Christmas season

First of all, I love the Christmas season. I don't particularly love the crowds or the materialism of the season (yes, I had the longest Christmas list of my whole family...what of it? ; ) ) But I do love the music, the snow, the lights, the celebration of the birth of my savior. I know that's cliche' but there is something I really cherish about sitting next to a window, watching the snow fall, listening to Christmas music and reading or doing my Bible study...with a cup of coffee or hot chocolate...with peppermint schnapps (I guess that's Jesus' favorite too) It's quiet and peaceful. When I day dream, I'm doing that very thing....Also, I'm a gift giver. Of course some of you may be saying..."Oh really? What'd you get me this year?"....my funds limit me of course.

This year we headed off in a neighbor's truck to get our tree, a scotch fur, $18..a total steal....and decorated it the next night. The "put all the ornaments in one spot" trick never gets old does it?

Craig and I have enjoyed making our Christmas gift list and shopping for others. Jack also made a 40 item list that I'm sorry I didn't scan and show you....too funny...I think a train was on there...not a toy train...a real train.

They both have one more week of school then they're out for 2 weeks. They both love to play in the snow so they'll look forward to that, plus going "up north" for Christmas. We are looking forward to seeing everyone!!!! Merry Christmas!

Thanksgiving early....Happy birthday, Chris

Happy Monday! This past weekend it was 70 degrees here in West Michigan! Ahhh, sun. I got a nice dose of vitamin D. It was beautiful. We also celebrated Thanksgiving early with Craig's family, minus his Mom (we're praying for you Sue...we love you and miss you) and brother Jimmy and his family (see you guys at Christmas!)

It was also Chris' 32nd birthday. We celebrated with cake, a play written by Jack...Renee was so moved by the production, she cried.....and then off to Craig's Cruisers for some go-karting! Here are some pictures. Enjoy!

Happy Halloween

Happy, November! To celebrate the new month, we like to dress up in costumes and go door-to-door begging for candy. It's an old tradition, some of you may do it as well. This year my children, I had hoped, were going to be Mario and Luigi, thanks to Erika...but because Jack had it in his mind (quite firmly) that he was going to be a ghost this year, my plan did not fully come to fruition. Thank you again, Erika, for the costumes....Heath thoroughly enjoyed his.
Not much is new here. The weather is starting to get cool and the leaves have mostly fallen from the trees. We are looking forward to seeing family this month on a couple different occasions. That's always fun! Stay warm. Keep in touch. Love you!

Pumpkin carving...

Happy Halloween....almost. Every year it is a new challenge deciding what the boys will dress up as for trick or treating. The boys always have ideas and it makes me wish I was a little more creative and crafty. This year, I remembered Isaac, Ian and Colby were "Mario Bros." characters last year, and hoped that I could borrow her costumes. (since my boys are extremely into Nintendo DS.."Mario Bros." in particular. Erika sent the costumes and my boys are, as I imagined, geeked!

Last night, we carved pumpkins. The boys drew what they wanted their pumpkins' face to look like and Craig drew the faces on the gourds. Jack cut his own face out, with a little help from me, and Craig helped Heath. This is the first year the boys reached in and pulled out the guts. Here are some pictures.

Klackles Orchard

Every year we go to Klackles Orchard and Pumpkin Patch in Greenville, MI. Over the years it has expanded and provides neat things for the kids to enjoy. Apple picking and pumpkin picking as well. A petting farm, a trike track, with over sized tricycles....homemade donuts (the caramel apple ones are soooo good) and cider. This year I decided my parents should come with us, so I pulled Jack early from school and we spent the afternoon up there. It was chilly, but it was super fun. Here are some pictures.

A strange noise...

So the other day, I had Heath lie down for a rest. I was doing chores around the house etc. A little while after lying down, he came out and said that he heard " a strange noise..."

here is a very serious, heartfelt re-enactment of the sound...can you identify it, based on the excellent adaptation?



The weather has turned cold, as most of you are experiencing....Scott, Erika...I'm so sorry. I think we are visiting an orchard this week with my parents. Hopefully it's not too chilly. Other than that, same old, same old. Our garage is clean and ready for winter. Grass cut, toys put away...lawnmower too hopefully. Love you all. Keep in touch!


By the way, the answer to the riddle........



the dryer. Hahahaha, Heath you make me laugh!

September....October?

Greetings, all. So here it is...fall. My house has made the transition. My garden is dead, after an unexpected frost....the pumpkins are out.....all that's left is a trip to the orchard. Which we are saving until my parents come back through town.....

