.........Little Guys' Place.........

Tooth fairy visit #2

2010-08-30T19:31:00.000-07:00

Ethan lost his 2nd tooth last week. It was pretty loose and he worked on wiggling it and then I went to wipe off his mouth with a paper towel and the tooth ended up on my finger. Easy as that and Ethan was thrilled to find yet another $3.39 from the tooth fairy. He loves that she brings "money and coins"!

1st day on the big yellow bus!

2010-08-30T19:14:00.000-07:00

Ethan gets to ride the bus to school and he couldn't wait! Jack was very excited too until he found out that he didn't get to ride with E. Ethan has made the transition to kindergarten very easy and for that we are so thankful. We are so proud of him and are so glad God blessed us with this sweet little boy!

Ethan goes to Kindergarten!

2010-08-30T19:05:00.000-07:00

Kindergarten orientation was on August 17th and Kyle and I got to go with Big E on his first day. We were only there for an hour and he got to see his classroom, unload his supplies, and meet his classmates. He had gone the week before and met his teacher, Mrs. Taylor. He was all smiles and was very excited for this new adventure!

Ethan lost his 1st tooth!

2010-08-30T18:47:00.000-07:00

Well, we've had our first visit from the tooth fairy! Two weeks ago Ethan lost his first tooth. It had been loose for a while and actually his permanent teeth were already growing in behind his 2 bottom front teeth. He wiggled it and then managed to pull it out on his own. We put it in his tooth fairy pillow which stayed on Mama & Papa's night stand because he didn't want to talk to the tooth fairy if she accidentally woke him up. He was pleasantly surprised to find $3.39 the next morning.

Jack is 2!

2010-08-16T18:51:00.000-07:00

Where has the time gone? My baby boy turned 2 on July 14th! He suddenly seems so grown up and is definitely all boy. We had a great time celebrating his birthday with friends and family and of course...Buzz and Woody!

2010-06-21T22:04:00.000-07:00

Awesome Park!

2010-06-13T20:45:00.000-07:00

Our daycare is closed for two weeks, so I (Kyle) am getting to spend some quality time with Ethan & Jack. The other day we decided to go to the zoo, but when we got there the entire parking lot was full and then some (I didn't realize it at the time, but apparently Thursday is the free admission day this year). We (I) decided not to fight the crowd, because the only thing worse than a hot day at the zoo is a hot, crowded day at the zoo.

Ethan was more disappointed about the fact that he and Jack couldn't play on the playground outside the zoo than he was about missing out on the zoo itself, so I told him I would take him to an even better playground with a huge slide. I hoped I could deliver on that promise because I had actually only heard about the park I was planning to go to. One day at school I mentioned that I hadn't seen one of those "tornado" slides at any parks recently and wondered if they had all been taken down for liability reasons. One of my students mentioned that Bethany (a small town of about 1300 people about 20 minutes southeast of Decatur) had the best playground ever with a tornado slide, plus a bunch of other slides, so we headed out that way. I figured it would only take a matter of minutes to search the entire city, so if there was a park there, we would find it.

We arrived in Bethany, turned off the highway and almost immediately saw a sign for a park with an arrow on it. We turned that direction, and followed several other signs until we arrived at the park. It was as promised. Even better, there was no one else there! I got the boys out of the truck and they headed for the playground paradise. It was a good day...

DISNEY WORLD 2010

2010-06-13T19:39:00.000-07:00

We took the boys to Disney World for vacation this year and had a great time. We stayed in a sports-themed hotel and visited all of the major parks (Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom) at least once. It was extremely hot & humid, but other than that it was a great trip. Mandy's parents went with us and helped out with the kids.

Ethan got to "perform" on two different occasions. While we were at Magic Kingdom, he was picked from the audience to go up on stage during "Storytime with Belle" and played Belle's papa (he actually spent most of the time trying to get the tools out of the tool belt they put on him, and got quite frustrated because they were apparently permanently attached). He also was picked to take part in the "Lion King" production at Animal Kingdom (which, by the way, is a very cool show). We got a few pictures of both, of course.

Punkin' Guts

2009-10-30T19:52:00.000-07:00

So, we were a little behind with the pumpkin carving this year, but we finally got to it tonight. We had two pumpkins to work with, one that Dr. Barnes gave Ethan, and one that papa bought at Rural King. Ethan wanted to carve the one from Dr. Barnes first, so he decided what he wanted to do and we got to work. Jack was kind of grumpy, so after trying to push the pumpkin onto the floor a few times, he went and sat with mama in the recliner for a little while before retiring for the evening. Ethan wanted to make a ghost with a trick-or-treat bag peeking in a door for the first one. We started removing the "punkin guts," as Ethan likes to call the insides of the pumpkin, then started carving away. Once that one was completed, we went to work on Ethan's next choice - a witch. By the time we got finished, mama was heading for bed, so we showed them to her, then went outside and took a couple of pictures. Ethan was already in his PJs, so he was a little chilly, but very excited to see the Jack-O-Lanterns outside. We came in, drank some milk, watched an episode of Scooby-Doo, then I finally took Ethan to bed and read him "Curious George: Happy Halloween." It was quite the festive evening.

Cowboy Ethan

2009-10-25T00:16:00.000-07:00

Curtis Orchard

2009-10-24T23:58:00.001-07:00

Ethan's singing group from church went to Curtis Orchard last Sunday.

More Random Photos

2009-10-24T22:53:00.001-07:00

Here are some more random pics...

Ethan's 5th Birthday

2009-10-24T22:26:00.001-07:00

Ethan celebrated his 5th birthday with a few of his friends at the Surf Club...it was a baseball theme.

A few random photos...

2009-10-24T22:20:00.000-07:00

The Dog House

2009-10-24T21:47:00.000-07:00

We decided to make Max an outside dog a couple of months ago, and Ethan and Jack assisted me in assembling a doghouse to make the transition easier on Max. For the first few days, Max did his best not to let us see him using it, but I did get a picture of him in it through the glass of the back garage door.

