Summer fun! (Part 1)

We have been very busy this summer, and luckily we have had some wonderful weather...well, minus Irene stopping by.  This is my first "teacher" summer, by which I mean that I didn't work too much this summer.  I did do some tutoring for a child and I truly enjoyed it.  This fall I am doing some substitute teaching.  Even though I was fortunate enough to have some time off this summer I did happen to stay good and busy.  I'll have to take a picture, but one household project I have been wanting to do for a while is/was painting the cabinets.  I finally/almost finished that project!  I am so thrilled with the way they turned out (I still have a small section to do).  Now it seems so strange for it to be going into mid-September and I am not working in a classroom with 20 different children!  Yet, I still seem to have so much to do, so I am thankful to have some extra time to do it.  In fact I have read more books this summer than I have read in years!

As usual I have a pictorial story of our summer for you.  I will be breaking it up into two parts and I will hopefully be adding some video (that I know I promised the last time I blogged).  As usual during the week of July 4th we went up to camp a couple times to see family.  I have to admit I wasn't doing a great job staying on top of the camera though so I don't have as many pictures as I would like that are of anything other than Miles.  Miles was thrilled with the lake and the time he spent there.  I think that he threw rocks into the lake for at least 3 hours!

It seems like he was in awe of the size of the lake, he spent the better part of the morning calling it a pool before he was finally convinced it is actually called a lake.

He had fun having Aunt Jamie picking up rocks for him and then turning to the water and throwing them in.  If he had the words, the next day, he probably would have told me his arms were sore!

So cute!

We decided to buy our family a pass to Shelburne Farms and we have made good use out of it this summer!  Here are some photos of our first trip.  Miles has enjoyed "chasing" the chickens around.  They say your aren't supposed to chase the chickens around, but how do you explain that to an (almost) two year old?

Our neighbor Courtney works at the Farm in the summer and held a chicken for Miles so he could get nice and close to it.  He thought that was pretty special.

Miles LOVED the big cow, Belle.  He kept wanting to go back and a look at the cow.  It was very sweet.

Love my boy!

Miles ate his first corn on the cob and he loves it!  It is so funny, he will eat just about every kernel off of the cob, but if I give him corn that isn't on the cob he won't eat it....oh the eating habits of a toddler!

How can you resist this face?

One of Miles' favorite things to do is spend time with his Aunt Jamie.  She started a game of rolling down the hill, guess who wanted to quit first?  If you guessed Miles you would be wrong!  Maybe she'll think twice about what she tries to get Miles to do.

Miles enjoyed a lot of swimming this summer, he has become very brave jumping into the water and going under.  Dylan said this pool was pretty cold, I don't think that Miles cared one little bit!

Miles and Daddy...  

Can you tell that these two are related?

We went to a few concerts in the park this summer, one was in Williston, a Beatles cover band.  We had a great time.  Miles even got to hang out with one of his friends from his old school.  They were so excited when airplanes kept flying over head.

Well as I told you, this was just the beginning of our summer!  Stay tuned for part two!!!!!!  

Jenny xxoo

The Past 5 months.....

Okay, so yes it has been a long time, but we either haven't done much to report, or it just hasn't been a priority for me to tend to the blog.  Either way it has been on my mind for some time now and I am going to do my best to bring you up to speed on the last few months of our lives.  Miles is so big now and seems to be a full-on toddler.  It was almost over night.  One day I looked at him and just realized how big and grown-up he is.  He is talking up a storm and has so many new words everyday!  It just melts my heart when I drop him off at school and he says, "Bye-bye mommy!"  We are working really hard on "I love you" he may have said it a couple times, but if he did it sure sounds a lot like, "where are you?".  "I get you" is also VERY cute!  So here it is, my latest post, a little pictoral blog of some of the things we were up to over the last few months.....enjoy!

Miles loved the snow and sledding this year, the smallest hill was so fun, this little hill is at my parents house.

When my sister was younger she used to wear these toe socks.  One Wednesday she found them in the basement and put them on Miles.  Doesn't it look like he has little monster feet!  So cute!

We found this little wagon in a consignment store for 4 bucks, Miles loves it, he tries to sit in it.  As soon as he gets in he says, "Weeee!"  I don't know if you can tell by the size, but it isn't quite big enough for him, he sure does try though.

Need I say more?

My dad turned 61 this year and we thought we (mom, Jamie, Jerritt, and us) would get him something he would never get himself...he loves it! (It's and iPad if your having a hard time)

Lil' blue eyes.....

We decided to try out the ECHO center one day.  Miles ran around that place yelling "What's dat!" He loved it.  We have been back a couple times since.  

They have a little play area for kiddos with a boat, a slide, and a little peek-a-boo turtle tank, you can poke your head up into the tank to get a different view.  