Let's see what's happened since my last entry.....My parents have been down to visit a couple times, as has Jim. This last visit from Jim (last week) was a babysitting visit. I went to Ft. Myers, FL to visit my grandma for her 82 birthday, a tradition I've had since my grandpa passed away 7 years ago. It takes some juggling of time and people, but it's worth it for me to spend some time with her. The boys missed me,but enjoyed the 'spoiling' that went on in my absence. Trips to Costco, for samples, trips to Menards, for ......whatever, good food, video games, constant attention on a multitude of topics.....trips to Target for coloring supplies.....thank you, Jim. For taking care of my boys while I was away! I truly appreciate it!
The boys are enjoying school, and like ever year, we always have some rigamaroll.....getting Jack settled. But this year has been the easiest yet, which we are grateful for, and expect every year, as he remediates. Heath loves school and wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't have a little crush on his teacher...(I'm not jealous...simply commenting...; ( ) Anyhoo......

Not much new, besides what I've mentioned. No new pictures. Sorry. No new singing from Heath either. Sorry.

As fall continues, I will post any goings on.....love you!

Heath

This blog is dedicated to Heath. Since his favorite color is red.... so is the print. Last week was his first week of Young 5s. Hard to believe I have a 7 and 5 year old. (I know every parent says that) Here are some cute pictures I took of Heath, plus a video. Hope you're enjoying the unseasonably warm fall.

Good bye summer

Hello, friends and family. Another summer, come and gone. Like my dad said, "Labor Day is sort of a sad day. Everyone goes home." It's true. Summer is always a mixed bag for us. The lack of routine can be great for Jack and tough on him as well. I love the warm weather and the activities that come with that. Heath is such an outside boy that he thrives in the summer. Craig takes extra vacation so he can enjoy these warm months with family as well.

Here's a visual recap....

































It was such a wonderful summer! We got to see so many friends and family. I don't want to consider this the end.....more, the beginning, of a new season. Back to school, autumn, Thanksgiving, Christmas.....I'll keep you posted on all that the Tamlyn boys (and their Mom) are doing. Love you!

Chicago

Greetings, friends and family. One of the things Craig wanted to do this summer was go to Chicago and visit the Sears Tower..which is now the Willis Tower. So we headed west and stayed with my Aunt Cindy for a couple nights. Of course my camera lost power mid-way through the tower visit, so we didn't capture all the images we wanted...but here are a couple....

Overall the trip to the tower was fine...the 2 hour wait to get to the top...not so much. I am not sure, but I think my boys forgot why we were there....my suggestion- don't visit on a Saturday at 10:30......

After our trip up 103 floors...we went to Rain Forest Cafe, which is what the boys wanted to do. Then we walked 11 blocks to the H&M store and did a little school clothes shopping for Jack. For those of you not familiar with H&M...think Old Navy, 'cept European. The boys were real troopers. They never complained once...not up in the tower not while trying on clothes. Little angels.

I HAVE to mention, we did not fund this weekend. My Aunt footed the entire bill....from parking to the tower fee....to all our meals, plus sent us home with a weeks worth of groceries!!! Thanks again, Aunt Cindy!

I can hardly believe summer is almost over. We are headed north to the Lakehouse for Labor Day weekend. Our last hoorah! I'll take pictures and post them next week.

Love to you all.

Dog days of summer

The weather has been hot this week, so a friend and I took our boys to a splash pad near us. Here are a couple pictures of the boys there and then swimming at a little lake, also in the park. We are enjoying warm sticky days with slip and slide and popsicles. The boys spend their days playing with the neighborhood boys and their evenings playing with daddy...and the neighborhood boys. 3 weeks of summer left. A trip to Chicago is in our near future and another trip up north for beach and boating fun will be fit into the schedule as well. We think our September will be warm, so maybe we'll be able to extend these activities.



















My garden is producing some nice tomatoes, cukes and....actually that's about it.....the beans are slow coming and carrots too.....it's fun to watch it all grow though....

Michigan is beautiful in the summer, so for those of you who don't already live here, come visit! Love you all!

Boys' weekend (+ Nana)

Hello, friends and family. It's been awhile. Not that we haven't been up to anything, quite the contrary.... 2 weeks ago we had (as most of you were in attendance) the Balyo family reunion. Then the Balyo boys stayed a couple extra days at the Lake House, and they passed through GR on their way home. My boys loved it and wished their cousins could stay longer. (Maybe next summer)
This weekend, because it wouldn't be a weekend in my house without plans....Craig took the boys up to Traverse City to visit his brother (Renee was out of town) and his parents, who were able to come later on Saturday and stay Sunday. They went to this fun park, that apparently we had never heard of.....Pirates Cove...yes, that's right, the place you pass on your way into TC....we've passed it probably 20 times in my life, but never checked it out. Yikes! It was super fun I guess.
I wanted to make a point to thank both Jim and Sue and Chris for paying for the weekend. The boys had an absolute blast and I am grateful for that. Thank you! (for taking care of my boys this weekend) I am sorry I missed the fun, but was grateful for a relaxing weekend, and productive weekend as well.

We are enjoying our summer. We have about 4 weeks left. I'll keep you posted.

Go West young man....Independence Day!

