wii have fun

Now that I've got a whole new living room set up in the basement, that means I've been able to pull out a bunch of stuff that had been in storage for the past five years- including my video game systems!  I took out all of them- every Nintendo system that has ever been made (except WiiU, I never bothered with that one...).  Once I had them all set up I figured I'd give 'em a try, right?  I started with the Wii, cause that one was the most fun.  As I was setting it up Ledger came down to see what I was up to.  Oh buddy, have I got something to show you!  We dusted off the ol' Wii Sports and I showed him how to play Wii bowling.  He was so excited to try it for himself!  I remember how awesome it was when it first came out, lo those 14 years ago (wow, has it really been that long?!?).  Having never seen it before, Ledger was just as amazed as I was back then!  He was giddy with excitement as he threw each ball!  He called up to Mama to come see this incredible thing!  We played a few games and by the end of his first game he totally got the hang of it.  In fact, by the second game he was doing better than me!  Wow, he's only seven and he's already better at it than his dad...  Eventually we went through and I showed him some of the other Wii games I have in the collection.  There were a couple that he liked, but nothing quite compared to the fun of bowling.  You know, I always felt the same way...
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real life rolly!

The last Christmas present finally came.  Ledger knew this one was coming, so he's been anticipating it for a while now.  Ledger has this character that he loves to draw, his name is Rolly and he's a donut with wings.  He's been drawing him and his adventures for almost three years (not that long, granted, but that's almost half of Ledger's life!).  Way back in October we came across this website that takes a child's drawing and turns it into a stuffed animal.  As soon as Ledge heard about that he wanted us to order him a Rolly.  They are very expensive and take a few months, so we told him maybe.  Hoping it would come in time for Christmas, we decided to do it.  Ledge drew us a nice big picture of Rolly and we had him color it too.  We took a picture of it and sent it in for them to work their magic on.  We didn't quite get it in time for Christmas, but when it finally came he was beyond excited!
We brought it in and all sat around him while he opened the box.  We unwrapped the tissue paper and there he was- in the flesh! (or, more accurately, 'in the plush').  It looked fantastic- exactly like he was supposed to!  Now our boy had his very own Rolly in real life!
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the captain

posted here without comment.

snowmans!

Ledger's one demand each winter is that he gets to make a snowman.  Every time it snows he asks 'can we make one today?'  The opportunity doesn't come around very often, usually the snow is bad for packing or there isn't enough of it.  Well, today the snow was perfect, so off we went into the front lawn to make a new friend!  He had gotten a cool snowman kit from grandma last Christmas, so he was eager to use it.  We tracked it down in the basement and got to work.  The snow was absolutely perfect for packing, so it turned out really great.  We went to the backyard and found just the right branches so he could have arms.  On went the different pieces of the kit, and voila! A snowman!  Our boy was delighted, as you can tell.  We stayed out there and played with him for a while and eventually came in to warm up.  As he was at the table enjoying a hot chocolate, he kept peeking out the window to admire his handiwork.
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goodbye, cousin

As always, it's hard to say goodbye.  Ledger had so much fun with his cousin that it was really hard for him to say goodbye.  Tavish is about two years older than Ledger, but he's so patient with him and thankfully doesn't see him as a 'little kid', which can happen so easily at that age, so we were very proud of the two of them and how well they got along together.  It's so unfortunate that they live so far apart that they only get to see each other two or three times a year, but those times are always a treasure for Ledger.
Hopefully we will see you again soon!
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having a bowl

When we first went to South Bend for Christmas we knew Tavish and Alanna were there, so we wanted to let Ledger stay as long as possible so he could have tons of time to play with his cousin.  So we drove down together and I left to go to the cabin, but came back after the trip.  Now, with the rest of the weekend ahead, we got to just sit back and relax with the family.  Well, we didn't relax too long before we wanted a little adventure!  We made our way over to the fun bowling alley in town.  Ledger was really excited, he had never gone bowling before.  We met up with one of Alanna's friends (she's got three kids around the same age, so they all had a blast!).  The place was packed, but we eventually got a lane and did some good ol' fashioned bowling!  After the first ball, we realized that the kids really needed the bumpers up.  Once we had those in place, then everyone was having a great time.  Ledge really enjoyed himself with bowling and playing around with all the other kids!  The place was pretty awesome, it had a mini golf course and carts to race.  The boys were in heaven!
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off to the cabin!

Cabin time!  It's that annual tradition here again!  Every year a bunch of us guys go up north to the cabin and hand out together for a couple days.  We've been doing this so long that we've almost been doing it more of our life than haven't.  That's crazy.  Some friends have come and gone, but there's always a wonderful togetherness when we go up.  Last year Jon wasn't able to join us, but this year he made extra sure that he would have the time off without excuse!  Aaron, Jon, and I met up with Dusty in Big Rapids and, after a delicious lunch, made our way to the ol' cabin.  We never really know what to expect, some years we've had so much snow that we had to park at the road and hike in, other years we've had no problems.  This year there were a couple big trees in the way of the path!  fortunately, with a little team work, we got the path cleared with only minor delays.  We settled in and did a little big of catching up.  Unfortunately, we see each other less and less these days, so for some of us there was a lot to catch up on.  Even though we don't hang out together as much as we used to, the old friendships don't take much to rekindle.  Before we knew it we were having a blast like usual!  Of course, we did our usual Sporties visit, game playing, and deep talks.  The details of which will forever be shrouded in mystery due to the blood pact we have to make each time we go to the cabin, but it's totally worth it.
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gingerbread house contest