Trying to catch up...

2009-10-24T21:36:00.000-07:00

So, we haven't updated this for a long, long time. I will start with some photos from our vacation this year (back in August).

Dancin' Machines

2009-07-28T07:07:00.000-07:00

Okay, so we were getting ready to head to the pool yesterday, and Ethan played a song on his Big Wheel that caused Jack to just start clapping and dancing. Not really sure where that came from (he must've picked that up from his Mama or something). At one point, Ethan jumps off his Big Wheel and shows a few of his own moves. Next we got out the bubble wrap. My Uncle Phil brought up a huge amount of bubble wrap a couple of weeks ago to help with packing and moving stuff, and we ended up with quite a decent amount of it. After initially being a little hesitant about doing it, I finally convinced Ethan to jump on it. It didn't take him long to really start going to town on it. Eventually, we layed it out and he rode his big wheel on it a few times, making it sound like a load of firecrackers. At the end of the video, he says "No autographs, pease pease!" reminiscent of Eddie Murphy's Buckwheat character on SNL. One thing is for sure, both these boys definitely got their dance moves from their Papa.

Jackson's 1st Birthday Party

2009-07-18T06:25:00.000-07:00

On July 14th, Jack turned 1! I can't believe he is 1 already. We had his first birthday party with some family and friends. He seemed to have a good time and really liked the cake. He wasn't too sure about opening the presents but he liked all his new toys. Thanks to all those who helped us celebrate his special day!

Jack has been my challenging one....mainly because Ethan has been so easy....but he is such a joy! I'll close by sharing some of my favorite things about Jack:

1. I love his smile and how he lights up when he sees me.
2. I love the little chuckle he does when he is excited about something.
3. I love how he loves Ethan.
4. I love how he rubs my face and my neck when he is going to sleep.
5. I love his big brown eyes that remind me of his Papa's.
6. I love his sense of curiosity and to see him discover new things.
7. I love that he loves to go to Bible class.
8. I love that he is loved by so many and has so many wonderful people in his life.
9. I love the dimples in his hands, the rolls in his thighs, his little feet and the curls in his hair.
10. I love him from head to toe and I feel so incredibly blessed that God gave him to me!

Fishing

2009-07-18T06:09:00.001-07:00

While my parents were visiting, Kyle and Grandad took Ethan fishing at the Zelhart pond. His favorite part....playing with the worms! He had a great time and caught a really nice blue gill, a catfish, and a large mouth bass. Quite a variety and pretty good for being inexperienced. Special thanks to the Zelharts for letting him visit their pond. We are so glad the Zelharts are a part of so many of Ethan's special memories!

Uncle Jerry's boat & "UP"

2009-07-18T05:40:00.000-07:00

We are really behind on posting pictures from the summer so I'm going to post some highlights. These pictures include spending time at Uncle Jerry's. Uncle Jerry has a boat and a jet ski which are 2 of Ethan's favorite things. He knows the way to Uncle Jerry's house and he has no fear on the jet ski. I (Mandy) haven't even worked up the courage to ride with him yet! :) Thanks, Uncle Jerry, for sharing your toys with us and for helping us create some wonderful memories with our boys.

The other picture is of Kyle and Ethan on Father's Day. They went to see the movie "Up" in 3D and they came home wearing these goofy glasses. I guess it was a really cute movie and they enjoyed their bonding time.

Jack's New Elmo Bubble Blower

2009-07-17T20:23:00.000-07:00

Jack got an Elmo bubble blower for his first birthday. He laughed hysterically when we fired it up in the house, but we eventually had to move it outside because the bubbles were covering the entire kitchen in a slimy film!

Baseball & Birthday Parties

2009-05-12T21:30:00.000-07:00

2009-05-01T21:10:00.000-07:00

JUST FOR KICKS...

2009-04-12T23:29:00.001-07:00

Jack has been pulling up on things recently, and I happened to catch some footage of one of the first times in the video below. At the end of it, Ethan gently kicks him in the behind - twice. I thought it was just an accident the first time, then he walked back and did it again. You can tell at the end of the video that he found out that is not a nice thing to do - watch his face.

Teeth!

2009-03-22T12:08:00.000-07:00

We have a lot of pictures that we need to post on here to get up-to-date, but we wanted to go ahead and put the above picture on here so you can see Jack's teeth! He got two on the top and two on the bottom a couple of weeks ago at about the same time. He is also sitting up and is starting to crawl a little (it's more of an army crawl than an actual crawl, but he can get where he's going eventually).

Ethan and Maxtor

2009-02-18T19:49:00.000-08:00

Well, it's been 2 1/2 years since Ethan was first introduced to Max and he screamed at the sight of him (Ethan screamed, that is). They seem to get along a little better now. Ethan has gotten really good at bossing him around, and Max has gotten really good at ignoring his orders. This was a rare instance when they both were pretty calm. Max is pretty good about putting up with stuff, but eventually he just has to leave the room...

RASSLIN'... E-DOG vs. TINY

2009-02-10T20:26:00.000-08:00

CHUCK E. CHEESE

2009-02-07T09:32:00.000-08:00

Well, Ethan finally got to go to Chuck E. Cheese in Springfield yesterday. It was his first time there, and he had an absolute blast. It had been years since we had been there, so we figured that maybe the pizza had gotten better. Nope. Next time, we are definitely going to pick up Sonic and then just go to play the games!

The boys...

2009-02-01T13:51:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to post some recent pictures of the boys. Jack is getting so big so fast. He is doing all the normal 6 month old stuff...rolling over...eating baby food...laughing at his big brother...etc. And Ethan is having a great time being a big brother! He seems to adore Jack and loves to make him laugh. And Kyle and I are just busy trying to keep up with them and thanking God every day for these 2 blessings!

