adventures of v & j

Updates

2011-10-05T23:03:00.003-04:00

Busy times!! As per the pictures last month, Cooper is now @ school (the school year starts in Aug/Sept here - still hard to get my head around the timing) so off we go every morning @ 7.40am to drop him off in Saginaw and then pick him up again @ 12. Maxwell is 8 months old and quite delightful - sits up himself, starting to crawl (oh no!!) and is quite interactive. He claps his hands very enthusiastically, waves bye-bye (sometimes) and can say random words from time to time although at other times he can screech very loudly. He has one tooth (bottom, middle) and would be happy to spend all day long watching his big brother. Here are some pics from our annual pumpkin farm visit yesterday.....

I've been running quite a bit over the Summer, the other day I took my camera along on the main journey that I do. Here are the photos.

We're very excited to have just booked our tickets tonight for our down-under Christmas - the first since we've been married!!

AmeriKiwi boys

2011-09-25T21:22:00.003-04:00

We had a request from Frana's Dad in Nelson to get some pics of our AmeriKiwi boys as he was attending a Rugby World Cup function when the USA game was on and thought it would be fun to have some photos of them dressed up. It turns out that the American Consulate people were to be there too! So when we were visiting the other day, we quickly stowed them all into All Blacks/RWC/New Zealand shirts and snapped some pics. On account of the smallest ones we didn't have time to find both flags but 'Kiwi' the new kitten leapt into the background in place of the NZ flag. So here are the dual-citizens of New Zealand and the USA Baby Quinn (almost 6 months), Josh (3 1/2), Baby Max (almost 8 months) and Cooper.

6 months (whoops, make that 7 this week!) already!

2011-08-28T22:26:00.005-04:00

Here are a few pics of our littlest man. (I'll add the 'official' 6-month pictures once I line them up beside Cooper's as they still look like twins except one has brown eyes and the other has blue....)

He surely is a happy wee soul.

Cooper's first day at school

2011-08-22T23:44:00.002-04:00

I'm still not used to the fact that school starts here at this time of year and not at the beginning of the calendar year like it does down-under. Not to mention that it's amazing that Cooper is already starting school!! (and yes, a bit emotional leaving him there, although it is only for 3 1/2 hours for the first half of the year).

Apparently he did really well on his first day, despite following us out to the corridor when we were leaving and telling us that he thought he might come home with us after all (we stayed in the classroom for a story and all was well after that). Hopefully the next few days go as well as today did.... Here are the photos....

August 2011

2011-08-21T22:57:00.003-04:00

We have a big boy getting ready to start school this week (pics to come...) and a smiley little boy who is growing fast.

Link to pics from this week

2011-07-17T22:45:00.003-04:00

We just had our annual holiday (vacation) "Up North". Here are the pics

Two more photos of lego vehicles for Poppa

2011-06-27T21:41:00.006-04:00

Today's additions & changes compared with yesterday's vehicles

2011-06-13T16:16:00.001-04:00

Left is Mission Control for the space vehicles, mobile mission control, moon buggy that goes first, mobile post-hole digger incorporating a leaf blower, 2nd arrival moon buggy and finally a police golf-cart.

Cooper wanted me to take this picture for Poppa & Oskar

2011-06-12T09:30:00.004-04:00

Cooper has amassed quite a Lego collection since Christmas. He spends a lot of time each day making various things - sometimes following the instructions, sometimes looking at a picture (he has the airport set but he can convert it to an elaborate police station by looking at a picture in the catalogue) and often just 'making what I see in my brain because I have a picture-kind of brain'.

Here are today's vehicles - it's only 9am but by tonight they will no doubt have evolved into a completely different set of vehicles.
From the left we have:- a post-hole digger, a police boat, a crane, two golf buggies and a tractor/snowplow (click on pic to see the detail!)

Brothers!

2011-06-09T23:19:00.005-04:00

Max spends most of his day looking at Cooper!

Decorative rubbish bin

2011-06-09T23:16:00.004-04:00

Cooper very kindly put the kiwi fridge magnets on the rubbish bin "look Mummy, now you can think about New Zealand every time you put rubbish in the bin". Nice.