After the gifts we had a competition lined up: gingerbread house decorating!  Diana and Barbara had worked hard assembling a bunch of gingerbread houses for us so we could each have our own.  Everyone picked a house and we got to work.  There were a bunch of different candies and icings to choose from, so everyone had the chance to make whatever sort of creation they wanted.  It was really fun to see the different approaches to the challenge.  Some people were very focused and methodical, while others were more haphazard with their process, putting whatever they wanted wherever they wanted!  I'm sure you can guess which one of those describes Diana and which one describes Ledger...  The finished products looked quite impressive!  We couldn't decide on a winner, so everyone tied!
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South Bend Christmas

With Christmas falling on a Wednesday this year, that meant that we got to have an extra long visit down to South Bend- and Tavish and his mom were back in town too!  We drove down Thursday morning to see everyone and have our Christmas together that night.  As always, Diana's dad was able to come over for the festivities, as well as Barbara and James- even Miranda stopped by for the fun!  The boys were so pumped to see each other that they almost forgot that they were going to get more gifts... almost.  The prospect of getting to spend a long weekend together and get lots of toys was almost more than those two boys could bare!  One of the things that Tavish got earlier for Christmas was a VR headset for his PlayStation 4.  This was a source of a ton of fun for the kids- and the adults too!  Everyone got in on the action- even Diana's dad (which was hilarious!).  After a bit of gift giving and a ton of laughs, we were all exhausted and called in a night.
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christmas morn

Ledger excitedly ran into our room, 'There's presents under the tree!' he exclaimed!  Christmas day has begun! Diana and I pull ourselves out of bed, trying to mirror his excitement.  He is so pumped that it is actually pretty infectious.  Now that we are both up, we are all looking forward to the fun that is Christmas morn!  As has been our family's tradition, before we do any gifts we make a special breakfast: cinnamon rolls!  We really only make them on Christmas morning, so for Ledger it is what Christmas smells and tastes like.  We sit down, well as much as a wiggly Ledger is able, and have the delicious food, and then it's time to dig into the bounty under the tree.
We do it in our usual style: one of the gifts is opened and then we take time to play with it and enjoy it before we move on to the next one.  This gives us a chance to actually appreciate each gift and it spreads out the festivities till almost noon!  Gift after gift, Ledger was very excited and pleased with his loot.  This year Ledger had gone out and even picked out gifts for Diana and I too, so he could also be a part of the gift giving, not just the receiving.  For the first time in several years, Diana and I actually agreed to give each other something a little bit more than usual.  I had been looking for the past few weeks and found a few special things for her and she had gotten me some thoughtful gifts as well.  We figured that Ledger is old enough that we should try and instill in him the reality that Christmas is about more than just him getting gifts- other people get gifts too!
Finally, when the very last gift was opened, we exhaustedly took stock of everything and knew one thing above all else was true: it was time for a nap!  Diana and I slinked away to catch a little extra sleep while Ledger had a blast playing with his new stuff.  We knew we could rest easy having had another successful Christmas!
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the night before

Back home from Christmas with my side of the family and boy are we tired!  But even with exhaustion, we've still got some important matters to attend to, namely, we need to set out a treat for Santa because tonight is the big night!  Ledger was super excited about all the excitement that was going to happen the next morning, but actually fell asleep surprisingly quick.  Diana and I were thankful of that because we had a lot of gift wrapping to do!  Once we were certain that he wouldn't be poking his head around the corner, we pulled out all the gifts and wrapping that we had gotten for him- and wow was it a ton!  Diana always yells at me because we get our boy too many presents.  All right, I'm guilty of spoiling him with gifts, that's for sure.  I told her that every year I want the tree to look like it does when I used to wake up on Christmas.  She helpfully reminded me that in my family there were three kids worth of presents under the tree and we've only got one.  Oh, right.  Oops.  Well, it's too late now, huh?  I guess we will just have to spoil him this time...

brinkmas 2019

This year for Christmas we got together on Christmas Eve at Jill and Tim's place.  We promised- promised!- each other that we were going to take it real easy on gifts, only getting stuff for the kids.  Of course, that apparently went out the window immediately!  We got there and started snacking on the delicious appetizers Jill and Mema had made, and enjoying a bit of mom's famous slush.  The kids started by playing a fun game where they could earn different fun toys and gift cards when they got right answers, a silly game that Mema put together.  The kids loved it, especially the prizes!  Soon after, we all gathered around the dinner table and enjoyed some delicious food together.  It's always nice to spend some time with the nieces and nephew- they are getting so old!
Finally it was time for the main event: gifts!  We took turns giving out different prizes to the kids, interspersed with a gift for mom and papa as well.  Tim and Jill didn't follow the rules, of course, and got Diana and I something.  I shook my fist at them because now we feel stupid for actually following the rules and not getting them something.  One of these years we will learn that the rules are never followed...
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christmas lights tour