It's Finally Freezing Out!!

2009-01-31T21:19:00.001-08:00

Well, the temperature finally reached 32 degrees today, so Ethan and I were able to play outside in the snow for a little while. Ethan is fearless...

2009-01-28T20:37:00.000-08:00

Extreme Weather Days 2009

2009-01-16T21:03:00.000-08:00

Okay, it has been a little chilly here in Illiniois, so I got to stay home from work for yet another two days. The high temperature yesterday was 0 degrees (that's actual temperature, not wind chill). Apparently last night it got down to -17, with a windchill of around -40 at times. We have a ton of pictures and video clips to put on here from the last month or so, but we haven't quite gotten around to it. I will put a picture of Ethan at the top of this page from our road trip to Georgia (for Christmas). We convinced him to wear the headphones that came with the DVD player in the van for the first time (after 9 months), and of course he picked a movie that we all wanted to hear ("Elf"). Anyway, I couldn't resist taking a picture of him engrossed in the movie and chowing down on a powdered doughnut.

SNOW DAYS 2008

2008-12-19T23:40:00.000-08:00

Well, the last three days (Wednesday, Thursday and Friday) I got to stay home from school due to the bad weather. The boys and I had a lot of fun, including the first time I got to feed Jack his rice cereal (he just started eating rice cereal this past Sunday and loves it). Wednesday was also Mandy's birthday, so I think she was a little jealous that she had to work while we were all home playing.

Ethan and Jack also had check-ups last week (and a few shots). Jack is now 16 pounds and Ethan is 28 pounds. Apparently Jack is in the 75th percentile in all areas, and Ethan is growing taller every day.

I set up the video camera while I fed Jack his rice cereal, and took some other footage throughout the day...

I love Fridays....

2008-12-06T09:39:00.001-08:00

I have been blessed to only have to work 4 days a week. I would love to be able to stay home all the time but since I can't...I'm thrilled to be home with my boys on Fridays. It's our day to do fun things that Mama is too tired to do when she gets home from work....like fingerpainting. Here are some pictures from our day.

Thanksgiving 2008

2008-12-06T08:37:00.000-08:00

Boy did we have so much to be thankful for this year!!! God has been good....so very good! Nana, Grandad, Auntie Megan and Beth Anne came for the weekend. We had a great visit and a very nice Thanksgiving. Here are some pictures from our weekend....

HALLOWEEN

2008-11-08T09:27:00.001-08:00

The big night finally arrived, and the weather was beautiful. We were able to go trick-or-treating in short sleeves, and Jack was able to go with us. We went trick-or-treating as soon as we could, and planned on getting back by dark in order to hand out candy to other ghosts and goblins. We ran in to a lot of neighbors who were trick-or-treating (don't worry - they were all okay), and didn't make it back home until well after dark. We still had several trick-or-treaters, and I must say that Ethan is the most generous candy hander-outter I have ever seen. We had to start rationing it a little bit, otherwise we would have run out after about 7 trick-or-treaters. He was kind of diappointed when it was all over for the evening. He kept checking the window to see if any more people were coming to our door. Between all of Ethan's Halloween events, he will definitely need some help consuming all of his candy. Ah, the sacrifices that parents must make for their kids!

BOO AT THE ZOO

2008-11-08T09:08:00.000-08:00

Our local zoo hosts a "Boo at the Zoo" event during the weeks leading up to Halloween. We have a family membership to the zoo, so we were allowed to attend free of charge. The kids basically get to trick or treat around the zoo. We went the night before Halloween, and it was packed. Once we got in, Ethan had a good time. He even got to pet a blue-tongued skink, a box turtle, a rabbit and a Guinea pig while we were there. The old feller holding the skink told us all about it and showed Ethan his blue tongue (the skink's, not the old feller's). The man pointed to it, so Ethan decided to put his hand there too and got really close to its mouth. I thought the man was going to have a coronary. "Oh, don't pet his head!" he exclaimed. Clean up on aisle 7.

As we proceeded through the zoo, many of the people there kept saying "well hi Ethan!" I just assumed that they were people that Mandy knew, but after a while I started asking who people were. After three or four times, Mandy finally asked me why I thought she knew all of these people. I told her I just figured they were friends of hers because I didn't know them. It was at that exact moment that it hit me...oh, yeah, Ethan's name is on his trick-or-treating pumpkin. Mandy got a good laugh out of that one.

TRUNK OR TREAT

2008-11-08T09:05:00.000-08:00

Well, the highly anticipated "Trunk or Treat" night at our church had finally arrived and all Ethan had to do was finish his Happy Meal. He insisted he was not hungry and was going to be sick if we made him eat any more. That boy is more and more like his papa every day. We just thought he was tricking us (it's been known to happen before), so we waited him out. He was very quiet on the way to the church building, until about a mile away when we heard that wonderful sound. Ethan decided it was finally time to purge himself of his chicken nuggets, milk and fries, topped off with the oranges he had for lunch that day. By the time we pulled off the highway and started catching the remnants in his trick or treat pumpkin, his entire monkey outfit, the car seat, the seat protector underneath the car seat, and the van seat itself were saturated in, well, there's really no word to properly describe it. We stripped his monkey suit off, and he was fine after that. Fortunately, he had clothes on underneath and we continued on to the festivities. Jack got a little toasty in his banana outfit, so he shed his costume rather soon after we got there as well. Ethan had a blast, and even got to get a tattoo! He also enjoyed telling anyone who would listen that he threw up because his mama made him eat too much.

Ethan's First Pumpkin Carving

2008-10-25T08:37:00.001-07:00

Baby Jack...

2008-10-25T07:59:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to post a few more pictures of Baby Jack. He is getting so big...so fast! He is now a pretty happy baby and is very easy going unless it's time to eat. He is very serious about eating and wants his bottle immediately after he has decided he is hungry.