Bathtime for Baby Max and (Cooper's) Baby Alexander

2011-06-09T23:11:00.004-04:00

Kaua'i, photos from our 2011 Hawaii trip

2011-06-02T23:36:00.001-04:00

Here they are....click to follow the kodak gallery link
(Dad has some even cooler ones in an e-photo book on his computer)

Cooper and Max

2011-06-02T22:26:00.010-04:00

Cooper has really taken to the big brother role. Here are some pics of the two of them over the last couple of weeks...

Cooper's preschool graduation

2011-06-01T22:23:00.000-04:00

The school year is finished here in the USA (it's still hard for me to get my head around not finishing in December!) and Cooper has finished his year at pre-school. Here are some photos of the 'graduation ceremony'. They even had the school band playing 'Pomp and Circumstance' (aka Land of Hope and Glory).

Max

2011-05-31T23:06:00.004-04:00

Here is Max just before we went to Kauai, aged 3 months - sitting in a basket and another when he was hanging out in the TV room

And this one I took at LAX on the way....

May 27th, 4 months old going to visit his Ameri-kiwi friend Quinn... when we got there Quinn was dressed in his flash NZ gears too! (Quinn is 8 weeks younger!!)

Bathtime photos are always cool!

Fianlly some more Max pics as requested....

2011-04-14T10:49:00.010-04:00

.... I do need to upload some to Kodak gallery tho

We get a lot of these big gummy smiles!

And the other pics is why I'm managing to upload these at the moment - he's asleep on the dining room table!

Cooper has been being an amazing help over the past 10 weeks. Quite incredible really; he really seems to love him if often a step ahead of what I'm needing (probably because he's not sleep deprived!!). Here is a pic of the two of them... Max is definitely a "mini-Cooper" they are like twins but 4 years apart!

Same, same!

2011-03-10T16:31:00.005-05:00

Cooper 2006

Max 2011

Red & Black Day in support of the Christchurch Earthquake

2011-03-04T12:50:00.010-05:00

Sending love and thoughts to friends and family in Christchurch.... where the destruction and devastation is just horrific.

We managed to find a few red and black assorted random clothing items for us all to wear for Red & Black Day. Jac won't let me post the photo of all of us seeing as she ended up having to wear a large red & black polar-fleece. Cooper is looking to coolest in normal every-day wear, Jamie was not impressed about having to change his jeans for black track-pants, Hugh just happened to bring a red t-shirt with him along with black jeans and Helena is sporting a black velvet party-dress with satin bows that we happened to find in a cupboard here and was quite enamoured with the kiwi flag (see below)

First Family Photo

2011-02-28T21:33:00.002-05:00

Snuggling with Daddy this moring....

2011-02-26T11:13:00.001-05:00

Blizzard

2011-02-20T21:58:00.000-05:00

A couple of weeks ago we had a blizzard - the first since I have been here - most Winters we have several "Winter Storms" with 6-10 inches of snow at a time, but this was something else! We ended up with about 12 inches of snow (you can see the height of the new snow on top of the rubbish bin in the picture at the side) and with all the wind blowing it into snowdrifts, it was quite amazing. Downtown Jamie said the drifts and where they had snowplowed the roads clear were so high in the middle of the road you couldn't see cars passing going the other way. When we opened the back door between the house and the garage, it was so deep you couldn't go out. I had just got back from the hospital with Max and when I was up in the night feeding him, Mother and I were completely riveted to the upstairs window watching it all coming down along with the high winds. We've had several lovely warm days since, and the snow has almost completely melted and green grass is showing though on the front lawn, but...... tonight the forecast is for another Winter Storm with 6+ inches of snow! You would never guess with the sun shining outside so it will be interesting to see what happens!

One of our neighbours took this photo of our house during the blizzard.

Here is a video of the snowplow operators out and about the morning after....

http://www.mlive.com/news/bay-city/index.ssf/2011/02/video_bay_city_crews_tackle_he.html

Photos!

2011-01-30T07:56:00.001-05:00

Here are some photos of our littlest man....

New Addition

2011-01-27T18:26:00.005-05:00

We welcome our new baby boy "Maxwell Benjamin" into the world as of 7:54am.

