ledger's art

ever since he was really little, ledger has loved to balance things on top of each other.  its kind of his own personal artistic expression- we call it balance art!  he's actually really good at it and so proud of himself when he gets a good one!  diana and i started taking pictures of the more impressive ones and now when he gets one he's especially pleased with, he asks us to take a picture!  i've been collecting them over on the image gallery page.  go and check them out here!

snowmans

it finally happened!  its been so cold out that ledger hasn't been able to go play in the snow for a week or two.  and when he has, the snow was too crunchy or powdery to do anything with.  well, after weeks of his constant asking about going out to make a snowman, the weather finally cooperated!  it didn't just get warm, it got really warm- i knew we only had an hour or two before most of the snow would actually melt!  which is, of course, the perfect conditions for packing snow!
so ledger asked, as he does every day, if he could go outside and make a snowman, fully expecting us to say the same thing we have said every day: 'no, its too cold', but i was able to totally surprise him and say 'yes!  lets go!'  that little boy's face light up as bright as the sun itself!  we got him dressed up in his snowsuit and and headed out.  i asked him if he wanted to make a big snowman and he got really excited.  so far this winter we have only been able to get snow packed enough for little snowmans (the plural of 'snowman' according to ledger is 'snowmans'...), but now we could get one as big as daddy!  he was absolutely thrilled!  after we built the three balls and stuck them together, he and i went on a hunt through the backyard to find a proper nose, mouth, eyes, and buttons.  for some reason, he never wants his snowmans to have arms though...  after we made the snowman we just played around in the snow.  we made snow angels, and he got to have his first snowball fight!  he didn't quite understand it at first- 'daddy, why are you throwing snow at me?'  but when i told him to throw some at me and i pretended to fall over when it hit me- then it all clicked into place for him.  his new favorite thing, by the way is now snowball fights...
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check out the library

since ledger doesn't have any brothers or sisters, and we don't have any friends in grand rapids with kids for ledger to play with, diana and i really want to make sure he gets some opportunities to be social with kids his own age.  one of the ways to do that, we soon discovered, is to get involved at the local library!  the kent county library has some amazing programs for kids of all ages, but especially for kids 2-5.  every tuesday they have a kids story time, and every wednesday they have some sort of event or craft time.  well, with diana going to watch penny a couple times a week, that works perfectly for me to take ledger to the library and give diana a little quite time with penny.
and let me tell you, ledger totally loves going to story time!  the first couple times we went he had a hard time adjusting to all the different kids that were there, he would get in their faces and just want to touch them and hug them!  he's not so good at understanding 'personal space' just yet...  when the librarian would read the books and show the pictures ledger would walk right up to her and start asking her about the story, standing in the way for all the rest of the kids!  it took a few times of me going up there and bringing him back to my seat for him to understand that he's not allowed to do that, but eventually he got better at it and now sits and listens while the stories are being read.  sure, he still gets a little too close to other kids when he talks to them, always reaching out to touch them, but i'm sure- well, i hope- that will get better soon too!
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bouncy birthday

sarah, one of diana's childhood friends, has a little boy who's about a year older than ledger.  from time to time we have had the opportunity to spend some time with them and let the two boys play- and they both love it!  well, when sarah and vince through a party for shawn, we got invited so of course we went!  especially considering the location of the birthday party: a place filled with bouncy houses!  we trekked down to south bend for the party, to see sarah and vince, and have a great time with the boys.  we got there just as things were revving up into high gear and all the kids headed into the bouncy house room.  let me tell ya, this place was super cool!  it had birthday party rooms for kids, which all lead to the gigantic room in the back which was filled with half a dozen bouncys to have a blast on!  ledger was completely overwhelmed- there was just too much awesome in one place!  he proceeded to spend the next two hours running around from bouncy to bouncy, going down slides, throwing foam balls, we ran back to the room to get some cake and cookies, then back to the slides!  it was so much fun and so exhausting all at once!
we had such a great time- and what a fun party to celebrate shawn's birthday!
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day out with daddy