My mom (Nana) came for a week...which was my first week back to work. Ethan & Jack had a great time with her and I certainly enjoyed her company and her help as I made the transition back into being a working mom.

Enjoy the pictures and check back soon for punkin' carvin' and Trunk or Treat!

All Kinds of Fun!!

2008-10-17T21:05:00.001-07:00

Okay, Ethan and Jack have been on many adventures over the last couple of weeks.

Starting down at the bottom of this post, we went out to visit some friends of ours, the Zelharts, who live on a farm. Ethan got to ride on a big tractor with Mr. James, as well as a combine with Mr. Dave, and he got to drive both of them (be sure to check out the combine-driving footage at the bottom).

The next morning, I stayed home with Jack while Ethan got to go to the Mount Zion homecoming parade with his mama, followed by a trip to the Mount Zion fire station open house. Our friend Mr. Rob was there, so he showed Ethan around the firehouse, then Ethan got to play on a big inflatable thing, and even slide down the firepole before he left.

A couple of days later, we headed out to the Zelhart's farm again for a Children of the King (the kids' singing group that Ethan is in at church) wiener roast. Ethan once again had a great time, and he even discovered a tree with literally thousands of red ladybugs swarming all over it. He kept trying to get them to climb on his stick, until Morgan, the big dog, came over and swiped it.

Finally, today Ethan got to come to my school for the homecoming parade. He was especially excited about the firetrucks and Bonnie the horse, but this year there was something new - a drum line. Ethan "directed" them as they approached and passed us, and got so worked up I thought he was going to fly off my shoulders. Afterwards, we took him up to the band room and the band teacher let him drum a beat or two on the drum (he didn't play much, though, because there were a lot of students watching him, which made him a little nervous). He also got to check out my room, draw on the dry erase board, and play around a little with my SMARTboard. Ethan got to meet some of my students (current and former), and got a few of them with his "Break the pickle...tickle, tickle!" trick. Oh, yeah, one more thing...he picked up so much candy from the parade that I thought we were going to have to start throwing it back. All in all, he had a pretty good day.

Happy Fall Ya'll!!!

2008-10-04T19:44:00.000-07:00

We hope everyone has been enjoying the beautiful fall weather! We have had some beautiful days here in Illinois and we have been doing some fun fall activities. Today we visited Curtis Orchard in Champaign. We had a great time together and here are some pictures from our day! Our 2 little pumpkins!

Sweet Little E!
Family photo at the Pumpkin Patch
This is how Jack enjoyed most of the day!

Ethan riding a pony

Picking just the right pumpkin for our Jack-O-Lantern!

Sweet Baby Jack
E on his Gator

Halloween 2008 preview

2008-10-04T19:22:00.000-07:00

Here is a sneak peak at the boys in their Halloween costumes! We can't wait for Halloween!

Georgia 2008

2008-10-04T18:32:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures of our week in Georgia. Ethan, Jack and I decided to stay an extra week after we got back from the beach and we were all so glad we did! We wished Kyle could of stayed too... but it worked out well for him to come back and get caught up on both his school work and his yard work.

We had a great time as you can see in the pictures. Ethan got to do so many fun things from fishing...to changing the oil in Grandad's truck....to shelling peas with Nana...etc....etc... We also enjoyed spending time with Uncle Gary, Aunt Megan and that sweet baby, Beth Anne. Jack enjoyed the week as well and really seemed to grow like a weed while we were gone!

There's just nothing like being on vacation and spending time with family....priceless!!!

Gulf Shores 2008

2008-10-04T17:37:00.000-07:00

Hello...this is actually Mandy and this will be the first time that I've ever posted on the boys blog. Anyway...here are some pictures from our beach vacation this summer. It was a very different vacation for us having an infant but everyone pitched in and helped so we were all able to enjoy the beach (huge thank you to Nana and Grandad).

Ethan had a great time and loved both the pool and the sand. If you asked him what he looked for on the beach...he will tell you "hot chics." And if you ask him if he found any...he will tell you "No, but I found a shell."

Jack made a couple appearances on the beach but for the most part...he just relaxed in the condo. We had some challenging moments with him that week but we all survived. It sure will be alot different taking him next year when he will be a year old.

We were a little worried about the weather with Hurricane Ike but it ended up being ok for us. It made for some big waves that's for sure...just ask Kyle about his adventure! Overall, it was another good beach vacation and great time spent with the fam!

Beach Bum

2008-09-21T16:00:00.000-07:00

Hi all!
Ethan and Jack are still on vacation with their mama, so I would like to take this opportunity to look back over the last two years a bit. We recently went on our annual beach vacation, and I am going to post pictures from the last two years (three trips). It's kind of neat to see how Ethan has grown (although you'll notice he can still wear the swimming trunks that fit him two years ago!). I will put some more vacation pics on here later...

2006
2007
2008

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2006

2007

2008

The Atlanta Aquarium and Zoo

2008-09-21T12:13:00.000-07:00

Ethan really wanted to take his little brother to the aquarium and zoo, so we managed to do that prior to our trip to the beach. We saw some very silly gorillas, lions, elephants, giraffes, rhinos, BIG snakes, and even a panda (although we weren't there at the right time to see the days-old baby panda) at the zoo, and some Beluga whales, whale sharks, stingrays (which Ethan got to touch), and lots of other fish (including a 9 foot wide manta ray - one of only a few in captivity in the U.S. from what I understand).

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

2008-09-21T12:01:00.000-07:00

Okay, so Mandy reminded me that I had not included pictures of Ethan's 4th birthday. I was still just selecting which photos to post, and now that I am done, here they are. Ethan celebrated with 14 friends at McDonald's the saturday before his birthday. Everybody had a great time, and you can tell that he did too by the look on his face afterward (see the picture of him in his car seat in the parking lot). I am also including four pictures from his actual birthday.