He weighed 7 lbs 7 ozs and is 18.5 inches long.

He is a handsome man and Victoria say's when he opens his eyes he looks a lot like his

big brother Cooper.

Victoria and our "Baby Max" are healthy and happy and we are feeling quite blessed.

We thank everyone for their prayers and well wishes over the last few years, and especially

the last 10 months.

This week's event @ the house

2010-12-28T21:00:00.004-05:00

We thought it was about time we did some more construction.... the entire house is now full of dust from the jackhammering.

Christmas and other Christmas-related events

2010-12-26T10:57:00.000-05:00

Pictures here on KodakGallery

A message from Santa came for Cooper!

2010-12-23T08:02:00.001-05:00

http://www.portablenorthpole.tv/watch/u-xLNt-XFEY5ONUIz1ub_g

Ready for Christmas

2010-12-22T13:10:00.006-05:00

We had a smallish Christmas party a couple of weeks ago. It started with Cooper's library friends and their families and expanded just a little, so about 25-30 people. We had Qdoba Mexican bring most of the food and then watched the Grinch movie upstairs on the big screen. Jamie took these photos of the Christmas-ified house before everyone arrived.

Farmer's market

2010-12-04T00:59:00.009-05:00

Last year I wrote about the vege box we get from the Farmer's market (see here). The pic to the left is of a few of the things that came in our box today plus the oat bread I bought. The going-organic business was part of the 'fertility project' we embarked upon last year (with success so far- see info below....).

Well, this year we decided to also buy a Winter share as well as a Summer share as the farm is now offering that too. I asked Jean ("The Farmer-Lady" as Cooper calls her) if we could be the 'drop-off' point for everyone's boxes for Bay City and she agreed as she was looking for a central point to deliver people's orders to over Winter. Well, as with many things in our life, it has evolved to rather more than the initial plan and now we have a full-on Farmer's Market every 2nd Thursday in our garage!!!!

Here are some photos of the last couple of times.... as well as all the organic veges & herbs, they sell organic/free-range eggs, various different kinds of meat, home-made breads, cookies & pasta and more. It has been quite fun so far!

Here are some of friends from the gym I go to, Jodee and Emily loving their Brussels sprouts!

Cooper's 4th Birthday

2010-12-01T16:03:00.003-05:00

Although he says that his favourite present was "Rocky the Crane-Train", the scooter from Nonna & Poppa is the most played-with present!

Here are the photos from the big day....

Autumn 2010

2010-11-30T21:26:00.007-05:00

Autumn is giving way / has given way to Winter and I'm only just getting these photos up! We had some time at the Berkley house the other weekend and the lawn-care guys just happened to arrive on Sunday morning to clear away all the leaves. There were SO MANY!!!! Here they are using a leaf-blower to corral them and making a huge pile on the edge of the road for the rubbish collection people to collect (yes they just come along and suck them all up for us down there!). And of course a small boy had to spend some time jumping in the pile too!

We collected leaves on the way home from pre-school one day and made a tree - just like I used to as a child! The main difference between when I used to do this and Cooper doing it is the addition of sticks for branches. Here he is with the masterpiece wearing his new favourite red woollen pyjamas.

Halloween was a freezing cold night and we had about 120 children come to the door. Pretty-much dressed similarly to other years that I've posted about before as were the house decorations around the town (see Oct 2007 post here), but less ninjas and more super-hero types. Cooper dressed as a train engineer to give out the candy (seen here with a rather heavy bowl of it!) - the previous day at his pre-school 'Pumpkin Party' he was a fireman (link here to pics as well as to his pre-school 'Thanksgiving Feast') and at library story-time earlier in the week he was a construction-man. Each costume was a secret until he appeared wearing it for each event so I wasn't too sure what was going to appear each day that week!

We had Thanksgiving at Jamie's mom's house and it was such a relief not to have to have it here with all the cooking etc. Click for pics on Kodak here....

Birthday photos coming next.....

VERY exciting news...

