Lovin Summertime

We are having one of those busy and fun summers. I always remember summertime being really laid back. My sister and I did a lot of playing at our house and my grandparents' house. We wouldn't go a whole lot of places, but we just enjoyed being outside most of the time. Our family on the other hand has been enjoying lots of trips and visiting the various parks and the zoo and having a fabulous summer. Caleb at 4 has been a great, much easier and very fun and Nolan at 2 has been super cute but also a bit of a stinker at times. Here are some pictures of our summer fun!

What's better than Lake Michigan in the summer?


Fun in the backyard pool


Yum!


2 year olds and sparklers-what a brilliant idea!


Fireworks at the cabin


Mr. Adventure


The captain at the helm


Playing at the barn park

Birthday Fun II !

Caleb turned four in April! We went to Rainforest Cafe' for a yummy birthday dinner of dinosaur chicken nuggets and then played in the play area. He brought cupcakes to his preschool, got a fabulous crown and enjoyed opening his presents. Over the weekend, we went to Grandma and Papa's house for dinner with some friends from church and they had farm and fishing fun. It was a little boys birthday for sure!

I feel like it was some kind of rite of passage for me as a mother to make cupcakes for his preschool class. Caleb wanted a dinosaur theme, so here he is with one of the chocolate ones with crushed Oreos for dirt and he also had vanilla ones with green colored coconut for grass-too fun!




Who doesn't love big tractors?


Feeding the cows at Uncle Al's Farm! We loved everything but the smell!


Feeding the calves at Uncle Al's Farm!



We asked Caleb if he wanted to go fishing or open presents first, i love that he chose fishing over presents!



The birthday boy catches a fish! (But I don't want it to touch me!)



Dinosaur cupcakes being enjoyed by all the boys!



Caleb's birthday concluded with dinosaur cake and presents at Grandma and Papa's!



One of his favorite gifts!

Birthday Fun!

We have had a busy couple months with the boys' birthdays being in back to back months. I am now getting used to saying I have a 2 year old and a 4 year old! Wow, time really does fly!

Nolan celebrated #2 with a trip to Rainforest Cafe' with family and an Elmo birthday party with some buddies from church.

Here is the big man on his big day! He is my smart, easygoing, silly, super lovable, cutie pie!



Rainforest Cafe' with cousin Jack (who believe it or not turned 2 16 days before Nolan-he's huge!)



Nolan sporting some of the dress-up clothes he got for his 'birfday'!




The Elmo birthday party-gotta love Elmo! I don't know what it is but most 2 year olds love that furry little red guy!



Playing at the party with some buddies from church, too much fun!

You better sit down, I actually posted!

I'm so over the music, so I had to post. Lots of stuff going on in Lemke Land. We are trying to work on a bunch of house projects because we would like to try to sell our house. I am trying not to get too excited because I know how the housing market is, but this winter the house seemed to close in on me. It just got smaller and smaller. Maybe it is because the boys are growing bigger, I don't know, but in the cooler months especially, I could use a little more space. But even if we can't sell the house, having all the odds and ends projects completed will make me feel better (I like order, what can I say?)

In kid news, Nolan is talking like crazy with tons of new words every week. One of our favorites is his rendition of the word 'fox'. Caleb is enamored by heaven. Every few days he must ask questions about what heaven will be like, who will be there, what toys are there, how do we get there, what do we eat there, etc. He's probably got a better picture of heaven in his mind than I do

Why do we live in Michigan?

New distractions

So you may have noticed that there has been some time off in between posts and I have to admit that I have found yet another distraction...facebook. It's a fun little social network where I can leave quick little comments and feel a bit connected to people. Don't get me wrong, I love to blog about thoughts and ideas but I am finding I lack the time, energy and creativity at times. I would rather read about the lives of everyone on my blog reading list and that leaves little time for keeping up on my own but you may get a snippet every once in a while.

With the holidays and our first bout with winter illnesses over, I am actually looking forward (do I dare say it?) to a little snow. There are lots of things I want to do this winter like ice skate, go sledding, play in the snow (more) and go visit some of the museums in the area. Have you heard of this neat deal that the libraries in southeast michigan are offering? You can check out (just like you would a book-for free!) a 2 or 4 person pass to various museums in the area. I really want to take advantage of that. I think we all need our dose of culture every once in a while. Anyway I don't want this winter to pass me by before I get to do some of those things.

In a couple of weeks, we will be leaving cloudy, cold Michigan for sunny, warm Arizona to visit my mom and sister. As much as I want to enjoy the winter fun, I am excited to leave it behind for a week and spend some time outside.

Oh and for the latest kid quotes: when Caleb is asked whether he wants a little brother or sister he responds by stating that he wants a big sister (like Josh W. has). And when we tell him he can't have a big sister, it just doesn't work like that, he said is God all out of big sisters?
And Nolan, he has some favorite words as well namely mommy (makes my heart smile), pizza (who doesn't love pizza?), and Elmo. He is at that cute stage of acquiring words every day and surprising us with new things. Aaaahhh what fun it is!