For decades they have been doing a special Christmas light display at the minor league baseball field in Grand Rapids.  I've always kind of wanted go but have never gotten around to it.  Last year I brought it up to Diana and she thought that would be fun, but we still didn't make the time to do it.  This year I wasn't going to make the same mistake!  We made plans with Savannah's parents and invited her and Matheson to come with us to enjoy the lights.  We were not disappointed!  The ride up was fun because Ledger and Savannah were being so silly together in the back seat.  Matheson, who's five year older, would just roll his eyes, but laughed along too.
The lights themselves were pretty cool!  There was a long and winding path created in the stadium's parking lot.  It was filled with scenes and displays of winter events and characters lit up, blinking, and glowing to fill the night!  There were 'ooh's and 'aah's the whole way through- the kids loved it!  After the light display we took the kids to pizza hut and chowed down together.  The kids were even more boisterous and silly than before, having so much fun just being together!  At the end of the night we reluctantly returned the kids home and concluded our late night adventure together.  Someone is going to be exhausted in school tomorrow...
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oh christmas tree!

We finally found the time to pull out all the Christmas decorations so we could Christmas up the house!  It took everyone a little longer than usual to get in the mood enough to put up the tree and everything.  This was our first year decorating this house and we were initially worried that our little apartment tree might be too small for our huge living room, but as we started to put it up we realized that a smaller tree looks just right in front of the windows!  Ledge has continued his recent trend of going shirtless... but now with a santa hat!  The cool disco lights on the top of the tree don't look quite as cool as they did when we had a twenty foot ceiling, but it'll do.  Now we are ready for all the holiday fun!
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christmas movie night

An important Christmas tradition in our household is watching the Muppet Christmas Carol movie- it's our favorite!  Now that Santa has visited our town, that means that we are totally allowed to watch it.  We made plans to have a holiday movie night together and watch it (for the first time this season, we usually watch it more than once...)  We all got cozy and had a ball- singing along with all the songs and getting ourselves in the proper christmasy mood!

the basement project

The unfinished basement has been serving as a storage area for us since we moved in.  We would go down there if we needed something, but otherwise it went unused.  I've been saying for months that I would organize it all and make a nice cozy place to hang out down there once I got a new tv.  My plan was to take the old tv and bring it downstairs and build an extra living room down there.  Once the tv is set up, then I would be able to take my time and organize all the stuff down there.  Well, now I've got my new tv- that means the next order of business is to get crackin' on that basement!
I talked with my brother-in-law about getting some spare carpet scraps (he's a carpet layer) from him and temporarily carpet as much of the place as I could for now until we get around to finishing the basement.  He came through with a bunch of really great scrap pieces- enough to cover almost half the basement!  I laid it down and set up the tv and blu-ray player so I would have something to watch while I got to work organizing!  The place is already starting to take shape!  Now we've got a nice corner with the old couch and a table as well as a carpeted play area for Ledger.  Pretty soon Diana won't ever see me again because I'll always be hiding out in my cold basement cave- especially in the summer!
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santa came to town

Every year our little town likes to welcome in the holiday season the right way: with a parade and a visit from Santa Claus!  Ledge and I braved the cold to be a part of the celebration.  We went downtown to watch the parade and happened upon a bunch of friends from his school!  We found a nice cozy spot next to them and cheered on the parade as it passed through town.  The parade path ends down by the boardwalk, where we get a chance to line up and see Mr. and Mrs. Clause.
Now that we've got that taken care of, let the holidays begin!
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a very special day

This.  This was a very special day.  One of the things that Diana and I had talked about when we sold the rental property and had a little extra money that I would be able to get a new tv.  I was excited, but knew I should wait until we found a house because I was not interested in moving it from our apartment on the 3rd floor...  Once we moved Diana said I should get the tv.  I wanted to make sure we could take care of our bills first and get ourselves a few necessities like a couch and bed.  Now that we got all that stuff squared away, it was finally time.  I waited until there were some great deals after thanksgiving and finally pulled the trigger.  It was finally delivered.  This was a very special day.  I got for myself a giant 75 inch tv for the living room, and boy am I excited about it!  our last one worked very well, but it was so tiny (55 inches) that there were times I could hardly see it from the couch.  Now though, now we are all set.  I also got a wall mount for it so we can take the whole setup out of the living room and make our huge living room feel even bigger!  Once it was all set up I pulled out Avatar, the same movie I had christened our last tv with, and boy did it look good- I was not disappointed!  Diana still shakes her head every time she looks at it, but she's starting to get used to how big it is.  This was a very special day.  Maybe in another 8 years I'll get another one that's 20 inches bigger...
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lets set sail