2010-11-19T22:59:00.000-05:00

A huge big thank you to everyone all around the world who have been praying for us this last couple of years (and from what we know, there are a lot of you); the news is: we are pregnant!!! Yes, Cooper is going to have a brother towards the end of January and he is SO excited!!! (As are his parents!). We wanted to make the announcement once we had the 18 weeks scan (the week of the wedding pictures posted below), but had a bit of a scare needing amniocentesis and the results seemed to take ages, then we were away in Hawaii and lots of other things going on in the meantime, but it seems that now all is well and as of the last few weeks we can now get excited!

It is truly amazing, and if anyone else is in a similar situation to what we've been through with IVFs, miscarriage etc, we encourage you to check out Dr Marilyn Glenville's book (there is a summary of some of the info here on her website - order the book and 3 or 6 months worth of the vitamins for both women and men - I have a summary email I've sent on to about 20 or more friends and people I've met so email me if you need further info - V).

Hawaii 2010

2010-10-14T23:59:00.002-04:00

We just got back from 12 wonderful days in Hawaii with Mother and Dad. The first 4 days were in Waikiki at one of our favourite places, the Moana Surfrider and the rest at the Westin Ka'anapali Ocean Resort - our first time staying there and it was very, very cool!

The photos & captions here on KodakGallery tell the story!

.

Jamie's dream come true

2010-10-01T22:42:00.001-04:00

Well, after about 4 years of him wanting one of these things, I finally gave in and in September off he went to Oklahoma to buy his pride and joy, a 1997 Land Cruiser. Yes, you read that year correctly, 1997.
I don't get it despite trying really hard to understand and most certainly prefer to drive the other one that's in the garage (a 2008 model), but anyway.... Cooper's comment was "don't worry Mummy, you'll get to like it one of these days". We'll see about that.... it's not for lack of trying to like it though....
Here they are changing the wiper blades etc.

PS Direct any questions/comments to Jamie, not me!

The world's largest pipe-wrench?

2010-09-30T22:36:00.001-04:00

Cooper loves it when anyone comes to fix things at the house (and at 137 years old, that's relatively often!!). I had been asking the people that do things to our steam boiler to come and check the valves since we had the leak early last year (the one that resulted in a complete new bathroom with not much thanks to insurance as they said we should have done more 'preventive maintenance'), and to investigate the loud banging noises inside the boiler and radiators for about 4 years. I finally decided to phone them every day until they came and made it very clear to them that it needed to be done before hunting season when half the workers in Michigan vanish to the forests for weeks on end. After a couple of weeks Ed and Larry showed up. Along with a few other jobs from my list, they ended up cleaning out and re-packing ALL the valves on all the radiators as all except for possibly a couple had potential for leaks and installed a rather large tap by the boiler for me to drain the sludge out every month or so. Finally, things are much quieter - we'll see if it makes any difference at all in our bills over Winter or not.... We were amazed at the large pipe-wrench they needed to use to install the tap by the boiler - it took two men to lift it and to turn it!

A boy and his favorite mag - JPF

2010-09-23T20:56:00.005-04:00

Cooper was quite a sight with the latest issue
of his favorite magazine!

I do believe he was a bit distracted from the task at
hand though.

Sometimes they are like such little adults, eh?

1st day at preschool

2010-09-02T09:32:00.002-04:00

Today was Cooper's first day at preschool. He will be going Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9.30-11.30 (no that's not a typo, only 4 hrs a week and I think we both wish it was just a little more!!). The school is Immanuel Lutheran School and is an 8 minute walk up the road (for me that is, it's about a 25 min walk if my small friend is walking home!). There are two other children in his class that we already know from library storytime. Here are the photos.... we think they are very cute.

His teacher Miss Deb came for a home visit the other week - here she is talking with Cooper in his cubby-house which was of course the only room in the entire house that I had not tidied!!

