Crue's New Room

This is a pic of the old lockers I got for Crue's big boy bed. My dad painted them for me, and I got the pic that says "A Little Dirt Never Hurt" because it is totally Crue! It turned out great, and I'm sure I'll do some more tweaking to it before I'm completely satisfied! My neighbor said he couldn't wait to hear Crue banging on the metal before bed- which he did the first night! But after I yelled at him, he hasn't done it since! He seems to like his new bed- he loves hiding all sorts of little toys and books in the lockers! I also painted him the picture on the wall, which is him as a little fireman with our dogs next to him. It matches his room, and he loves pointing to the dogs and saying "No, No!"

Wet fall day

Crue, his cousin Brooke, and I went to Boo at the Zoo on Friday. It was a little rainy, but we had fun anyway. Most of the animals were out, and we got to do a little trick-or-treating. Most of the time we stayed dry, but we had to break out the umbrella a couple times. Crue and Brooke dressed up like cowboys, and had a lot of fun! After the zoo, we played around in the John Ball Park, and I got some great pics of both Brooke and Crue. Crue stayed clean for a while, until he was running way too fast, and fell right into a muddy puddle! After that, he only got wetter and dirtier! Even though he was a muddy mess, I still got some great pics of him!

Obama Supporters

This is a picture I took while waiting in line to see McCain and Palin in a Townhall Meeting in Grand Rapids. Look at the yellow sign closely- to me, it's the epitome of Obama supporters. It was funny that I saw her in the 1st loop of the line, and by the time we got back to that spot in the 2nd loop, she was gone. I'm pretty sure she realized her mistake. Let's hope she realizes her mistake of voting for Obama!

Matt's R&R

A Day at the Park

Matt, Crue, and I went to the park on a beautiful early fall day while Matt was home. Crue loved being there with daddy- I think he thinks I'm really boring somethimes! We saw a snake in the creek, and he said "sssss" it was so cute, and I was really proud that he knew what it was, b/c he had never seen one before! Matt is an amazing daddy, and we can't wait for the day when we can go to the park any time we want to!

Culver's Soccer Ball Event

Matt worked at Culvers handing out the food one day while he was home. People donated either money to buy soccer balls or a soccer ball to be sent to Iraq. (Crue thought he should be able to take one home- he's so selfish!) There were 140 balls donated, and Matt has been able to hand quite a few out so far. He said it's so amazing to see how excited the kids are to get these soccer balls. He said that a couple days ago, he almost started a riot, and the soldiers had to get back in their vehicles and lock the doors so that the kids wouldn't get in and take more balls! They have so little, and this is such a great way to give them just a little bit of fun in such a dark place! Thanks to everyone who came out and supported this great event!

Crue's Big Top

Here's a little glimpse into my world- which I like to call the "3-Ring Circus." Crue loves animals, so there are quite a few different kinds in our circus. His favorite is the black lab that he seems to be be-heading in the picture- he loves both his dogs- Bella and Bailey. He also loves his turtle named Camo- he feeds him 2 pieces of food in the morning and at night. He also has 2 goldfish- which are not pictured- named Maggs and Inge. Those are the animals in our circus, but there are many more that make guest appearances- like the aligator he is kissing, the goat he is feeding, and the cat he is taking a ride with.

Crue's "big boy" room

Crue is a "big boy" now! I found him a quilt that he loves- because it has trucks on it! I put him on the floor on his crib mattress at first, and he did really well. The first day he kept getting out and when I would go in to check on him, he had pretty much all his books in bed with him! After that he only got up a couple more times, and now he stays right in there! Now that he's in his twin bed, he wakes up in the morning, and knocks on his door to let me know that he's awake! I have some old mini lockers that I'm going to paint, and make into his headboard. Once I get it done, I'll put some pics up for ya'll to see!

Daddy's Home!

Matt got to visit us for 12 days in the beginning of September- we had such a great time while he was home! Here are some of the pics that we took when we picked him up from the airport. He had quite the welcoming committee! It took Crue about 20 min to warm back up to him, but after that, it was like he had his best friend home again!

There's a funny story with the balloons. We got a special pass to go past the security check point- and when we got up to where we take our shoes off and put everything on the belt- one of the balloons popped, and it seriously sounded like a gun shot! The security guards stopped everything immediately, and every single person in line was staring at me (of course I was the idiot who thought it would be a good idea to take balloons through a check point)! I naturally turned every shade of red, and the guy told me I had to put the balloons on the belt and through the security machine. That's when I decided not to take the stupid balloons- I don't know if I would have been able to get them through the machine even I wanted to! So that's a lesson learned- don't bring helium balloons when you're planning on flying!