The Joys of Raising Boys

2008-08-15T08:49:00.000-07:00

Okay, this is Kyle. A few of these pictures require a short explanation. First of all, I took a picture of Jack in his little rocking thing the other day because when I saw him I totally thought he looked like he was wearing an Egyptian pharoah's headdress. I guess it's that whole history teacher thing.

Then, Jack fell asleep in his carrier the other day, and by the time he got settled down, he looked like he was either trying to go incognito, or he was stuck in the 80s.

Ethan wanted to take Jack on his first trip to the zoo the other day, so we did. Jack slept through most of it, but I think he had a great time. Ethan has also gotten very brave around Max. He actually pesters him, then laughs while Max tries to lick him, then thinks he's big stuff by ordering him around afterwards.

Ethan also got to use his finger paints the other day. As you can see, he has not quite perfected the technique. I keep trying to tell him that they are called "finger paints," not "fingers paints." Oh, well. He painted a great picture of a "cacoon" (as he calls it). You know, the thing before a "beauuutiful butterfly pops out."

MORE PICTURES AND A SHORT MOVIE...

2008-08-01T20:38:00.000-07:00

Well, I had quite an eventful day. Papa took me to the zoo, then tonight I got to catch lightning bugs. It was great. My little bro Jack is doing great, too!!

More pictures!

2008-07-29T12:17:00.000-07:00

Here are a few recent pictures.

I'M A BIG BROTHER!!

2008-07-19T10:58:00.000-07:00

Exciting News! I am a big brother! My little brother, Jackson Dean, was born on July 14, 2008, at 7:35 a.m. He weighed 6 pounds and 8 ounces, and was 20 inches long. I've decided that I will share this blog with him, so I had papa change the name from "Little Guy's Place" to "Little Guys' Place." I will paste some pictures of our newest addition for you all to see!

A FEW MORE RANDOM PICTURES...

2008-07-01T21:09:00.000-07:00

Here are a few more random pictures. The first one is a picture of mama and Jackson. I can't wait to see him!! Then, there's a picture of me after church this past Sunday. Finally, there are a few pictures of me playing on the playground at the zoo. Papa took me to the zoo as soon as it opened that day, then, as we were leaving the zoo, there were no other kids on the playground! I had the whole castle to myself!!

Random Pictures...

2008-07-01T20:43:00.000-07:00

Here are a few recent pictures...mama and papa have been pretty busy lately and haven't been able to keep up with things!! There's a picture of me and papa drinking milkshakes together, my trip to the zoo with nana and day-day, me riding a horse with my cousin Alisha and then feeding him an apple, me taking over papa's trailer with my toys while he was mowing, me getting ready to race papa in the backyard, and finally me getting ready for a dip in my "swimmin' cool."

Big Weekend for Little Man!

2008-06-01T19:54:00.001-07:00

Well, well, well. I have to say that this was quite a weekend for me. It all started yesterday when I got to wear my shiny Illinois outfit for the first time. I helped papa wash his truck and vacuum it out, and while I was rinsing it off I sprayed him with the hose - more than once! The first time it was an accident. The second, third, and fourth times it wasn't. Papa told me that we would wash mama's van for her when she got back from the store, so I was all ready for that. However, papa didn't tell me that I shouldn't pick up the hose and spray mama as she was getting out of the van in her good clothes. I thought that was REAL funny, but mama didn't. Anyway, once she changed her clothes, we cleaned her van too. I ate some lunch at my Diego table, then took a nap. Papa woke me up from my nap at about 3:49 and got me ready for one of my favorite things - a party! My friend Brodie across the road and two houses down was having a birthday party and papa took me there (mama went to a wedding...I asked papa what that was and he tried to explain it to me, but I still don't quite get it). After the party, papa brought me home and grandma visited with me for a while while mama and papa went to a wedding inception (or something like that). I sure was tired when I went to bed!

Today, I woke up and went to church and marched into Bible class AND Bible hour with no problems whatsoever. Then, we picked up some Culver's on the way home (mama and papa both got a kid's meal just like me), and after we ate papa went to mow and I got to go to another party -a graduation party for my friend Miss Carly. After that, I came home and took a nap. Then, tonight, I got to ride on papa's tractor after my nap, play with Max, and swing on my swingset. After all that, it was time to go inside for some dinner. As I was finishing my mac n' cheese, I was looking out the window and you'll never believe what I saw. It was a firetruck! I yelled to mama and papa and told them "IT'S A FIRE TRUCK!" and then I said "IT'S COMING TO MY HOUSE!!" Our neighbor, Mr. Rob, is a volunteer fireman, and when he found out a couple of weeks ago that I like firetrucks, he said he'd drive one to my house sometime. I thought he was just trickin' me, but I guess he was serious! I got to climb on it and sit in it and all kinds of neat stuff. Mr. Rob even turned on the lights for me as he was leaving. That was cool. Mama and papa decided that I should wear my fire truck pajamas to bed tonight, so I put them on and now I'm going to bed...

Children of the King

2008-05-19T21:48:00.000-07:00

My friends and I in "Children of the King" performed before church services last night. I told my mama that my heart was beating really fast when we were getting out of the van to go in. I did really well until a few seconds into the third song, then I had a little meltdown and had to go sit with my mama and papa. Mama and papa were very proud of me for making it through at least a couple of songs, though. I'll try to sing more songs next time.

Just Another Day at the Zoo...

2008-05-17T20:06:00.000-07:00

Mama and Papa took me to the zoo today. It was my 3rd time there in 8 days. I really like Bonzo the monkey. Mama pushed papa around in a wheelchair part of the time, and almost dumped him out on more than one occasion (she claims it was always an "accident," but I'm not so sure...one time, after getting stuck on a bump that she could not get over, mama backed up and went real fast and still didn't make it over the bump...the front wheels stopped, but the rest of the wheelchair didn't...). Anyway, I got to ride the train and the carousel and play on the playground before we left. Then we went to Culver's and got to eat outside. It was a real fun day.

