The Dragon and the Knight

How is it that a great aunt who lives over a thousand miles away and has never met Anthony knows him so well? Today he was excited to find a GIANT rectangle box with his name on it waiting for us by the front door. The treasures inside made this new four year old excited to be creative and play as well as get hurt. (Yes, get hurt. He REALLY wants to try out his new pickle bandages!) His only complaint about the surprise gifts? Why didn't she send a sword too? Got to love the mind of a little boy! He's now convinced me to forgo a nap, build the castle that she sent as well as spend the rest of the afternoon playing in the living room. Sounds good to me, Birthday Boy!
Thank you, Gretch, for making our day!

Our Special Moon

Tonight on our way home from the fish park Anthony noticed the moon and was totally in awe of it. (The pictures really don't do justice to how beautiful it truly was.) He asked me to stop the wagon so we could spend time looking at it. He then made the cutest remark.

Momma, God must have known that we needed a really beautiful moon to look at tonight so he made a special one for us.

Lately there have been many challenging moments in every day. However, there are always moments of love, happiness and joy too. It's when I hear comments like this and see his sweet smile that I know every moment - good and bad - is completely worth it.

Clara and Sam

After a weekend of visiting with friends, Rachel, Clara and Samuel came down for three days. While Rach was off at a conference the four of us were playing, having fun and enjoying these last few days of summer. It was great to be able to spend more time with these two that I love dearly and don't get to see nearly enough.

Beavers Reunite

Eleven years ago I made the best switch in my college career. I packed up my belongings and moved into Century Apartments with my new roommates, Molly and Rachel. My last year and a half at BSU were filled with laughter, fun and plenty of "wild and crazy" moments. I already knew how to study, get good grades and work hard. These two wonderful women taught me how to have fun, lighten up and really just enjoy life each and every day. I love them dearly and am thankful they are still an important part of my life even though life has us going in different directions and proximity keeps us from visiting more often.
Last weekend we met up in Grand Rapids to give our kids an opportunity to play (and enjoy the local fair) and spend time together as adults. As always, it was a relaxing, fun and laughter-filled time together. (The only scary part is when Hammy the Hamster escaped with some help from a little one and I had to endure a night of worry. Hamsters totally freak me out. I know it's a bit crazy to be scared of a little animal, but I have a serious phobia of hamsters, gerbils, rats, mice, ferrets, birds or any other pet that isn't a dog or cat. Luckily, I survived the night and Hammy was found and put back in his cage the next day. Whew!) We enjoyed many games of cribbage, listening to the hubbies sing karaoke, laughing uncontrollably at our awesome prank on Jeremy and I even survived a run with the ladies Saturday morning! Hopefully we'll be able to do it all again soon.

The former roomies and our cutie patooties.

Going to the fair with friends is definitely more fun for A!

There is no substitute for amazing friends.

Sand Lake Weekend

As I type this post there are officially ten days left before workshop days begin and eighteen days before the start of another school year. Summertime is definitely winding down. We've had a busy summer enjoying lots of time with family and friends. This past weekend Mark and I were grateful to spend a few days with friends up at the Feierabend cabin soaking in these last days of summer. As always we had a great time of relaxation, laughing, and spending time with some wonderful individuals.

April and I made an Amaretto run Saturday night to Gosh Dam Place.

Follew DRHSers: Anyone recognize Ben who graduated in 94?
I felt bad because clearly I should have known this helpful bartender who hooked us up with a bucket of sour, but I had no clue.

The crew eating one of the many great meals.

The girls

Saturday night was the highlight with drinks, stories, Catch Phrase, great dancing and the entertainment of Tracy and her friend Margarita. Luckily I'm sparing you the "out take" pictures, aka Tonja dancing up a storm, that will NEVER make this blog!
Thanks for the fun everyone!

Incognito

Life is about having some fun!

Uncle Airwick

Yesterday we lucked out! Uncle Airwick took the day off so he could spend time with A & A. We met out at mom and dad's to play, eat and check out the gardens then we went swimming at Moose Lake and, finally, visited a cemetery. (I know the last part sounds a bit morbid, but I always like "visiting" Grandma J when I can.) We all had a fun time and it was a great way to end our week of being up north.