The poor little guy tuckered himself right out.  I went to check on him during his epic 2 1/2 hour nap (he usually naps around 1 1/2 - 2 hours) and this is how I found him.

Just a little update on the budding friendship.  Bronson had become much more tolerant of Miles, until he had to have knee surgery and then he became grumpy and sensitive.  I think it will pass when we are able to get into our old routine.  We are hoping he is going to be back to his old self by June.

For those of you that didn't get to see pictures of the crazy snow storm we got, here is one, I think at once we got about 3 feet of snow....we already had a bunch.  In this picture Dylan is digging a place for Bronson to go out a do his business.

Such cute mud boots!

Doesn't he look so cute in the sweater my Meme made for him!  Blue just like his eyes!  I was so excited when it fit him so nicely.  It is a very beautiful sweater!  Thank you Meme!

In early April Miles and I went down to the Waterfront with my dad.  Here's a little view of what it looked like down there at the time.  It is now unrecognizable, covered in drift wood with no access to the boathouse due to the high water.

Miles was having a great time!

Going for a little swing with Grampy

Chasing a pigeon....

And here we are, caught up to just two weeks ago.  In Colchester there is an event every year around the same time.  It is called "Touch a Truck".  They bring vehicles of all kinds to the high school parking lot and for the first hour kids get to run around and hang out in whatever they want.  It is a "quiet" time, not horns or sirens.  The second hours kids can blow the horns and make the sirens go.  Miles had a blast.  Here he is in a little (and I mean little) helicopter.

Later that same day, Dylan graduated with his associates from VTC.  He will be going back in the fall to continue on for his bachelors.  We are all very excited and proud of him.

Miles has begun a new adventure.  He is a child who LOVES to be outside and now that it is getting nicer out, and hopefully will stop raining sooner than later, we are able to get him out for bike rides.  Dylan went and bought him a little helmet, we had a buggy from Ronda and Dean.  He really likes to ride around in it, and doesn't he look darn cute in his helmet!

So, that's all for now, I will do my best to update the blog a little more frequently.  And come back soon, I am going to try to put together a little video for you so you can see the little man in action.  Hope all is well with you!  

Jenny xxoo

The Holidays 2010

First it has to be said, we are so fortunate to have so much family surrounding us.  We had such a wonderful Christmas weekend, we were able to visit, eat delicious food, and relax.  What more can one really ask for?  On Christmas Eve we headed up to Cambridge to see Dean, Ronda, Nick, Adam, and Great Gramma Audrey.  Dennis, Joanna, and Alyssa joined us as well.  Bronson and Toby played outside, which came in handy on Christmas day!

Miles spent a little time outside as well....

With his daddy.....

Grampa Dean drove the kids around on a sled behind his tractor.....

Miles and Dylan got a turn too and Bronson followed the whole way!

Miles played a little guitar with Uncle Dennis....

and decided it would be a good idea to put a basketball box over his head....oh the things he comes up with!

Playing with Aunt Joanna and his new basketball....

Christmas morning.... Santa brought Miles this little blue chair....and lots of other stuff....

Bronson loves his new toy that Vinnie and Melissa sent... can't wait to bring it to the lake this summer...

In the afternoon Jamie, Jerritt, and my parents came.  Jamie and I were very excited to get our "granny forks".  My mom has had one for years, it is possible that they are known by another name, but we have always called them granny forks.  They have wooden handles and very thin tines.  Perfect for poking potatoes, rotating hot dogs (Jamie's favorite use), and many other things.  You can only find them in antique shops now, as far as we know.  I have already used mine a couple of times!

Here's Mooma playing Santa, she is always so wonderfully meticulous when she passes out gifts on Christmas day.  

Awww, good picture........

See the tv in the background, that was our big gift from my parents and Dylan's mom and step-dad, a 46 inch flat screen.  We were speechless when they gave it to us!

Aunt Jamie got Miles this little recliner, it is the perfect size for him.....

And for Mooma.....

Uncle Dennis, Aunt Joanna, and Alyssa got Miles this little tent for Christmas, he LOVES it!  

He was having such a good time in it Christmas day.....

so was Mooma.....

On Sunday we went up to Alburgh to celebrate Christmas with everyone up there.  We had a lot of fun.  I rented some Wii games from blockbuster that were a bit of a hit.  Here are Martha, Libby, Steve (Libby's boyfriend) and Asa.  

Robert was excited to get his floor mats.....

Great Grampa Russell was there too, Miles was having a lot of fun playing with him!

That was our whirlwind Christmas weekend.  We had such a great time, Miles was such a trooper through it all.  It was so nice to see everyone, it was so nice to be able to spend some quality time with everyone.  We hope that you all had a wonderful Holiday season.  Happy New Year!!!  

Jenny xxoo