diana is such a great mom and a hard worker.  she spends every waking moment with ledger, taking care of him, teaching him, feeding him, and everything else that a stay-at-home mom has to deal with!  this can be especially challenging considering the fact that we only have one car so when i'm at work she is stuck at the house with him!  she cant even go out with him to try and get that energy out!  poor girl...
well, from time to time i am able to give her some relief, i take him out for a couple house, just us guys, so she can relax and put her feet up- maybe even take a well deserved nap!
well, today was just such a day.  i scooped up ledger and told him we were going out.  i didn't tell him where, i just told him its going to be a special 'daddy and little boy' day.  he was very excited and wanted to know where we were going.  i, of course, didn't tell him- that would ruin the surprise!  we headed out in the car, leaving diana to somehow manage without us (which i'm sure was a real struggle...).  for our special time together, i took him to every child's favorite place: toys'r'us!  oh man, if you could have seen his eyes light up when we first walked through those doors!  it was amazing!  i didn't even make him sit in the cart- he could just run free- and did he ever! he went up and down the aisles telling me how he wanted this and that (i'm pretty sure he wanted everything), slowing down only to wait for me to catch up!  i told him he could get one thing- and only one thing.  after excitedly exploring for a good half hour, pointing at everything on each shelf saying 'look at that daddy!', he finally settled on one toy to get.  he picked a stuffed eve robot from the movie wall-e (remember, he is currently obsessed with robots...).   we bought it and left the store.  he was absolutely glowing from the fun of toys'r'us!  the fun wasn't over though, we still had more!  we stopped at krispy kreme and had a donut, and then even went and got a haircut.  he was absolutely thrilled by the whole day together!  we sure did have a great time!  and when we got home diana was pleased to have us both back and refreshed and recharged after a little time to herself!
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balentimes

its valentines day, so i wanted to make diana feel extra special (i try to make her feel special every day, not just on the manufactured holiday), so ledger and i worked together to do it right!  i picked up flowers and some chocolates the night before after work so she would see them first thing when she woke up.  she was thrilled, but we had a little more planned for her...  i got up with ledger and we let her sleep in a little bit.  while she slept, ledge and i got busy making a mess in the kitchen!  together we made her some special valentines brownies so she would wake up to a delicious smell through out the house.  ledger was so pleased to be able to make the brownies with me and exclaimed when diana woke up 'mama! mama!  happy balentimes day- i made you a treat!'  he then proceeded to maul her with hugs and kisses!  she was very excited and pleased with her special day.  mission accomplished!
ledger also got some special valentines gifts too, he got a card in the mail from mema and papa with a robot on it (which was perfect- he's obsessed with robots right now!)  it even talked!  when he would open the card it would give a message- in a robot voice, of course- about how he is loved.  he opened and closed it to hear that message about a thousand times throughout the day!  it was actually to the point there he could recite the whole message in a robot voice without even opening the card...  he also got a card in the mail from his grandpa allen!  it folded out into a big card with stickers and everything!  he loved all of it so much that at the end of the day he asked 'can it be balentimes day tomorrow again?'
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pennysitting

i was talking with jon the other day about life as a father, penny is a month or two old now, so he's right in the thick of that whole no sleep thing!  he was telling me that his wife is going to have to go back to work soon and they are struggling to find someone to watch penny.  well, i brought it up to diana and she got really excited- she said that she would love to help them out and watch penny for them on the days she works!  jon and his wife were thrilled with the offer and took us up on it- so now we have the opportunity to see penny a couple times a week!  diana is excited to spend some time with a baby again (we aren't planning on having another child of our own, so she can get the baby times out of her system!) and we get to help out a friend- win/win!
in preparation for watching penny regularly, we stopped over for a couple hours one saturday.  jon and his wife were instructed to have a couple hours together- just the two of them!- and we would spend some time with penny and give ledger the chance to get used to the situation.  it went really well, the two of them came home refreshed, and we had a great time with penny.  i'm pretty sure this is going to work great!

background to the fore

i have had the same phone background and lock screen since i first got a smart phone that could have those things.  most people have fun designs or family photos.  me?  mine is a picture of a stargate.  figures, huh?  well, recently my wife got a hold of my phone and thought it would be fun to change the background when i wasn't paying attention.  she found one of the pictures in my photo album and cropped it to fit.  then she put my phone back and played it cool like nothing ever happened...
next time i pick up my phone and unlock it i was welcomed by this photo- wow!  when i saw it it took me a moment to get my bearings!  looking at the picture in a different context helped to remind me just how arrestingly beautiful my wife is.  it took my breath away for a minute!  and this is who i get to spend the rest of my wife with!
a running joke with us is that whenever she go anywhere and she accidentally forgets to put her wedding ring on i tell her that i'm worried she will get hit on by all the guys wherever we go.  after looking at her with new eyes after this picture- maybe its not so much of a joke... i better keep her close!  hands off, guys- she's mine!  all mine...