A long and warm Summer (with lots of links to photos)

2010-09-01T15:36:00.008-04:00

Well, this is a bit of a long one, so go and get a cup of coffee and make sure you have time to sit and relax so we can have a catch-up! V. x

We have had a lovely long and VERY warm Summer this year. I posted on 8th June just after we got back from England that Summer had arrived and it certainly has stayed with us with lovely hot days ever since. I can't remember when it has been under about 27 deg C (about 80F) and it usually seems to be around the early-mid 30's (and humid!). Sorry I can't upload pics from England as Jamie was using his new camera and they are all a minimum of 3MB each so threaten to crash-out Kodak Gallery. Maybe when he makes a few of them smaller.....??
The weekend after we got back we had our annual church camp-meeting. This goes over 10 days covering 2 weekends and although we don't stay out there we usually go for the weekends and stay nearby at Jamie's colleague George's cabin on the Friday nights for 2-3 nights. Here is a view of the lake the cabin is on - very peaceful (I think I posted a similar photo last year too). As there are thousands of people staying on-site and many more attending the presentations, children's programmes etc there are entire safety teams for security, emergencies etc so as you can see in the photo, Cooper insisted on wearing his own fluorescent safety vest like them a lot of the time we were there. The following weekend Jamie had to work, so we were home and by then it was July!

Over the long 4th July weekend we went up north to Traverse City during the 'Cherry Festival' (Michigan is known for it's cherries). We were there this time last year too but I think next year we'll make it the following weekend as Bay City has some of the best fireworks in Michigan and we always seem to be away. We met up with our friends Gordon & Shelley and had some cool times. The US Air Force 'Blue Angels' did an amazing Air Show and we managed to find a spot not too close to the other 150,000 people watching. Another highlight was of course a visit to Moomer's farm where they make what has recently been voted the best ice-cream in America. Here are some pics of the weekend..... The hotel we stay in conveniently has a toy shop inside it and a small person we know just NEEDED to have a policeman costume! Here he is when we got home. Despite it being very, very hot all week, the costume only came off for bedtime for many days and everyone around town here was quite amused.
Once we got back it was time for Maria's annual visit which kicked off with the American Cancer Society fund-raising cruise that we support. This was the 3rd one (see July posts from the last 2 years!) and Maria has managed to be present for them all! The guy that organises it works in Jamie's department and his main fund-raising idea this year was to get people to sponsor him (per pound) to loose weight. He lost 66 pounds and raised over $10,000 - his website is http://cuttingcaloriesforcancer.com/ and he has quite an entertaining blog there too. he has just launched into phase 2 to loose another 50 before next year. Here are the photos I took (again, Jamie took heaps more as well including this one of Maria and I with Cooper and his friend Josh). As I mentioned in an earlier post, the Great Lakes Tall Ships Fleet was visiting. The local band playing on board was "Under Advisement" which is made up of four lawyers, the Chief District Court judge and an operating engineer. They couldn't decide on a name, so they followed the lead of the judge when he can't decide, and...took it 'under advisement'. They play mostly classic vinyl and a few songs recorded after 1979. For some reason they just crack me up and thankfully this year the volume was a little more controlled than last year. It's also a bit weird to read in the newspaper "Chief District Court Judge Timothy J Kelly said...." when the only times I've ever seen him is singing into a microphone with his sunglasses on! As you can see in the pics Cooper and Bella enjoyed being part of the mix with them to the amusement of the other people rocking along on the dance floor! Here is a pic of when the ships were in - Cooper and I were standing up near the main bridge into Bay City and if you click on it and look closely you can see Maria riding a bike down below!
Towards the end of Maria's 3 weeks we had 4 days at Berkley which included some highlights such as shopping at Somerset Mall and visiting the Detroit Zoo. As you will see in these photos at the zoo on Kodak, Cooper's friend Elana met us there. Here is my small friend helping me clean the Berkley house!

In mid-August, Cooper and I had a day-trip with some friends up to Camp au Sable which is a nature & wildlife preserve owned by the church here in Michigan. I hadn't been there in Summer, only in Winter before Cooper was born (see post from about Feb 2006). There are cabins where you can stay and a big log-cabin lodge. Jamie used to go there for Summer camp when he was a boy so it was kind of cool to take Cooper here. It ended up being another scorcher of a day but none of us had thought to bring swimming things so the children went in with their clothes on! Some of the photos are here

Cooper's friend Elana and her parents came to stay the following weekend (Aug 21st) and we had a lovely time. Sheila had just finished her radiotherapy (which was preceded by chemo and surgery) so we wanted her to get some rest and relaxation which according to her blog, was achieved! Here are Cooper and Elana at around 9.30pm having a snack of strawberries in his little house outside.