S-T-O-P

In the first few months of Anthony coming home his language acquisition was problematic. He spoke very few words at 18 months old, but had improved by the time we went to his two year well child visit. Since then A's language skills have continued to increase and, thankfully, is no longer an issue.
This summer we've been working on our letters and numbers on a daily basis. Life is A's classroom and he's constantly asking questions and absorbing everything that surrounds him. I noticed this one morning when we were at the grocery store and he asked me why there was a big 5 on the sign. As I looked around I saw our shopping trip through his eyes. There were letters and numbers everywhere. We ended up quickly finding our needed items and then spent the rest of our time going up and down every aisle learning and having fun.
This grocery trip started our learning time during our morning walks too. We've been working on directions - left, right, forward, backwards - as well as our letters and numbers too. Anthony likes to point out a sign coming up and then say the letters he sees. Obviously STOP is a common one that gets spelled out frequently. S-T-O-P spells stop.

Last week I jokingly said, "S-T-O-P daddy!"
Right away Anthony asked me, "Why did you ask daddy to stop saying that, mom?"
Of course I got all excited, made a big deal of it and showered him with kisses. It was so exciting to hear him recognize his first word and to know that he's come so far.
I really have been amazed at how much he's learning just by observing and asking questions. It is fun to see just how much he takes in, remembers, recalls and connects to new learning. Thankfully his language and comprehension skills are a far cry from the path he was initially on. All of this makes me excited for his first year of preschool and the learning that will take place.

Minnesota Museum of Mining

Today we traveled to Grandma Carol's hometown of Chisholm to visit the Minnesota Museum of Mining. Even though it was intermittently sprinkling it turned out to be another great up north adventure for Anthony. (Maybe it's because he had his own personal tour guide! Grandma Carol worked there giving guided tours when she was in high school.)
I highly recommend this adventure if you (1) have a child who loves to run around and climb on everything and (2) you like cheap entertainment. The best part is that Anthony was able to see everything up close. He climbed on all of the heavy equipment, saw the inside of trains and did so with a very small crowd of people. This will be a place I'm sure we'll visit again. Hopefully next time Asher will be old enough to fully enjoy it as well.

Grandma and A checking out the inside of some rig.
(I'll apologize now.
I definitely do not know my mining equipment lingo.)

Anthony...

and Asher!
The enormousness of the "scoops" were unbelievable.
I cannot imagine operating these machines.

A#2 enjoying the inside of an old train.

The absolute best part of this adventure for Anthony was the dump truck. It is an exact replica of the one he plays with in his sandbox except this one was
HUGE.
He loved "driving" it; I was absolutely in awe of it's size.
Amazing.

Anthony's thoughts:
WOW! What can I climb on next?
Anthony's momma's thoughts:
I wonder how many accidents I would get in driving something like this?
YIKES!

Grandma Kathy

For Anthony the absolute best part about being up north this week is spending lots of time with family. He's had a great week and is clearly having lots of fun.
Yesterday the boys and I headed to DR to visit with Grandma Kathy. From the moment we got there A was busy picking flowers, checking out the gardens, playing with toys, coloring, eating and spending lots of time with his grandma. We had a great day!

Anthony loves anything and everything non-fiction. Mom probably spent well over an hour reading books about spiders and other creepy crawlies. He was completely absorbed and taking in everything. I love it!

Having a fridge that water and ice come out of it is the best!
Check out A's artwork on the fridge too. Pretty cool hands, huh?!

Coloring Lightning McQueen together.

The humidity is still sticking around so Grandma and A
cooled off with a treat on the front step.
Making fresh relish.

Twilight Zone

Do you ever have an experience when you start to think you might possibly be in the middle of an SNL or Candid Camera skit? You find yourself breaking away from what is happening to look for the cameras because you know they must be there. After an extensive search you are absolutely puzzled because you see no cameras, you hear no laughing and you come to the sad reality that everything unfolding in front of you is REAL. Raw reality is slapping you in the face and you are absolutely dumbfounded as to how this could be happening. You assume there will be a punch line, but unfortunately there is none.
Welcome to my Twilight Zone.
Today.
Me.
Walmart.

I pull into aisle 8 with a box of diapers and items to make The Whitcomb. (Once again, you seriously need to make this! YUM!) Unfortunately, this is where the normalcy stops and the craziness begins.
I wait my turn and then start putting my items onto the conveyor belt. Right away the lady in front of me with short hair, large glasses, dirty gray t-shirt, capri sweatpants and a larger than large leather fanny pack starts speaking to me. (From now on I'll just refer to her as Crazy Walmart Lady - CWL.) Apparently she is on a mission to touch, hold up and inspect all of my items to purchase.