cabin: hangin'

to say we have fun up at the cabin is an understatement- there's a reason we have been doing this for so many years!  of course we did all the usual things we do up there: we went to sporty's for dinner, we came back to the cabin and took a walk, played games, had our fantastic candle light talks; but the best part of the whole thing is having the opportunity to get together again as friends and just catch up.  we had some great conversations, some really fun adventures, and we had a blast just being together.  as long as we can use this cabin, i'm sure we will keep this tradition going for many many years to come!
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cabin: inventin'

the cabin that we stay in is far enough off the beaten path that it actually is too far away from civilization to be on the power grid.  that means that if we want electricity we have to use a generator.  thought the cabin has all the modern amenities that one would expect from a 21st century dwelling, its only available when the generator is turned on.  all of this 'off the grid' stuff adds up to the fact that even though the cabin has indoor plumbing and bathroom facilities, we don't actually bother to turn them on when we go up there.  it would involve turning on the water pump and clearing out the pipes before we leave so they don't freeze.  well, that's clearly too much work.  so we have never, in all our years going up there, actually used the water or water heater.  as one could imagine, this makes the bathroom unusable.  well, when jon and jeffry lee came back from the dollar store, they declared that they had figured out a solution to our problem- jon bought a chair that he then modified to take care of the bathroom problem.  he's a regular thomas edison, that one!  we were all so impressed with his genius idea, not yet understanding how tragic things would soon turn.
i'm sure you are wondering if it worked.  well, the answer is a bit more complicated than that...
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cabin: shootin'

one of the traditions at the cabin is bringing up some guns to shoot stuff.  we don't go hunting or anything, we just like to shoot cans and any other random items we can find!  it really is a lot of fun!  in years past i have brought my dad's gun, but i didn't this year.  usually rex brings one, or keith when he would come with us, but neither of them were here this year.  that meant that it fell to jeffry lee and jon to bring the firearms (which, by the way, jon bought because he had so much fun shooting the first year he came!) well, after lunch it was decided that we should go out and use the guns.  as you can see, jon is all geared up for shootin' time.  we went out a couple times during the day to shoot some stuff.  at one point in the day jeffry lee and jon drove in to town and stopped at the dollar store so that jon could buy a few items to use as targets- and boy did we have fun destroying his stuff!
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off to the cabin!

gather the troops- its cabin time once again!  my bestest friends in the whole world and i have an annual tradition: head up to baldwin, michigan for a night together at the cabin!  we've been doing this for so long that i honestly can't remember the first time we did it.  this is either or 12th or 13th trip up there...
it was a bit later this year than usual (now that i have a different job i dont get two weeks off for the holidays, so we had to wait for a time that i could get off), but its always better late than never, huh?  most of the usual suspects were able to attend.  rex had work stuff so he couldn't go, adam was back in california so he was out.  but there were still five of us who were ready to party- cabin style.  in order to get the most of our one night away, we met up bright and early.  we gathered at aaron's around 9:00am and were on the road soon after.  jon drove his truck and dusty took his car, the rest of us split up and found seats where ever we could.  since we were so early we decided not to do our usual trip to the bk in big rapids, instead jon brought some sloppy joes for us to have for lunch when we got up there.
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puzzling

puzzles had never been ledger's thing.  he never quite understood them.  he would play with the pieces a little bit but not really figure out that they were supposed to go together to make a picture.  well, one morning i was playing downstairs in the toy room with him and he was getting a bit bored with the rest of his toys.  i figured i'd give it another shot, so i grabbed one of the puzzles he has and asked him if he wanted to put it together. he said sure, and we were off!  i pulled up a chair next to the toy box, dumped out all the pieces, and he started to put some of them together.  maybe he is finally dexterous enough, or maybe he just now understands what they are all about, but what ever it was, he was all about that puzzle!  i would hand him a piece and he would pretty quickly figure out where it went.  before we knew it the puzzle was solved and all put together.  he immediately wanted to put it away and start another one!  i think we solved all of them at least once, and a couple of them we even put together a second time!
oh, my little boy is growin' up!

birthday drink

every sunday jill, tim, and the kids come over for dinner with the family.  well, this sunday was a special one- we got together to celebrate ave's birthday!  we wanted to make it a little something special, so ledger and i headed out to the dollar store and picked up some fun decorations for the special event.  we got a fun birthday sign, some fancy plates and napkins, a table centerpiece, and a special birthday cup just for the special girl!  the night before i even whipped up some birthday brownies to have with ice cream for the festivities.
when they got here she was so pleased that we made  the extra effort to celebrate her!  her favorite part was definitely the special cup.  she got to take it home and jill says she uses it every chance she can!
happy birthday, little one!
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playin' in the snow