One of my goals during this trip to south bend was to round up and bring home all the stuff we still had in storage at Diana's mom and David's house.  We lived there for a little while after we left Griffith, Indiana, and since we hadn't had our own house since then we hadn't been able to take back everything that we had put in storage.  Well, now that we've got our own house, it was time to change that.  I made many trips up and down the ladder in their garage and brought down almost everything (I've still got my comics up there, but I'll be able to get those during the next trip).  One of the things I found while bringing everything down was a really cool playmobile pirate ship set.  We had actually been given it from a friend in Indiana who's children outgrew it.  At the time Ledge was too little to handle all the small parts, so we tucked it away and forgot about it.  When I took it out and brought it inside, Ledge and Tavish thought it was so cool!  They spend the rest of the day checking it out and playing with it together!  When we finally came home we brought it with us and Ledger continued to play with it for the rest of the week- all by himself!  That thing was certainly a hit!
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a visit with chuck

We were trying to think of something fun we could do with the boys while everyone was visiting.  At first we thought about going to see a movie, but their wasn't much in the theater that the boys were excited about.  So instead we went with the old classic: chuck e cheeses!  They were all about that!  I don't think we had ever been do this particular location, but that didn't slow us down.  We headed over there with them and got them all set to play a bunch of fun games.  The two of them had a blast together jumping from one game to the other collecting as many tickets as they could.  The adults might have slipped in an occasional game too, but just to pad out the ticket count, I assure you...
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tavish back in town

Only a two or three times a year does Ledger get the opportunity to hang out with his cousin Tavish, so when they come to visit down in South Bend, we always make a point of going down and spending as much time as we can with them!  The boys always have a great time together.  Tavish is a couple years older than Ledge, and he looks up to him as such a cool older kid, so the fact that Tavish loves to spend time with Ledge makes him feel pretty awesome.  The two of them love to play games together.  This is the first time they have seen each other since Ledge has been allowed to play Minecraft, so Tavish had the chance to show him all kinds of cool stuff in the game and teach him some of the tricks.
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chef ledger

Our little boy was getting pretty hungry, so we asked him what he wanted for dinner.  He said he wanted an omelet.  Those are pretty easy, so I asked him if he wanted to learn how to make one himself.  He was delighted about this idea and jumped off the couch!  We got out the supplies and we went through it step by step.  I explained what he needed to do next and he fumbled through each step doing a pretty good job for a first timer.  He handled himself quite well in the kitchen, making sure he was carful about the hot surface and making sure he wasn't wasting the food.  He was really proud of himself with the final product, but was a bit disappointed that he didn't get to throw it in the air to flip it in the pan 'like they do in cartoons!'  The finished product looked and tasted great- in fact his mama frustratingly said 'what?  That looks better than I could make!  How did he do that?!?'
Perhaps we do have the next great chef right here in our own kitchen!
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my family visits

We haven't had the opportunity to show off the new place to my family yet.  My parents have stopped by one or twice to see the house, but we haven't had them over since we got everything all set up and turned it into our home.  They came by- with pizza!  Tim, Jill, and the kids came over too and we got to show off the place a bit.  We showed them our rooms, the office, living room, kitchen, and the basement; we even got to show off our big beautiful backyard!  It felt really good to have a place of our own that we could show off to the family.  We chowed down on some tasty pizza and had a nice time just hanging out and laughing together.  Ledger had even hand-selected a few toys to keep the little one occupied, so the kids were all set too.
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daddy portrait

Ledger was drawing recently and decided to challenge himself.  His typical style is very stylized cartoony, but he wanted to try drawing realistically for a change.  He made the choice that he wanted to draw a portrait of me.  Um, ok.  He still wanted to continue with his medium of choice, pen, so there wouldn't be any shading or color, just ink lines.  I sat at the table across from him so he could study his subject.  Having had no formal training of how to structure a face using proportions and structure, I think he did really great for a first attempt!  Does it look like me? not at all, but there is something in there that he captured, I think.  See for yourself here!

trick or treat encore

Ledger had had a lot of fun trick or treating with Savannah and her family, but was disappointed that we were done so soon.  Diana and I gave each other a little glance on the way back to Allegan, and I asked 'well buddy, do you want to do some more?' His eyes widened, 'can we?!?'  So instead of going straight home we drove down to the busiest streets and pulled into a parking spot.  'Lets go!' I exclaimed to him, and the two of us were off!  Diana stayed in the car, trying to warm up.  Ledge and I went up and down one more street trying to get another round of trick or treating in before the night was done.  Pleased with his extreme luck, we happily came back to the car, victorious.  We drove back home and on our street we saw that there were still some kids going door to door.  I asked him as we pulled into our driveway 'do we dare go out for a FOURTH time?'  He screamed with excitement at the possibility!  So, we walked up and down our street, trying to get in as many houses as we could before the night was finally through.  We finally walked into the house, soaking wet but with Ledger beaming with joy at the fact that we went trick or treating four times in one night.  This will be a Halloween he won't soon forget!

trick or treating proper

Finally it was time for the main event!  Ledger was really unsure about our plans.  We had made plans with Savannah's family to meet up with them to trick or treat.  The problem that was really bothering Ledger was the fact that we drove over to Plainwell to do it.  He did not like that we weren't going to go to the same houses we go to every year.  His trepidation melted away once we pulled up and saw Savannah and all her family.  Now he was pumped!  We started our trek through the neighborhood trick or treating.  It was a little rough going because of the terrible weather- it was rain/snowing and very cold.  All the kids were troopers though and pushed through the unfortunate weather.  There was even one house that had a spooky maze set up in their front yard.  Savannah was up for it but Ledge was hesitant.  I said I'd go through it with them, then he was feeling a lot better about it.  They were kind enough to take it really easy on us and Ledger felt really proud of himself when we finished- he was so brave!  He actually wanted to go though again- now that he had faced death and come through the other side, he wanted another taste of that rush!  After making our way through the neighborhood Savannah's family was ready to call it quits.  We thanked them for a really memorable time and headed home.  Or did we?
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downtown trick or treating