Greetings, friends and family! The last two weeks have been busy and fun-filled. I wanted to update everyone on what we're doing....

Craig and I were blessed enough to fly out to Denver for a long weekend two weekends ago. Thank you, Aunt Cindy, for your hospitality! We always appreciate your generosity! Thank you, Rob and Joyel, for your hospitality...we could not have made the trip without your 'help'. Thanks! We had so much fun. We went to our favorite restaurants, went golfing (ugh...you'd think a reasonably athletic person could hit a stationary ball off a tee...no?) saw old friends (Thanks, Dave and Tricia for generosity on our evening together....we enjoyed our time with you so much!) I think, as I get older, I realize how much I cherish my old friendships. The familiarity of them. We laughed a lot on our trip....a lot!!!! (which is one of my favorite things to do) We also got to see Scott and his family. Scott and Erika, thank you so much for making the trek down to Castle Rock with 4 boys and a dog. We greatly appreciate your sacrifice. It was so fun to see both of you and the boys.....getting so big.

Jack and Heath spent the weekend at my parents.."Camp Grandma and Grandpa". They had a blast. Boating, swimming, s'mores, biking, trip to the movies...thanks, Mom and Dad!

After we got home from the west, we went up north (we're well traveled) for the 4th of July. We got to see two sets of fire works. Bay Harbor on Friday night (So good!) and then Mackinaw's Saturday night (So good!) We spent the weekend with Jim and Sue. Thanks for letting us stay with you...we had so much fun! We went to a water park, Dairy Queen, and played outside. The boys thought it was pretty cool that they got to see fireworks two nights in a row. (and stay up late)

Our last day up north we spent at the lakehouse. I got my first tutorial on driving the boat. That's right I'm taking over the reigns as captain. (you've been warned) We got to see my Uncle Rick as well, which is always nice. Of course, every good time must come to an end...we ended our time with a trip to the Cheboygan ER. Jack slipped off the boat trailer and got 4 stitches in his head.....we weren't going to leave with just a kiss and hug goodbye. If you can't leave with a bang....I mean, what's the point. (ugh)

Overall, our first vacation of the summer was a hit! We are anxiously awaiting our family reunion at the end of this month! Yay!

A day in the life...

Today is 93 degrees...my house is a balmy 86.....our air conditioning broke a couple days ago and I've run out of creative ways to cool the house. A couple windows are open, but mostly, I'm just sitting here...sweating. Craig knows a guy who works for a guy who shares the building Craig works in....who works on AC units. He's about an hour and a half late. (but who's counting?)

So, Father's Day was Sunday. Craig kidnapped me for an impromptu getaway Friday night, for our anniversary was Saturday, so I did not have ample time to put together a montage to the fathers I love... the first father I ever knew was of course my own.....I know how blessed I am to have a dad like mine. Some of my fondest memories are from my childhood...camping, boating, traveling, family vacations....my dad made sure we had wonderful memories. Scott and I are very loved and are secure, mature (well me anyway..
he he...kidding) because of the childhood we had. My dad loves kids...and we were the first! Thanks Dad!

My second experience with a father, really, was Craig. Anyone reading this doesn't need me to go into much description. Craig is the perfect role model for a dad. He excels at it. He's a natural. Craig would quit his job and be a stay-at-home dad if he could. He loves playing with the boys and looks forward to it, even after a long day at the office. He puts their needs first in every situation. I know I'm blessed to have a father such as he for my children. Thanks, Craig!

Here are a couple pictures and videos. We are off to Denver tomorrow night for a few days, then up north for the holiday weekend......I'll keep you posted on our adventures!

Girls Weekend!

Every year my girlfriends from high school, Chrissy (Alexander) Jones and Wendi (Smith) Yee and I, get together for a weekend. We've been to Detroit before, where Chrissy lives and she has come here. This weekend she came here.

We don't do much. We stay up late talking, reminiscing, laughing....we like to eat and maybe watch a movie. We sleep late. This weekend that was pretty much the plan. Wendi doesn't drink coffee (gasp!) I know that's hard to imagine...slow your breathing... ; ) So Chrissy and I headed to Biggy's. Overpriced coffee, served to the masses....here we are.....
No those aren't Mickey Mouse ears on my head....they're sunglasses.

We ate at Red Lobster. And then went to the mall. I only window shopped, but it was fun just the same. Then it was off to see "The Proposal". It was very good! (I wouldn't see it with my parents, but it was very good)


After that we went back to Wendi's, where we were staying, and watched...I know this is hard to believe....."Twilight"......and ate Hungry Howies pizza. Oh yeah and we had some wine withe our pizza. Yum!

We all went home Sunday. (Wendi was already home I guess) Another fun girls' weekend! Thank you friends for taking time to get together. A special thanks to the men who took care of our children for us while we were catching up...we could not have had the weekend without you 3!

Love you all....