The Good Humor Man

2008-05-15T19:18:00.000-07:00

Hello, this is Kyle here on Ethan's blog. Ethan heard the ice cream truck coming down the street the other day, and wanted to know what it was all about. We walked (I hobbled, he walked) down to the corner to stop the truck and make a frozen treat selection. Ethan finally pointed to what he wanted, which was a bomb pop popsicle. I told the guy , who asked "uh, which one?" I thought to myself, "What do you mean, 'which one?' What kind of good humor guy are you? Is this your first day on the job or what? A bomb pop is a bomb pop." So I pointed to the picture, he stuck his head out the window and looked at it, and then returned a few seconds later with some huge, Sears Tower sized popsicle about the same time that I realized I had ordered the ginormous $2.00 bomb pop instead of the $1.00 "bargain" model. Oh, well. We enjoyed it...

Happy Mothers Day, Mama!!

2008-05-11T14:38:00.001-07:00

Papa's Leg Is Broken!

2008-04-27T14:59:00.001-07:00

Well, as many of you know, my papa broke his leg playing basketball about a month ago, and now he's got a surgery in his leg. He always sits around in his chair with his pillow under it. I'm really good about carrying his pillow for him when he needs me to, even though it is bigger than me! Well, today papa went to eat in the kitchen but didn't need his pillow. A couple of minutes later I yelled to him and told him that I had broken my leg. When he came out to check on me, he saw that I was using his pillow just like he does!! He thought that was real silly, so he got the camera and took my picture.

Ethan finds out about his little bro

2008-03-13T21:13:00.000-07:00

My newest cousin....

2008-02-22T21:02:00.000-08:00

Well, mama and I just got back from Georgia a few days ago. We had gone down to see my newest cousin, Beth. I got to do all kinds of other fun stuff while we were down there, too. I got to swing, feed the ducks, ride on the golf cart, help granddad put a cover on the golf cart, do some baking, etc. When we got home, papa surprised me by having my big boy furniture for me. I have slept in my big boy bed every night since I got home, and I even take my naps in it too. Mama and papa pull out the trundle bed just in case I roll off, but I'm good at not doing that. Papa even took my picture while I was napping today, but didn't get too close 'cause he was afraid he'd wake me up!

Playing with milk...

2008-01-27T12:05:00.000-08:00

Well, I am usually a pretty tidy kid, but the other night I was loading Smarties in my dumptruck and decided that there was just something missing. That something, I decided, was milk. So, I poured some out of my sippy cup into my dumptruck (which you can see just to the left of my cup). Unfortunately, it ran out all over, so I poured some more in it. It ran out again...and again...and again. I finally decided to just play in the milk and Smarties. Eventually, mama and papa realized that I had been awfully quiet for a few minutes, so they came to check on me and realized what I had been doing...

SOME BIG NEWS FOR THE NEW YEAR!!

2007-12-31T21:15:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone!
As many of you know by now, I am going to be a big brother around the middle of July this year. Click the "play" button twice on the video to hear a few of my thoughts on this matter.

SANTA CLAUS, THE MALL PLAY AREA, AND SNOW

2007-12-17T19:43:00.000-08:00

Hello, this is Kyle. Ethan has had a pretty exciting last few days. Saturday he got to go see Santa at the mall. He would not actually sit on his lap, but he did talk to him. He has wanted to go back and see him ever since.

After Ethan spoke to Santa, he wanted to do his favorite thing at the mall - play in the play area. He had a blast. We snapped a few pictures of all of these things...

As most of you are aware, we got hit with some snow Saturday night (9 1/2 inches is the official measure). After I got back from clearing some driveways and Ethan woke up from his nap, we went outside for about 6 minutes. It was entirely too cold to stay out any longer than that. We asked Ethan if he was cold. He said "yes." We asked him if he was ready to go inside. He, of course, emphatically said "NO!" I made the call when the snot-sicles started appearing (I knew if we stayed out any longer, Ethan would get them too...).

We went out to eat at Cheddar's for Mandy's birthday tonight. On the way there, Ethan kept saying "I WANNA EAT" because he knew that he might get to see Santa again when we were done. Finally, I couldn't take it any longer, so I said "I WANNA EAT" in the whiniest voice I could muster. Ethan, unphased, responded "I WANNA EAT TOO," to which I said "I WANNA EAT THREE." Now, I'm not sure where Ethan picked this up, but he replied, as plain as day, "I WANNA EAT FOUR!" Mandy and I just looked at each other and cracked up.

So, we stopped by the mall again to see Santa after we ate (the mall and Cheddar's are right next to each other). Ethan, although he would not stop saying he wanted to see Santa and ran towards the part of the mall where he was, would not get within ten feet of him at first. Santa was gracious enough to get off his seat and come over to the gate to talk to Ethan, then eventually bribed Ethan with a magnet to get him to give him a "five." As soon as we left, Ethan wanted to go back and see him again, which he was more than happy to tell us...many, many times. I had learned my lesson, however, and did not say "I WANNA SEE SANTA TOO!"

SNOW!

2007-12-07T22:44:00.000-08:00

We got a few inches of snow last night. I helped Papa shovel it when he got home from work today!

HALLOWEEN

2007-10-31T22:01:00.000-07:00

Tonight was Halloween. I got to wear my elephant outfit again and go trick-or-treating for a little while. After we got home, I got to hand out candy to lots of other kids.

TRUNK OR TREAT: ROUND 2

2007-10-31T22:00:00.000-07:00

I got another chance to put on my elephant outfit and go trunk or treating the Saturday before Halloween at my church. A lot of my friends dressed up and we had a great time. All of the kids from my day care were there too, so papa took a picture of all of us with Miss Carrie (he wasn't the only one - there were a lot of flashes going off!).

RANDOM STUFF...