When Ledger got home from school he was really antsy.  He had to wait another two hours before he would get to go trick or treating and it was killing him!  Knowing that something had to be done, I told him to grab his costume cause we are going downtown.  He was a little confused but excited.  We drove down and saw all the different people wandering from one shop to the other.  I explained to Ledge that all the shops downtown were having a time to trick or treat too!  He was thrilled with the chance to show off his costume and so we went to each place and he chatted with as many random people as he possibly could, telling them all about how he is a 'classic ghosty' this year, but now he's also wearing a witch's hat.  Some of the shop owners humored him and shared his excitement about the special costume.  By the time we made it all the way up and down the main street, he was so pleased about the unexpected extra trick or treating.  We headed home and he gushed to Diana about how much fun he had!  Well buddy, we are just getting started...
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school halloween parade

Ledger popped out of bed and excitedly exclaimed 'Daddy!  Mama!  It's Halloween today!' and the grin on his face stayed their all the way to school!  School has a special Halloween parade where the kids put on their costumes and walk all the way through the school, showing off to all the other students before they have a special Halloween party in their classrooms.  The parents are invited to come to the gym and witness the processional.  Of course Diana and I were there for it!  It was fun to see all the kids dressed up, seeing a lot of different cartoon characters portrayed, and a million princesses.  But to be honest, Ledger was the only classic ghosty in the whole school.  He was quite proud of that, too!  He ran over to see us after the parade, still smiling from ear to ear (or at least I think he was, it was kinda hard to tell under the sheet...)!
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big costume decision

For the past couple months Ledger has been really struggling with figuring out what he wants for his Halloween costume.  It's been a big challenge.  Ever since last Halloween he has said that he wants to be cat or a robot, but now as the big day approaches, he's not so sure about those two choices.  It's become a bit of an existential crisis for our little seven year old...  We've been telling him for the past couple weeks that he needs to make his decision so we can get started with making his new costume.  Well, he finally made a decision: he went with neither.  Instead he wanted to use the same costume that he used last year, the classic ghosty!  Except with one important exception, this year he wants to get a witch's hat for it.  We asked him a couple more times to see if he was certain and he was.  After the decision was made, he never wavered.  So we found him the perfect hat, and he was all set for the big day!

carvin' pumpkins

As soon as we got back from Gene's with the pumpkins, Ledge was all about carving them up!  We brought them to the kitchen sink and washed them off so they would be read to go.  Ledger grabbed a piece of paper so he could practice a few face ideas, and once he had settled on the ones he liked, we pulled out the sharpie and he carefully drew them out on the pumpkin.  He's not as interested in the actual carving part of it, asking me to do all the detail work.  I did tell him that I'd only do it if he helped clean them out.  He reluctantly stuck his hand in after I cut off the top and pulled it out with a goopy mess of pumpkin guts and seeds.  'yuck'! he yelled, 'Daddy, can you do the rest? It's gross!'.  No buddy, this is all you!  He did the whole first one, but I took care of the other one since he had cleaned himself up after the first one.
Once we finally got them all cut up and looking good, Ledger was all about finding that perfect place to put them out front.  He has been very vocal about his displeasure at how few Halloween decorations we have in the front yard, so this was his one chance to fix that for us.  Once everything was just so, he was content with the result and we called it a night.
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gene the pumpkin man

Now that Moonlight Jack has showed up and brought the Halloween spirit to the house, it was only a matter of time before we made our annual pilgrimage to visit dear ol' Gene the pumpkin man!  Diana and I picked up Ledge straight of school and told him that today is the day- let's get some pumpkins!  He was thrilled that we were finally going to get some outside Halloween décor, and he was looking forward to seeing Gene as well.  We pulled into the old farm and wandered around a bit, checking out all the cool pumpkin related decorations.  After Ledger talked Gene's ear off for 15 minutes, we went out to the field and picked out a couple of good ones to carve.  There always seems to be a few little gourds that find their way into our wagon as well, but that's ok- the more Halloween décor the better, Ledger always says!
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backyard bounce

The latest addition to our backyard comes curtesy of Auntie Lissa: a big trampoline!  Ledger has been looking forward to this ever since we first moved- he always said that if he gets a backyard we have to get a trampoline.  One of his favorite places in the whole world is Skyzone, the trampoline fun park, so for us to have one in our own backyard? Why, it's everything a little boy could ever want!  I remember always being jealous of my cousins who had one when I was growing up- now our boy is going to be the one that others are jealous of...