with all the snow that had been falling, ledger always asks to go out and play in it!  since the temperature has been in the teens or lower, we have to keep telling him 'no'.  but with a break in the cold, we finally relented and i took him outside to do some exploring in the winter wonderland!
the thing that he has been wanting to do ever since the snow fell was make a snowman.  he is absolutely obsessed with snowmen (thanks, 'frozen'!)  he kept talking about how he wants to go out and make an olaf!  well, even though the snow was not very good for packing, we were able to make ourselves a little snowman.  mema and mama found a little carrot for the nose and something to use for the eyes, so ledge was pleased as ever to have his very own 'olaf' in the back yard (no matter how small he might be...).
after we made the snowman we trekked out into the front yard and then across the street to the park to have some fun in the snow!  it was a fantastic time, and it was fantastically cold by the end of it!
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one last gift

diana's dad came to the christmas party, but he left ledger's gift at home!  oops!  well, we couldnt exactly leave town with a gift ungiven could we?  after all the fun at her mom's, we headed over to spend a little time with just ledger's grandpa!  its always a good time stopping by his place because we get to spend some time with our dear ol' dog- poco!  he is doing very well, he totally loves it there (and i know for a fact that her dad loves having him just as much!).  after spending a little time with our old stinky dog, ledger got curious about the package on the table- 'is that for me?'  yup, it sure is.  having now gotten the hang of the whole unwrapping thing, he was digging into the gift in no time!  when he got it all unwrapped he was greeted by some fantastic dinosaurs!  he was so thrilled by the gift that he played with them for days and days afterward!  he loves to try and say the names of the dinos, but usually ends up getting them adorably wrong...

south bend christmas

ledger was having so much fun with the whole christmas thing that he didn't want it to be over just yet!  well, it just so happens that its not!  we packed our bags and headed down to south bend for a christmas celebration with her family!  you know what that means- more presents for ledger to open!
there was quite a large group of family and friends to get together and celebrate: diana's mom and david, barbara and james, diana's dad, grandma, alanna and tavish, and even miranda and levi stopped by to join us.  one thing that i always love about her family is that its sort of a free for all- all are welcome and there's no fuss to be made.  its so cozy and comfortable!
all morning ledger and tavish kept asking about when we would get to open the gifts.  as each visitor arrived the question was desperately asked again 'can we open them now?!?'  'not yet boys!'.  they actually did really well with being patient and keeping their hands off the gifts until it was time.  they each got to open one right away, and then they had to wait for the rest until after we had lunch.  finally it was gift giving time and everyone had a blast!  ledger made out pretty well for himself!  i'm sure he will have fun with all these toys for months to come!
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after dinner

chad and miyuki brought her family back to the hotel, but werent exactly wanting to call it a night just yet.  tim, jill, diana, and i all made plans with them to head downtown and hang out for a while longer before they left town.  we planned to meet up at hopcats, but there was a big event doing on at the van andel arena that had just let out, so the place was swamped- over an hour to get a table!  we put our name in anyway and wandered around to find a different place that might not be as crowded.  after three attempts at other places, which were just as crowded, we went back to hopcats- and our name was just being called to be seated!  what luck!  we spend the rest of the night talking, catching up, and laughing together- three siblings, three spouses, and a lot of fun!

a sort of reception

after the photos were taken we headed back home to change into some more comfortable clothes.  then we all met up for a really nice dinner together to celebrate.  we went to firerock grille, and it was fantastic!  i had never been there before and was really impressed with the great food.  we spend an hour or so just hanging out and having a great time with miyuki's family as we got to feast on the delicious cuisine.  it was all chad and miyuki's treat- a sort of wedding reception that they never got to have!
it was the last time all of us were going to be together, so it was also a little bittersweet as well.  the next day chad, miyuki, and her family were all going back to chad's.  her family stuck around visiting with them for another week, but it was our last chance to spend time with them.  the whole visit was a lot of fun and it was awesome to get the chance to meet my new sister-in-law's family!

say cheese!

with chad and miyuki visiting, its the first time since they got married that the whole family has been together.  mom wanted to take advantage of this by getting some professional family photos done.  it worked out perfectly too because miyuki wanted to have some wedding style photos of her, chad, and both families!  with her family in town for christmas, my mom scheduled a sitting to get a whole bunch of photos of everyone and everything.  miyuki even had a wedding dress and chad had a nice suit so they could get some really great shots.  the whole thing was a lot of fun, the cousins had a lot of fun playing around and striking poses!  each of the families got the chance to get a portrait, and we had some great pictures of all the guys, of all the girls, and a whole bunch of different combinations of kids/grandkids/grandparents.  we all look forward to seeing the final product and getting some prints to display of our happy- now bigger- family.
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