In August Cooper also started gymnastics which he is really loving. Here are some pics from his 2nd session of the 3 he went to. We've just booked him in for the next term which is once a week for 9 weeks.

Each year our church puts on a Vacation Bible School (VBS) for local children. For many of them it ends up being the highlight of their Summer holiday and they talk about it all year whenever you see them (most are people's grandchildren or friends of friends) and families plan their vacations away to make sure they will be back in time to come along. Thankfully I wasn't running it this year which I seem to have ended up doing by default the last 2 years. Cooper loved it although by the concert on Thursday night he was rather exhausted. The photos here are mainly of the singing, but they had other activities, treasure hunts, outdoor games etc.

Following that, Jamie had the weekend as well as Friday and Monday off and we went to stay at Berkley again (Maria, we missed you!!) and managed to fit in a lot of events. On the way there on Friday we stopped for The Wiggles concert. It was very cool and the three of us all enjoyed it! Here are some of the pictures.... Cooper was going to wear his Captain Feathersword outfit but got a bit shy at the last moment so ended up wearing an interesting combination of his orange VBS t-shirt from that morning with the Captain Feathersword pants!
We caught up with several good friends over the weekend and had some delicious meals including European Raclettes at the Toppenbergs (Margit is from Austria) and the best Indian food I've ever had in the USA at the Shah's (I rationed the leftovers they gave us to take home for about 5 days!). Cooper had a great time as both families have each have 2 boys close to his age. (Comment in the car "I'm so excited to go and play as they will have lots and lots of boy-toys").
On Sunday, our church pastor Jeff and his fiancée Stephanie who stayed with us every weekend we were home between the beginning of November and the end of May got married. It was a really hot day and we were grateful for time between the wedding and reception to stop for some iced frappe drinks at a nearby Starbucks! Here is a pic from the wedding for those of you who have met them, there were about 20 (or more) people in the wedding party and the bridesmaids etc wore a turquoise-blue. You may be able to link to some better pictures here on their photographer's site. This was the 2nd wedding we have attended within a month but we still didn't manage to get the 3 of us in a photo together so here is one of each of us with shy-guy in his suit! The wedding couple had an engagement photo-shoot back in May and it was interesting that photos of them in different places around our house appeared in both the invitation (the staircase shot here) and also in the wedding programme!

The final day of our long weekend at Berkley was doing chores around the Berkley house, having new blinds installed there and then dinner with friends Sam & Mark and their two boys before heading for home. On the way home Cooper was reading 'Go Dog, Go' and as it was getting darker we heard a voice from the back seat say "hey, I need some light back here", we tried to explain that we weren't going to turn any light on as it is more difficult to drive with lights on inside the car, when 'bang' the book was lifted up to turn on the ceiling light-switch and we heard an exclamation of "ah, that's better". Jamie asked for Cooper to read us some of the book and the reply came back 'no, I'm done reading, this is my com-pewn-ter (ie computer) now' (the book was sideways and he was typing on it); Jamie asked something about it to which the reply was "Daddy, don't tell me any questions when I'm online"!!

So, a busy Summer which has zoomed by, especially August. And then a big week this week just gone with the beginning of preschool on Thursday! I'll do a separate post about that (actually by the time you read this you probably will have read that first as these things post up in date order!).

(PS added Sept 8th: If you include the 1st day at preschool, there should be 8 different kodak-gallery photo albums to check out!)

Summertime BBQ-ing

2010-08-13T14:31:00.003-04:00

It was been so hot since about the end of June (30-35 C every day) and we have hardly had any BBQs because the thought of being outside with a hot fire etc has been a bit much! But tonight we are having a BBQ with the neighbours as Bella just turned 4. (plus I finally finished water-blasting (power-washing) the patio so it looks fresh and clean!). Here are the kebabs Cooper and I just made. For some reason I always have to take a photo of kebabs whenever I make them. We used beetroot (that's "beets" here in the USA) which I had previously roasted, and I also grilled (broiled) the capsicum (peppers) which came from the Garden Gate Farm and were a light yellow and purple although in grilling them they went a much lighter colour. Lately I pre-boil the zucchini so it doesn't stay hard or dry out on the BBQ. Today we're trying a vinaigrette marinade on them from epicurious.com