joto

About a year and a half ago I happened to be randomly scrolling around on kickstarter and I came across this really cool project that was trying to get funded.  It was for something called a Joto.  I explained it to Diana and sweat talked her into letting me put a pledge in to buy one.  It only took 18 months, but it was finally made and delivered!  We set the thing up and it is awesome!  Here's what it is: its a dry-erase board that has a little mechanism that can draw whatever you want on it.  There's an app that you can download to your phone and sent a doodle from anywhere and it whirrs in to action and draws the picture or message.  We've got it set up now and it is really cool!  I've used a few times already and its very fun.  The whole point of it was that I could send Ledger messages or pictures from work!  I tried it the other day.  I pulled up the app at work and wrote a 'good morning Ledger!' message and drew a silly face.  When I got home I asked he and Diana if they got it and they said that it came through at just the right time: Ledge was sitting at the table eating breakfast before school and it nearly scared him to death when it started whirring into action!  They both got a great laugh out of the startle and were pleased to get a special message from daddy before the school day began.  Mission accomplished!

backyard wildlife

We have been really enjoying our time getting settled in to the new house.  We're starting to find spots for everything and get it cozy- feeling like a real home.  One of the reason we got a house was so that we would have our own backyard and a chance to be a part of the community in a why that just doesn't happen in an apartment complex.  Recently one of those reasons has really paid off.  I was looking out our back slider, surveying my kingdom (as one does...), and I happened to notice a shocking sight: there was a deer in our backyard!  I quickly called Ledger over to check it out and we soon realized that I was wrong.  It wasn't one deer- it was five!  Wow!  There are a few acres of woodland behind our house and apparently there is a deer family that lives in it!  We stood and watched those deer for at least 15 minutes, running to the back bedroom window so we could get a better look.  What beautiful creatures!  This. This is why we got a house.

ledger's drawings (age 7)

Our boy just keeps getting better and better at drawing.  When he was younger he would always get discouraged because he would see his mama or I draw and he would think that we were so good.  He wanted to be as good as us!  We always told him 'practice! practice! practice! That's the only way to get better!'  Well, he's taken that mantra to heart- now that he's got his own desk he's in his room drawing at least two hours every single day!  And I've got to be honest, the hard work is really showing!  At this point, I'm starting to realize that he is actually surpassing me- and I've got a college degree in Art!  Check out a few of his most recent pieces here. (this drawing is one of Ledger's robot Klanky pestering BB-8...)

100 years of the regent

The Regent Theater, the local theater here in Allegan, just celebrated its 100th anniversary!  In order to recognize the special achievement, they had a centennial celebration.  Everyone was invited to a special screening and talk.  Parker, the Allegan Community Events head, went up and shared a bit of history and then showed some cartoon shorts by Max Fleischer (which you can watch here) from around the time that the theater opened.  Hoping to show the first movie they ever played at the theater, Parker said that he had been on a hunt for the past few months but it seems that it has been lost to time and no longer exists in any form.  Crazy!  So instead he selected one that they showed during the first year it was open.  We got to watch Harold Lloyd's 'Bumping into Broadway' (which you can actually watch in it's entirety here!)  It was really fun to celebrate my favorite movie theater with others in town who love it just as much as me- I only wish I had brought Ledger along, he would have loved those cartoons!
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visiting auntie b

Over the weekend Diana and Ledger headed down to South Bend to visit with her family.  This is always a highlight for Ledge- he can't get enough of Gramma!  One of the days auntie B even stopped by with pumpkins for them to carve.  Ledger was in paradise!  He got to see his grandma, auntie, and do Halloween stuff?  Heaven!
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visitors

Now that we've got the place looking really great we want to show it off!  Well, it just so happens that Diana's dad wants to come up and see the place, so that works perfectly!  He's a little nervous to come up by himself, worried that he would get lost, so we scheduled a time with Barbara and James to come up as well.
The three of them came up and we got to have a really great time showing them the house and all the stuff we've been busy getting organized.  Diana's dad even brought up a beautiful new painting for us to hang in the living room, which really classes up the joint!  Ledger is always delighted to have someone to show off his latest artwork to, and Grandpa Allen was just as excited to see it as Ledge was to show it.
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moonlight jack arrives!

Ledger has been getting a little impatient lately.  He's been seeing so many people in the neighborhood start to put up their Halloween decorations and is eager to put ours up.  As you know, we can't put our decorations up until we get a visit from that beloved holiday friend Moonlight Jack. (in case that sentence didn't make any sense, read the story here)  Well, ledger is getting frustrated that Moonlight Jack seems to have visited other houses but not ours!  Maybe, he thought, he doesn't know where we live since we moved.  We assured him that he can find us wherever we are.  Well, finally one crisp afternoon, after walking home from school together, Ledger came into his room to find our beloved Moonlight Jack ready to welcome in the Halloween spirit!  Ledge was pumped!  We immediately went down to the basement to pull out the decorations and got busy filling the house with spooky cheer!  One special delivery that Moonlight Jack delivered as well was a copy of the movie 'Nightmare Before Christmas'!  We've talked with Ledge about watching this movie before but he wasn't really ready yet.  It's only rated PG, but for him last year it would have still been a little creepy.  We popped it on and he was delighted!  I don't think that he has loved a movie more in his entire life.  Immediately after watching, he wanted to play the 'sing-a-long' version of each of the songs so he could join in the fun!  We've watched it about 6 more times since then and I've got to tell ya, he's certainly in full Halloween spirit now!
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a new living room