2007-10-31T19:38:00.000-07:00

Here are a few random photos from the last few weeks. In the first one, I am pointing out to papa where the grubs are hurting his lawn. In the second one, I am showing off my Ronald McDonald block. In the third one, I am eating a gi-normous banana that was as big as my arm. In the last one, I am showing off the two Halloween cards that I got through the mail.

2007-10-31T19:36:00.000-07:00

Mama and I recently visited my nana, grand-dad, aunt Megan and uncle Gary in Georgia for about 10 days. While we were there, we drove to Alabama to visit some other relatives, including my mamaw and papaw. There was a horse there named Busby and a small dog named Abby (who wasn't nearly as big as my dog Max is, but the horse was close!). I also got to help pick some peppers in grand-dad's garden. On the last night we were there, I got to take my elephant costume for a test drive at the Peach Tree City Church of Christ "Trunk or Treat."

Sleep-Eating?

2007-10-17T18:52:00.000-07:00

Hello! Ethan is on vacation this week, so in order to not disappoint all of you who check this regularly, I am going to post a video from this past summer. One day Ethan was so tired, he would not eat his lunch. He literally fell asleep in his corn and chicken nuggets. However, I was determined to get him to eat something, so I got him to eat some yogurt. He caught his second wind near the end...

BOO!!

2007-10-11T20:42:00.000-07:00

We were "Booed" today. One of our neighbors left some Halloween goodies on our front porch, and we are now supposed to "BOO" two more houses. Coincidentally, mama had dressed me in one of my Halloween outfits today, so I fit right in with my new blinking pumpkin necklace (designed for safety while trick-or-treating, not for formal wear) and the skeleton that hangs on the window.

Hanging With The College Crowd...

2007-10-11T20:38:00.001-07:00

Several of papa's former students (who are now going to Millikin) came over for dinner Monday night. All of them are music majors of one type or another, so I busted out my drum and showed off a little bit for them. Then, I went and got my other instruments and gave each of them one to play. They were all nice enough to play along, especially since I was quite demanding with my "GO" and "STOP" commands. The only problem was that one of them (I'll call her "Larry" to protect her anonymity) was a little perturbed that the ladybug wasn't quite in tune.

GO ILLINOIS!

2007-10-08T14:42:00.000-07:00

Even though we spent the day at the Great Pumpkin Patch last Saturday, papa taped the Illinois vs. Wisconsin football game for us to watch when we got home. I love to watch football, and I was really happy that Illinois beat the Badgers. As you can see, I decided to watch part of the game from my rocking horse!

THE GREAT PUMPKIN PATCH!

2007-10-06T18:09:00.000-07:00

Papa and mama took me to the Great Pumpkin Patch outside of Arthur today. We were going to go today anyway, but, coincidentally, a couple of weeks ago another boy that was adopted from Russia (Guerin) invited us and some other families to meet there. We spent some time together and had a good time, although it was very, very hot. Is it supposed to be 90 degrees in October? I saw lots of animals, including a rooster that was as big as me. I laughed the first two times it went "Cock-A-Doodle-Doo," but I cried the third time because it looked like he was going to eat me. There was a straw maze for big kids that papa took me in, then a small one for little squirts like me that I went in all by myself. I got to ride in a wagon through pumpkin patches and saw all kinds of gourds. One of the best parts about the whole trip was all of the flies that bothered us at lunch. I laughed hysterically whenever they would land and I would swat at them and they would scatter all different directions!! That made mama and papa laugh too. There were also some punpkins that were as big as me. It was a fun day.

Great-Grandma Korte's 92nd Birthday

2007-10-06T18:05:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Great-Grandma Korte's 92nd Birthday last night. We ate at Monical's, then went back to Grandma and Grandpa Osborne's to open presents and eat cake and ice cream. I even got to help G.G. (as I like to call her) blow out the candles!!

ETHAN'S DOG...

2007-10-06T18:00:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, due to a change in parking arrangements, mama had to start parking on a different side of the garage, which is much shorter than what she is used to. It's a tight fit, so papa hung a tennis ball up to help her know when to stop. It works, but the other day, after papa let Max outside, he heard Max in the garage goofing off. He went in to investigate, and found Max jumping up and grabbing the ball. Fortunately, he would let go before ripping it out of the ceiling. Papa told him "NO," so he just sat there and stared at it. Papa got the camera and took a picture, and I think the click noise scared Max, because he jumped for the second picture!!

GO BLUE DEVILS!

2007-10-06T17:51:00.000-07:00

Ethan made it through an entire football game for the first time the other night. It was a game between Villa Grove and Cerro Gordo (at Cerro Gordo). Cerro Gordo was undefeated going into it, and it was their homecoming. Cerro Gordo lost, 20 - 0. Ethan honed his clapping skills at the game, and was a pro by the end. The cheerleaders were impressed with his cheering skills, and he got to high-five all of the players at the end of the game. One of the ladies gave him a little VG Blue Devils football, which his papa ended up holding most of the night so Ethan could clap and signal "touchdown." Ethan's favorite part of the whole game, however, was the marching band that performed at half-time. Throughout all of the third quarter and most of the fourth, he kept stating that he wanted to see the "BIG DRUM!" again, played by the guy in the "RED SHIRT!" We took a picture of him eating at Culver's on the way to the game, then another one of him and his papa at the game (although the lights make it look like the Culver's food did not agree with them). All in all, it was a good night.

Mt. Zion Homecoming Parade

2007-10-06T17:04:00.000-07:00

Ethan loves parades! So we went to the Mt. Zion Homecoming parade last Saturday. The highlights of the parade for Ethan were the firetrucks, the horses, and, of course, the "big drums." He always tells us that the drums are loud but he's not scared! So many fun things to do in the fall!

Pumpkin Festival

2007-10-05T19:05:00.000-07:00

This was Ethan's first Pumpkin Festival! I (Mandy) am from Morton which is the Pumpkin Capital of the World. Aunt Megan came home for the weekend and we spent the weekend with Grams and Gramps. We enjoyed the festival which included a big parade, lots of fun rides and, of course, pumpkin ice cream!