Pic for Oskar

2010-08-11T22:24:00.003-04:00

Hi Oskar,
It was nice to talk with you on the telephone yesterday. Here is a picture of Cooper in his kitchen which is part of our big kitchen that we were telling you about. We call it 'Cooper's red kitchen' because as you can see, the fridge, cupboards, microwave, oven and shelves are all red. He would love for you to come and play with him in it. In the picture he is holding his wooden eggs that you wanted to know about - don't they look exactly like real ones? You can see some cereal in the cupboard and a pretending loaf of bread that you can really cut with a knife. The toaster pops up and the jug makes a real boiling noise when he is pretending to make coffee! The cookies come in a roll and you cut them apart and then you put the icing on top. They stick together and onto the special baking tray with velcro! All his friends seem to like to talk on the telephone that is hooked on the wall by the sink, and to turn the taps on (but luckily real water doesn't come out of the taps!)
Love Aunty Victoria xx

Updated pic of us

2010-08-10T22:16:00.004-04:00

Some other people who went to the same wedding that Cooper was at!

2010-08-10T18:44:00.002-04:00

Here is Cooper looking very smart at
the wedding of Branden & Kim Barkema in
Holland, Michigan at the Windmill Island Park.
It was very beautiful!

United Airlines

2010-08-10T18:23:00.000-04:00

I've been meaning to post these links for ages and ages.... a special tribute to everyone who has flown on United Airlines when coming to visit us (usually from Chicago-O'Hare to our local MBS airport) and lost their luggage. It seems to happen about 60-70% of the time and takes 12-72 hours for it to arrive at our front door. At least it comes eventually.....

Song 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YGc4zOqozo&feature=related

Song 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-UoERHaSQg&feature=channel - make sure you watch this one right to the very end , past all the credits

Song 3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P45E0uGVyeg&feature=channel

I still think the first one is the best.

BTW, several of our recent visitors have flown from Auckland (or Dubai!) to Atlanta and then on Delta Airlines to Flint Airport (about 40 min from us). No complaints or issues and all very straight-forward with no lost luggage or run-ins with security screening people.

Pic for Oskar

2010-06-16T13:04:00.004-04:00

Oskar, Cooper's Captain Feathersword costume arrived today so we will be all ready for the Circus concert that you went to with Mummy & Poppa when The Wiggles come here to America in August. He was a bit nervous to put it on, especially the eye-patch, but his friend Isabella was here visiting so she tried it on first and then he wanted a photo for you to see him.

The Train Engineer

2010-06-08T19:28:00.006-04:00

I've previously put some photos of Mr Chef-Man/Restaurateur, The Fireman, Bob the Builder etc, and here is the Train Engineer that frequently arrives in our bedroom early in the morning (since we got back from London, the last 2 days he has been fully dressed like this ready for the day before 6am!) BTW: Check out the red caboose at the back of the train!

Summertime comes to Bay City!

2010-06-08T19:19:00.004-04:00

Last week before we dashed off to London for a week to meet our new niece/cousin Baby Helena, we had a week or more of amazingly warm weather (in the 80's F, late 20's C). The waterfront area by the river here has been revamped and here we are spending an evening walking around down there. It will be filled with 50,000 or more people next month when the Tall Ships come for a few days.

My favourite new piece of furniture!

2010-06-08T18:56:00.003-04:00

Sequel to January's Living Room update

2010-06-08T17:17:00.004-04:00

We finally had the pictures put up that have been languishing on the floor for 6 months due to their immense weight, and also the light in the front entrance hall (it required moving the existing light and several holes drilled in the ceiling!). Quote from Scott the Builder "and exactly why was it that you didn't tell me about this when we removed the bathroom floor up above here last year?" Answer: well, Jamie hadn't picked out the cool light yet!

Our bedroom

2010-05-08T14:07:00.000-04:00

We bought some cool art by local artist Deborah Fuller to add to our eclectic collection when we were in Akaroa, NZ. Being Valentine's Day I couldn't argue with Jamie's choices! This one is above our bed (and the hearts are a lot redder in reality than in this photo).