First item? Lettuce.
CWL: What kind of fancy stuff is this?
Me: It's lettuce.
CWL: I've never seen this type of lettuce before.
Me: It's called romaine.
CWL: You too good for the other stuff? Fancy.

WHAT?!
She can't possibly be serious, right?
Clearly she was...

CWL: What the heck is this?
Me: Ham
CWL: Pr....os.... struggling hard with the pronunciation
Me: It's prosciutto.
CWL: How much does it cost?
Me: $3.98 for 3 ounces.
CWL: That's expensive! And you're buying two?! Why would you need two? Are you too good to get regular ham that you could just chop up and use?
Me: The recipe calls for prosciutto (holding up the recipe card I brought in defense) and that's what I'm going to use.
CWL: Fancy.

This went on with the shredded Parmesan, deli style bread, sliced mushrooms.... Cameras? Where are you?! I know you are hiding somewhere!

Just as I'm emptying the contents of my shopping cart a lady with her young daughter pulls in behind me. I think nothing of this; she's around my age, her daughter is a cutie patootie and I'm a bit envious that she got a whole cart full of groceries with a smiling, non-whining child. However, CWL notices the lady and comes to a completely different conclusion. She whispers LOUDLY for everyone to hear that I better get back to my purse because there are a lot of "people with sticky fingers who shop here". I just stare at her like she's absolutely crazy without moving, but she insists that I go back to my cart and protect my purse.
WHAT?!

CWL pays for her one item and it appears that I am finally able to finish up this rather interesting Walmart experience. However, she decides to stay in her spot to watch all of my items being rung up. Immediately she tells the check out girl - who, by the way, could careless - that I'm a big spender and only buy the fanciest groceries. She constantly assures me that I am paying too much for such "fancy groceries" as she watches everything being scanned.

Finally she leaves with a last fancy shout out and this whole Twilight Zone moment comes to an end.

Tosh.0 would have loved this! This could make a great SNL skit! This is the inspiration that comedians desperately want! Unfortunately, it was just another day in the life of Tonja where cameras don't roll and my reality is far from a television show.
FANCY, huh?! :)

Ash Time

This week we are up in Grand Rapids enjoying our time with Asher. He's getting so big - he'll be 8 months in a few days! - and has changed a great deal since coming home back in December. Anthony and I are loving the fact that we get to see his smile, hear his giggle and spend lots of time giving him love each and everyday. Ash is such a mellow, go with the flow baby who sports a cute tooth and lots of chub. (I LOVE the chub!) Even though we're missing spending time with daddy and Zoey the Wonder Dog, it's nice to be up north with our extended family.

Unfortunately, the humidity followed us to GR. Thankful Uncle Damon got the pool in tip top shape for A & A.


The Children's Museum in GR was a great way to stay cool and have some fun with friends Clara and Samuel.

Watch out!

Behind you!
YIKES!

Anthony was in love with the fire station room because, if you didn't already know, he's going to be a firefighter with Cam some day. Once he got in there it was really hard to want to go anywhere else to play.

FIRE!
While taking a photo the alarm went off and all firefighters were needed.
Thankfully A took time out of this emergency to pose for his momma before saving the day!

The youngest fireman enjoyed getting in on the action too!

All this fun and it's only Tuesday! Tomorrow morning we'll be off once again in search of another great up north adventure.

Ah, Young Love

Last week Anthony was excited that we were going over to Baby Adele's house. On the way there he said he couldn't wait until she got bigger so they could "hang out and have fun". When I asked him what they would do together he thought for a moment and then said they would take a bath together.
I've been prepping Anthony that we are going up north this week to watch Baby Asher. Every time I mentioned our little adventure he would ask if his Baby Adele was going to be there too. Even though I kept explaining that she doesn't live by Auntie Manda and Uncle Damon, he was absolutely convinced that he'll be seeing her as well.
This morning while we were eating breakfast Anthony was reading his paper - the Toys R Us ad. He then declares to Mark and I that he wants to get Baby Adele a Zu Zu pet. He's explaining how he can get a boy one and she can get a girl one, etc. When I ask him why he would buy her a Zu Zu pet he tells me, "Because I want her to be my girlfriend." When I ask him why he would like Baby Adele to be his girlfriend without a single hesitation he tells me, "Because she's beautiful."


Clearly my son has great taste for his first crush. Miss Adele Rufaro is nothing but beautiful. Watch out, Arnold and Gretchen! You may see a Zu Zu pet coming your daughter's way soon!

My Boys of Summer

They call this babysitting...

I call it having fun!