With such a big living room, it was becoming more and more obvious that the furniture we brought from the apartment wasn't going to cut it.  Well, I guess it's time to go look for something that would fit a bit more appropriately to that large space.  Diana and I dropped Ledger off at Mema and Papa's for the afternoon and went couch shopping!  We hit up a few places but were frustrated at either the poor selection or the ridiculous prices.  Art Van always seems to have a sale, but they still don't have reasonable prices...  We eventually found a place with a good looking couch.  We were in the market for a new bed too, so we had planned to buy both.  Just as we were about to go up to the desk to pay, we spotted a completely different couch that we loved even more!  Good thing we had our eyes peeled or we would have missed out on the gem we eventually brought home.  We set up a delivery with them and waited for them to bring everything over.  We spent the day clearing out the space, bringing the apartment furniture down to the basement, and moving our bed to the extra room as well.  The couch was too big to actually fit through the front door so they had to go all the way around the house and come in through the slider!  Eventually they got it in and we got it set up and it looks amazing!  the house is really starting to look better and better- it's become a real home!
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ride along

One of the highlights of camp for Ledger over the summer was getting to ride a horse.  On his last day of camp I was talking to one of the camp owners and he mentioned that in the fall they have horse riding classes for kids who are interested.  I brought it up to Diana and Ledger and they were both really excited at the opportunity!  I got ahold of them again and we signed him up!  He got to go every Tuesday for 4 weeks and spend an hour and a half learning how to ride horses and he loved it so much!  His favorite horse was Gus, and I'm pretty sure Gus took a shining to him too!
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field trip to the fair

Ledger's class was taking a field trip to the Allegan Country Fair, so of course I'm going to be going along as a helper!  I was assigned 3 kids, along with my son, to wander along with them through the fair, checking out all the different educational areas.  There wasn't really any sort of schedule or plan in place other than wandering around together until lunch time, so we checked out everything we could.  The fair had a bunch of olden times buildings for the kids to see, an old school, post office, church, etc. that were full of different items from the early 1800s, when Allegan was first established.  The kids were interested for a while, but they wanted to see the animals!  We made our way over to the 4H barns and checked out all different livestock.  The kids were entranced by the cows and pigs, chickens and horses!  We eventually met up with everyone for lunch, but were then released back on our own.  I got each of the kids some lemonade from one of the stands and asked them what they wanted to do before we left.  Of course they said they wanted to go on the rides, but as I told them a dozen times, they aren't running until 3pm and we will be gone by then!  So they settled for going back to the animal barns.  We made our way back to the bus at the end of the day and headed home.  The kids really loved it!
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fourth handprint

Each year, during Ledger's first week of school, we pull out the old handprint board.  Since he first went to preschool we have had him put his hand in paint and make a print on the six foot board.  The plan is for this thing to have 14 prints by the time he graduates from school (12 grades, plus kindergarten and preschool) and see how much he has grown over the years.  I've mentioned it before here: 1st, 2nd, 3rd.  Each year going out and picking a new paint color is part of the tradition as well, this year he picked red.  I always keep him under strict control until we do the actual hand print, after that though, he usually goes a bit nuts and does some face and body painting!  It took a bit of a creepy turn this year with the paint being red...
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first day of 2nd grade

It's the big day and our little one was quite nervous.  He actually coined a new term the day before: 'extervous'.  Ledger said that there wasn't a word for how he was feeling so he had to make one up!  Its a combination of excited and nervous.  He was looking forward to the start of his 2nd grade year, but was very nervous about starting it at a new school without knowing anyone.  He got up and had breakfast, asking questions the whole time about what he could expect.  We weren't exactly sure either, but we reassured him that it would go well and he would make friends easily (he's the funny kid in class, everyone likes that kid!).
Diana and I walked him to school together (which is really cool that we are that close!).  We had him say hi to his teacher and showed him what door to go in.  He was feeling a bit more comfortable and went off to play on the equipment.  We stuck around a few more minutes so we could wave to him as he went in after the morning bell rang, but then he was on his own, starting a new year at a new school.  Good luck, kid!
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visit at the lake

One last outing before school starts!  Jill, Savannah's mom, invited us to join them at the beach and do some swimming.  Diana and Ledger met up with them around noon.  I joined them out there after I got out of work around 1pm.  I had never been to that beach before, there isn't much beach to speak of, but its a really neat park with a beautiful lake!  Everyone else took advantage of the gorgeous water and swam but since I didn't have my bathing suit I just lounged around with the ladies at the shore.  Everyone had such a fun time we will definitely need to come back next summer!

a new school

Diana and I had a big decision to make for our boy when we moved.  The new place is actually in a different district for elementary schools, so we had to decide if we are going to switch his school or keep him in North Ward.  There were a bunch of pro's and con's to consider, he would be saying goodbye for now to many of his friends (they all go to the same junior high and high school, so he would see them again soon), but he could make friends around our neighborhood at the new school.  We struggled with this decision for a while.  Neither Diana nor I had ever changed schools when we were growing up, so we asked a few loved ones who had gone through that transition when they were younger.  We got a lot of encouragement about changing schools being the right choice.  We set up a meeting with the principle of the new school and toured the building and talked with her.
So, with everything considered and much thought, we decided to switch him over to West Ward Elementary.  I think it will be the right choice for him and after we talked with him about it he is very excited about it too!  He got really excited about it when West Ward had an open house before the school year started and he got to meet his new 2nd grade teacher: Mr. Nash!  All right, now he's all in!