Alabama Football - ROLL TIDE!

2007-09-22T18:20:00.000-07:00

Alabama played tonight and it was on TV. Ethan is quite the fan. What he enjoys more than watching the game, however, is watching himself on the little camcorder screen (he makes whoever is filming flip the screen so he can see himself - unfortunately, whoever is filming has no idea what they're getting on tape!). In this clip, he is having trouble seeing himself on screen because of the bill of his hat. Note: Illinois fans don't worry, he has a chief tattoo on his bicep.

Last year...

2007-09-22T17:24:00.000-07:00

Hello again! Well, I think I finally figured out how to put short videos on here. The one I've been working with to try and figure out how to do it is actually of Ethan's first steps last year. He sure has come a long way in the past year!! I'll try to put some more recent footage on here later...

Neighborhood Party!

2007-09-10T17:51:00.001-07:00

Our neighbor across the street entered a contest a while back and won a bunch of ice cream from Edy's to use at a big neighborhood get together. It was scheduled for this past Saturday at 4:30 and almost got rained out. It stopped raining about 4:15, so we went ahead as scheduled. It turned into a cookout type deal, but the ice cream was the biggest hit with the kids. A good number of people from the neighborhood showed up, including lots of kids!

VGHS HOMECOMING 2007...

2007-09-07T21:53:00.000-07:00

This week was homecoming week at VGHS. The parade was today, so Ethan and his mama came out to visit papa. Actually, Ethan came out mostly to see the fire engines and the horse that pulled the Grand Marshal of the parade. He also got to sit on an antique tractor (he was too afraid of the noise to ride it). After the parade, he hung out with his papa and mama, played on the playground, ate at Monical's, and watched the first half of the football game before heading home with his mama. We didn't get a picture of him with the horse this year, but take my word for it that he looks especially small next to a 2,000 pound Belgian horse! He got to pet the horse and can tell you his name if you ask him. He also got to sit in the fire engines and toot the horn (although he practically had to hang on the rope to get it to blow).

Guys' Weekend...

2007-09-07T21:45:00.000-07:00

Mandy went on her annual "Girls' Weekend' trip from August 30 - September 2. Ethan, Max and Kyle did lots of exciting things to pass the time and keep Ethan distracted from being away from his mama. Ethan was even allowed to pick out his own clothes on Saturday (see the above picture of him in his black and red crocks, blue shorts, gray "Little Guy" shirt (his favorite shirt - he insisted that Kyle wear his "Big Guy" shirt), and, last but not least, the green and yellow John Deere hat. His bright blue Thomas the Tank Engine sunglasses brought the whole ensemble together, but I didn't get a picture of him with those on.

The final birthday party...

2007-09-07T21:36:00.000-07:00

Ethan had a couple of more presents from his mama and papa to open the night of his birthday. He got some puzzles, an etch-a-sketch, and a Thomas the Tank Engine train track.

Birthday Party at Day Care...

2007-09-07T21:29:00.000-07:00

Mandy left work early on Ethan's birthday to help him celebrate his birthday at daycare. There were plenty of Thomas the Tank Engine engineer hats and cupcakes to go around...

Birthday Party at Monical's...

2007-09-07T21:27:00.001-07:00

We celebrated Ethan's birthday with Kyle's family in the traditional Osborne way - Monical's on the Friday night before his birthday. Ethan was very anxious to play with his new Play-Doh press, so we had to bust that out as soon as we got home.

VACATION!

2007-09-07T21:02:00.000-07:00

Our annual vacation to the beach took place the week of August 9-19. Ethan was much more enthusiastic about the water this year, but was a little leery of the sand for most of the trip. As luck would have it, he finally learned to love playing in the sand on the last day we were there. He had a great time. We also celebrated his birthday with Mandy's family, the first of several small parties. He got his first bicycle (Thomas the Tank Engine, of course), and made his first ever trip to Lambert's ("Home of the Throwed Rolls").

LEGOS!

2007-07-30T20:28:00.000-07:00

Ethan is getting to stay home with his papa all week this week, and we kicked off today with a little Lego action. A neighbor gave the lego table and legos to us last summer, but this was the first day that Ethan wanted to play with them (he was especially impressed with his papa's skills in using the timer on the camera!).

Jungle O' Fun - NOT!

2007-07-28T19:25:00.000-07:00

Well, we decided to take little man to a fun place to play today, and it came down to driving to Champaign for Ants in the Pants or Springfield for Jungle O' Fun. We decided on the hour trek to Springfield and got online to find the address of Jungle O' Fun. We arrived, and I imagine we got the same feeling that Chevy Chase got in the movie "Vacation" when he and the family pulled into Wally World and it was closed. We didn't park way out at the edge of the parking lot to "avoid the crowd," but did go to the door to make sure it had not moved someplace else. Ethan had thankfully fallen asleep just minutes before (after an hour of "I WANNA PLAY!!"), so we thought we were safe. We had a $20 gift card to Toys R' Us, so we figured we might make it up to Ethan by taking him there. He woke up as we pulled into the parking lot and immediately said "I wanna play!" We went inside, and as soon as we walked in, they announced over the PA that the computers were down, therefore no gift cards, credit cards or debit cards could be used. I am not kidding. Since I usually carry about $3.27 in cash, this was not good. Fortunately, we ended up staying so long that they got things working again, and we made a couple of birthday purchases for little man.

In other news, Ethan spent the evening a couple of nights ago on his first lightning bug hunt. He really enjoyed it and cracked up everytime one took off from his hand.

Stone Mountain

2007-07-10T19:52:00.000-07:00

We went to Stone Mountain one day while we were in Georgia. Ethan had a great time, and was not even scared of the skylift to the top of the mountain. Of course, the choo-choo was his favorite thing.