times with nature!

More good times to come!

.louis.

Ever since preschool Louie has been insistent that he spell his name with an "s"

Today he was writing a letter to Papa and addressed the back like this:

I *heart* how he writes his name. It's so artistic. I love the circle-dotted "i". I love the "o" running into the "L"

If he had a logo for his name, this would be it.

Louie, Louis, Lou ... I love you!

p.s. we're pretty much on the mend around here. bright, sunny fall days to follow!

.the sickies.

My house has been the sick house for over a week now. Tommy woke up last Sunday with a low fever and headache. Was fine by morning and Murse Mark sent him off to school. (Fevers have to be above 99.6 to be considered a fever at school ;o) All was well until Friday when Tommy got sent home from school because his fever had risen to 101 and he had a headache.

(By the way, I don't think I've mentioned how much I love Tommy's teacher. She sent me an email telling me it about broke her heart seeing Tommy sick on Friday. I also have another email I've been wanting to post that she wrote about Tommy at the beginning of the school year ... I'll save that for a special Tommy post)

Louie caught It Saturday. No school Monday for Tommy. Lou seemed to have recovered by Tuesday when I actually took him to the doctor (of course), but now is back with It or something else again (of course!). He's tired and snotty and cranky and cranky and ... cranky. I'm tired and cranky and tired and cranky ... and somewhat snotty. It's not been a fun house to be in.

And I think I'm going a bit loony because I haven't left the house since Tuesday. Not even to get the mail.

Thankfully Mark's mom was here last weekend (and hopefully didn't get infected) which meant I got to get a lot of work done, have a pedicure, go out on a birthday date with my man, and have all my laundry folded!! Seriously awesome! Thanks Grandma Ro!

I need another weekend off after this past week ;o)

Okay, well, that's really all there is to be said. Not real encouraging. But I will share a few pics that are encouraging to help lighten the mood around here.

This is how I found Louie. All the Narnia books stacked high on his lap and "reading". Not kidding. The kid knows how to set-up a great shot ;o)

And balloons are sure to brighten anyone's day!

{photo of part of a balloon sculpture by Brian McCutcheon “Towards Flight” at the Indianapolis Airport}

and a little love coming your way ... and hopefully mine!

.happy birthday markeyro!

{circa 1996}

Way back when, back in the days of living in our first purchased home on Marsh St., Mark and I lived by some pretty awesome neighbors (no, not the drug dealers, or dog fighters, or insane partiers ... though they were all pretty interesting). There was a time when we were surrounded by some extremely artisic, funny, jesus-loving college students. One of these students was Bob Thompson. He is actually all three of those descriptions. But one things for sure, he is insanely talented when it comes to music.

So one day, Mark's birthday actually, maybe 6 years ago, back when he wasn't even 30, Bob Thompson stops by with a CD for Mark. The guy just threw somethin' together and made Mark his very own fantastic song. Click HERE to listen to his awesome birthday song!

And of course it's been a favorite around the ro.fam ever since! Starting with Tommy at age 2 jamming out to it:



And that's how I wanted to begin this post. Happy Birthday Markey Ro! I think 35 is a great number! It kind of soothes my OCD keeping things by 5s and all! So it should be a good year. Anytime, I start to stress out I'll remember you're 35 and all should be right in the world again.

I had grand plans of scanning in a bunch of photos until my scanner gave me (insert not nice word here) and so I resorted to what any other photographer would do ... take photos of the photos.

I'm honestly thinking I can't do this post justice because there's so much to be said about how truly awesome Mark is that I'm afraid I'll leave something out. And since I'm afraid I'll leave something out I thought I'd just post a bunch of pics with small captions and let you fill in the gaps. Because you know Mark. You've either known him since birth, or high school, or college, or college again, or just plain everyday life. He gives an ear to you when you need it. An encouraging word at just the right time, a big gigantic bear hug everytime, and he isn't even afraid to cry when needed ... yes, he is that all-round guy. I love what he said about himself on his facebook page:

jesus seeker. husband. dad. web nerd wannabe. builder. tinkerer. project starter. not project finisher. reader. introvert. left brain w/ a tad of right in there.