mowin the lawn

One thing I was lucky enough to avoid for the past three to four years has been mowing the lawn.  It has been very nice to skip out on this, my most hated of tasks.  I always hated it when I was growing up and never enjoyed it while I lived at the duplex in Indiana.  But the reality is now that I'm a homeowner, I'm also a lawn owner.  Ugh.  Diana's dad was kind enough to offer us one of the spare mowers he had, so that means I have no excuses now!  I finally forced myself to go out there and take care of business.  Diana knows how much I hate it so she was impressed enough to come out and take a picture!
Needless to say, the lawn looked amazing after I was done.  I may hate it, but I still make sure I do a good job!

ledger's new room

For a few months now Diana's mom and David were planning on going to visit some of his family on the east coast.  They were going to spend some time with Alanna and her son Tavish- Ledger's favorite cousin!  They invited Ledger along for the trip and he was super excited about it!  It just so happens that it's the week end after we move to the new house!  Since we were so busy that week with the move, Diana's mom offered to come and pick him up a day early.
Ledger has been a little apprehensive about the whole move thing and has been very nervous about getting a new room.  He said that he's going to miss his old room so much.  Diana and I really want him to love the new house and his new room, so while he was away we decided to go all out and do something special for his room.  He's always wanted a desk in his room and also loves the bunkbeds at Grandma's house.  We figured we'd put those two things together and miraculously found him a really cool bed/desk combo!  I went and picked it up and we set it up for him, got an area rug that fit the desk perfectly too.  One of Ledger's favorite things to do is play a drawing game on the white board Mema got him for his birthday last year.  I figured it would be pretty cool if we took that idea up a notch and got him some big white boards and put them up on the wall in his room!  The company store where I work sells them for ridiculously cheap, so I picked up a few (for a dollar each!) and we hung them on the wall under the window.  We stopped and picked him up a couple other little things for his room and got it all set up.  I think he will be pretty pleased when he sees the cool new room that's just for him!
(more pics, and his response)

the big move

The time has come: it's time to leave this beautiful apartment we've called home for the past three years.  We've been packing the place up for the past couple weeks in anticipation, but now we've finished all the paperwork for he house and the previous owners are moved out so it's ready for us to move in!  Ledger is a little big uncertain about the whole thing, this is the only home he can really remember, so it's a bit challenging for him to understand how this is going to change everything.
In order to do this move as quick as possible we rented a u-haul truck for the day and enlisted the help of Savannah's two big brothers.  They stopped by with Savannah and their mom, who figured they'd just stick around and help too!  Miranda came by for the day to help out too- we are all set with getting this thing done!
It took two u-haul trucks full to get everything over to the new house.  We stored most things in the garage for now so we could make it all happen as fast as possible.  Diana was concerned about the hardwood floor and scaping it up, so she didn't want us to bring anything in until she cleaned it and put protector pads on everything we brought in.
It was really strange to see the apartment empty.  We were really glad to get our new place, but we did take a minute or two to appreciate the place we had made a home for the past three years.  We said our goodbyes to the apartment and are looking forward to the new adventure of living in our own place as a family!
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rolly comics

Recently we were in Kalamazoo for the afternoon doing some shopping.  we had gone to a few places just for Diana, so I figured I could suggest a place to go just for me: the comic book shop!  Well, it turned out that it wasn't just for me, Ledger was all about that place!  We walked in and he was amazed at all the cool stuff that was there!  He did his usual thing of talking way too much to people who are working at the place and struck up a conversation with the guy behind the counter.  He asked 'do you have any of my Rolly comics?' (a brief side note, Ledger has a character that he's been drawing for a while named Rolly, he's a silly character who is a donut with wings).  Ledger has been drawing some Rolly comics lately and figured if they sell comics, then why wouldn't they have the ones he's been drawing? (there may be a slight lack of understanding on his part when it comes to how publishing works...).   The man behind the counter humored him and asked him a bit about Rolly.  Taking it all in stride, Ledger said 'well, it would be easier if I just showed you.  Do you have a pen and paper?'  Talk about assertive- look at this kid go!  The employee was really interested and asked him a few questions about Rolly and then told Ledger that he would love to see a Rolly comic.  he then handed Ledger a blank comic book for him to fill in!  I didn't even know there was such a thing!  Oh this pleased Ledger to no end- as soon as we got home he ran straight to the table and started planning out Rolly's big comic book debut.  I happened to notice on Facebook that the comic book store had actually scanned in Ledger's picture of Rolly and wrote up a little bit about him, saying they were pleased to announce the debut of West Michigan's newest comic book creation and artist.  I showed this to Ledger and he was so proud of himself and was even more determined to create an awesome comic book!  He figured when it was done we could bring it back and he could sell it, beginning the Rolly media empire that Ledger dreams will one day happen!