Feb
26

A young adult in our midst

February 26, 2010 by Karen | 1 views | No Comments
Photo Updates   
Fifteen candles makes quite a glow

Fifteen candles makes quite a glow

According to Wikipedia, the age of 15 is considered the beginning of adulthood in many cultures, so last week on Feb 17th, Cole officially became a young adult.  Like his little brothers, Cole celebrated his birthday over the course of a whole week  He celebrated with friends with pizza and bowling the weekend before.  Lisa and Gene treated him to a surprise lunch at his favorite restaurant, Fogo de Chao, a Brazilian steakhouse and a meat lover’s paradise; joining them were Joe and me, Grandma Pat and Papa Bob, and Gene’s parents.  And we had a little celebration for him at our home that included a meal that was all about bacon and a chocolate birthday cake.  (Hmmm, did you catch the common thread of food in all of this?  Yep, he’s a teenager!)  The photo album includes pictures of him trying out his new Xbox 360, getting his proper adulation from his little brothers, and a couple of the treats: a cheese-stuffed, bacon-wrapped meatloaf (could it get any better??) and of course, his chocolate birthday cake.  A very happy birthday, indeed!

Jan
29

In a galaxy far, far away, two young Jedi knights reached a new milestone on this day, celebrating their 4th birthday.  Master Zach and Master Alex honored this momentous occasion by celebrating all week, with a family party on Sunday, a special “sharing” day at school for each Jedi, cupcakes for their class, and on the anniversary of their birth, a day of fun at the Nickelodeon park at the Mall of America and even more presents.  As you may have guessed, Star Wars was a common theme for this birthday, as the boys continue to love all things Star Wars.  Check out all the fun in the 4th Birthday photo album.

Alex and Zach watch as Daddy finishes the beds

New bunk beds with Star Wars bedding!

Another big milestone the boys reached this month: bunk beds!  Just one quick year after graduating to toddler beds, Zach and Alex were beginning to outgrow them, so we decided it was time for big boy beds.  The boys are quite proud of their bunk beds with all its drawers and special staircase.  Alex chose the top bunk, while Zach wanted the bottom because that’s where Brother from the Berenstain Bears sleeps.  Photos of the new bed are in the Jan – Feb 2010 album.

The boys had their checkup this week as well, and they’re doing great – although as skinny as always.  Alex is about 31 lbs (10th percentile) and is 38.5 inches tall (14th percentile), while Zach is about 30 lbs (5th percentile) and is also 38.5 inches tall.  They weren’t too happy about their shots this year, but it does save them from getting them all at once next year as they prepare for kindergarten.

While I have been adding lots of pictures, it’s been forever since I last posted to the site, so for those who didn’t get a chance to see the pics yet, here’s a recap…

  • The Nov – Dec 2009 album was updated with pictures from a performance Cole had at Barnes and Noble where he did a couple solos in a fundraiser for his band, as well as photos from Z&A’s visit to Santa and some other odds and ends.
  • Christmas 2009 was a lot of fun for us this year because the boys were filled with anticipation for Santa’s visit.  We left cookies for Santa (he likes oatmeal raisin at our house) and treats for the reindeer, and the boys were in awe when they were gone the next morning and replaced with presents.  Santa didn’t disappoint with the gift they asked for the most – a Transformer known as Bumblebee.  Later that day, Grandma Pat and Grandpa Bob came down with Cole, and we had a wonderful Christmas Day.
  • The week after Christmas, we went down to Chicago for a few days to celebrate the holidays with friends and family.  We visited with the Chmuras (Uncle and Auntie “Chooch”), watched the Vikings-Bears game with the Belousek side of the family, and spent a day with GG.  We also spent a little free time playing at the nearby DuPage Children’s Museum; for those who live in the area, we HIGHLY recommend it – it’s a great place!

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Dec
6

The halls are decked, the stockings are hung…

December 6, 2009 by Karen | 3 views | No Comments
Family News   

…so it must be time for Christmas!  The month of November was a busy one – a baby shower, a wedding reception, 3 straight weeks of home games for the Vikings, and oh yeah, Thanksgiving – so the month just flew by.  It went by so fast, we didn’t even take many pictures, which is unusual for us.  We had a very nice Thanksgiving, spending a relaxing day up at Mom & Dad B’s house and enjoying Mom’s yummy turkey dinner.

The boys check out the ornaments as Mommy unpacks them

Getting the ornaments ready for the tree

Never ones to want to venture out into the chaos that is Black Friday shopping, we spent that weekend making the change from Autumn to Christmas, getting all the Christmas decorations up around the house and, of course, decorating the tree.  Now that the boys are bigger, they were thrilled to be able to help Cole and Mommy hang ornaments.  They had a lot of fun with each ornament, as you can see in the pictures in the Nov-Dec 2009 album.  As always, the finished tree is beautiful, all ready for Christmas.  Happy Holidays to everyone!

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