I think that just about sums it up.

I'm so thankful for this man in my life.
Happy Birthday MarkeyRo! Thanks for being who God made you to be!

It's safe to say we know who Louie looks like:

And it's safe to say we know who Mark looks like:


Such newborn cuteness!


other cuteness:




Now for things in no particular order.

This is our first summer dating. And our first summer at the Leadership Training program in Myrtle Beach. It was a fun, hard summer. I liked him. He's silly. I like that he's silly.



Something else that I love about Mark is that he has some super fab friends from high school (and younger) that he still keeps in touch with.



The best is that his super fab friends consider me their friend too. So that makes it extra sweet.

Let's see what else? Well, he is the best dad ever. I have zillions of photos of him lovin' on the boys and just having tons of fun! He is a super lego builder extraordinaire and loves to watch documentaries with the boys like Man vs Wild (a current fave) Everest and some engineering shows. Oh and of course Planet Earth. My boys are bound to be real smart!











He even handles the chaos fairly well


We know he's a self-proclaimed project-starter


AND FINISHER! Hello Bathroom, concrete countertops, deck, shed, flooring, tile, desks, bunkbeds, tv cabinet, etc, etc. He really is pretty amazing. Sure 'finished' might mean 3 years from the start date. But don't say my man don't finish!

He's also an inventor:

{note the pen/pencil holder}

And he made the church a hog roaster:


And likes to get himself some pig for that roaster:


And have our boy experience it to:


He loves himself a good fire. A good night camping. A great time climbing. Some white water rafting and anything else outdoors.





and he loves himself some good high mountains with thick powdery good stuff!



If he gets the chance to design and build his own house someday he will. And there will be room for fire pits and camping (and my studio ;o)

He's also pretty domestic. He's the main chef around here. And has dabbled at hair-cutting before Bria was available!



He has fun with friends:




And it's hard to get a serious photo of this man. Well, I guess who can blame him when the camera is constantly in his face!

I have probably 100 shots of him looking very similar to these next photos:











he does not like to dance, but we have fun when we do:





long live the male murse!


... and thanks for bringing out the fun and laughter that's inside of me!

.knee high.

It's knee-high sock weather and I couldn't be happier
(about the socks, not always about the weather)

I am knee-high in edits, life, sleep-debt and more sleep-debt. I had a great trip out to Denver where my friends flew me out to take their family photos. How cool is my job?!

Tomorrow is also my man's birthday!

35, 35, 35, 35, 35, 35, 35, 35, 35, 35, 35, 35, 35, 35, 35, 35, 35, 35!

.aliens.

i just stepped out into the living room to find this:



As you can hear, I had a hard time containing my laughter.
I was not expecting Louie's "this is how I clap"
Totally cracked me up!

.stumbling into fall.

There are times in my life when I would have considered myself a morning person. Like in college. When the best time to get refreshed with time all to myself was walking on the prayer courts before most students were awake. Or in the summers when I lived in a house filled with other girls and the ocean was calling my name. Well, actually anytime I'm near an ocean I'm a morning person. So I guess this makes me a morning person with qualifiers. In actuality, I'm probably more of a nap person because I could get away with 4 hours of sleep in college knowing that I could come back home and crash for the afternoon. I guess this also makes me an old person. Because these days I start to get real sick on just 4 hours of sleep. I start to get real sick on 6 hours of sleep. And I'm still barely alive with 8 hours of sleep. And this again, is why I've been walking around like a zombie. Because I like my nights. I like them more than my mornings currently. And I have no naps. This makes me very sleepy ... and cranky. But I've mentioned all this before. Today I wanted to say that after staying up ridiculously late and having a photo session planned for this morning, I vowed never to schedule morning sessions again. But something happened on my 40 minute drive. And something definitely happened when I arrived at my destination. I remembered once again why I liked mornings. (And I love that I consider 9 a.m. early. Maybe I'm not so old as I think.)

I decided to get to the session a half hour early to walk around since I'd only been there once before.

Maybe I should just show you why it all changed.

I think I stumbled onto fall. And it was lovely.

Since last, yes last, fall I have been waiting to take pictures of the dying bean fields. I remember seeing them so beautifully golden last year and foolishly thinking they would last forever ... and so I missed the shot. This morning on my way to the park I pulled off the road to capture it. Phew! Take that one off my to-do list!

I mean, really, I felt like I finally woke up this morning to see what's been going on all around me. And everywhere I looked there were flowers and leaves and ducks and waterfalls and green grass mixed with yellow grass and dying corn husks and golden bean fields. It was crazy beautiful. It's nice to know the world keeps spinning even when I'm half asleep.

Hello Morning Light. You are just as sweet.

© j.ro photography | muncie, indiana family and kids lifestyle photographer

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.the leader.

A couple things happened last night.

First and foremost, it was pretty obvious Lou was excited about turning 4. He really couldn't stop talking about.

At bedtime when he is usually crashed out within 2 minutes of their nightly Narnia story, I hear Louie and Tommy talking away. Even after multiple attempts to get them to stop, he just didn't.

The last time I walked in there Tommy told me he wanted to tell me a secret. He whispered in my ear, "Mommy, I want to spend $3 of my own money to buy Louie a little Lego set because I felt bad at his birthday party that I didn't get him anything."

It had never occurred to me that Tommy would want to buy Louie a gift. I know, even typing that out sounds, well, like ... duh! Since Louie's party was almost a whole month before his actual birthday Mark and I just thought we get him a present for the 17th. And even then I wouldn't have thought to have Tommy pick out something a little extra special just from him. Geesh! Now I know. I sound like such a Scrooge. And I love buying presents! Anyhow, we'll be heading to ToysRUs today to spend some money on Lou! But how sweet that Tommy wants to spend his very own money on his little brother? Yes, friends, he's the best big brother a kid could have.

Okay, going back to being excited. Eventually Louie fell asleep, but he woke up at 4 a.m. wide awake and talk, talk, talking. Mark went in there and laid down with him for a while. At 5 a.m. I finally just brought him into bed with us. I really think he finally fell asleep around 6:30 a.m. So of course, I had to wake him up for preschool and dress him while he was still half asleep and before he knew what I was doing I had him buckeled into his car seat. I thought the excitement of getting to be the Leader today at preschool would get him right up. It did not.

Thankfully we avoided any tantrums on this big day (it was touch and go there for awhile). We were late to preschool, but it gave me opportunity to go in and take some pics!

Lou with his basket of goodies outside preschool:

{I mean really, why try to even bake something that's already been perfected ;o)}

Being the Leader not only means you get to bring snacks, but you get to be first in line and you get to do the calendar. Louie was so proud!

The best part for me was getting to see him interact with his new little buddies. (I honestly wasn't sure if he was making friends or not ... besides his girl Megs of course!)

The second best part for me was getting to see his cubby where they posted the picture they took of him at orientation. It's classic!

Brings a smile to my face!

Happy Birthday Big Leader!

.the grand concoction.

This is Louie's day, and I thought this entry deserved a post all to itself.

There are quite a few characteristics that Louie has inherited from me. Some I'd really like not to own, but it's pretty obvious they're from me. We really don't have to go into that right now, but I do know that paybacks are a ... well they just are.

However, there is one trait that Louie has picked up from me that I'll take complete ownership of. It's his ability to mix cereals. He goes places I wouldn't dare to go. And I love him for that ;o)

Most mornings he rummages through the cereal cabinet and picks out usually a packet of oatmeal (most of the time brown sugar, but sometimes apple cinnamon) then he will most of the time pick out some cereal to go with it. Sometimes he bypasses the oatmeal all together and just goes with a grand concoction of cereals.

Here is his pick from the other day. And of course he takes them out of the cupboard and lines them up to show me which ones he'd like.

Yes, this is my child.

Happy Birthday Cereal Mixer Lover!