And the others are at the other end of the room.

Chef-Man

2010-05-08T13:19:00.001-04:00

I finally got a photo of the chef-man/restaurateur I referred to in an earlier post.
Oskar, Cooper has SO many uses for the apron you sent him!!! Often it is his builder's apron as then he can add more tools into the pockets as well as carry them in his tool belt.
But when he is having his afternoon sleep, he is still our "wee man".

New Stuff!

2010-05-06T13:56:00.002-04:00

A big 'cheeeeeeesey' smile to show how much he is loving the new bike!!! (funny that it's the same dandy style as MY first blue tricycle back in 1971!). "Mummy I have a new R-E-D B-I-K-E" announced Cooper the day after he got it! And no, it didn't come with the toolbox attached, that was added by a small boy....
Cooper is quite into spelling at the moment: I was woken yesterday morning by a face right in front of mine at 7:05AM saying "Mummy I can spell something new F-I-R-E T-R-U-C-K-S because if you put an 'S' on the end of T-R-U-C-K it makes trucks and I already know how to spell fire, F-I-R-E". Not bad considering he is not even 3 1/2 yet!

And another 'cheeeeeeeese' for the camera the next morning opening a parcel that came in the mail from Nonna (complete with note on it saying "posted by Poppa"!!).

Springtime in Bay City

2010-05-05T13:29:00.001-04:00

Here are some pics for all our friends/family who have been to visit during the snowy Winter or grey days of early Spring/late Autumn.....

We always love Terry's Garden no matter what the season (click for link to newspaper article about his porch which is just as interesting). There is a huge variety of different tulip colours along with hyacinths, daffodils and other early Spring flowers which you can see better if you click on the pics. I think the huge peonies in late Summer are probably even more spectacular though.

This other house is in the opposite direction from us down 5th St and is kind of laid out as a mirror image to ours, it must be by the same architect as if you look inside it as we did at Christmas (or at the website here where you'll see they are a little more OTT than us in decor and furnishings!), the wood interior and staircase are the same. Both sides of the house have had quite a lot of tulips planted there recently.

Visit to the Bay City Fire Station

2010-04-26T21:06:00.007-04:00

I've been meaning to take Cooper to visit the fire station for about a year now, but we never quite got to it until today, despite the guys always inviting us to come and see them - for those who haven't been here, the fire station is on the corner of the next block in front of us, we can see the back of it from the house and the engines go past several times a day and often pull over to say hi or wave out. Since getting a fireman costume for Christmas, we often have 'Fireman Sam' here at the house (note the special fireman face in the photo here taken in January with pyjamas underneath!) and he spent a good half-an-hour climbing all over one of the fire trucks when they were parked in the street for the St Patrick's Day parade last month. So today when we walked past, the doors were open and Fireman Paul showed us around and even slid down the pole as a demonstration! (yes they actually do have poles just like in the storybooks!!!). Here is Cooper outside the firestation - the photo doubles as a "Springtime in Bay City" photo with the tulips and blossoms and some others here in the kodakgallery.

Cooper learns to write

2010-04-26T20:49:00.006-04:00

All of a sudden our boy who is obsessed with reading but has had very little interest in drawing pictures or writing, announced he could write letters! Last week: 'Mummy I can write an 'O' (and drew a kind of wonky O), and "I can do an 'E' - look I just think really hard in my brain and it makes my hand go" and this week wrote his entire name (with a wee bit of help on the 'tail' of the R) which became the first item to make it to the fridge door. We think he's not too bad for not yet 3 1/2! It kind of helps that spelling his name fits perfectly to the 'Mickey mouse song' tune - not that he has heard the real version yet!). We visited a local pre-school and he took this to give to the teacher so she would remember his name, but then decided he would make her another one sometime as he wanted this to come home with him!

Finally, finally, the Down-under photos from February!

2010-04-22T22:46:00.005-04:00

It was taken a while to wade through all the pics... but what a great time we had!!! A week in Auckland, a week in the South Island - Queenstown, Milford Sound and a road trip from Queenstown to Christchurch before flying to Sydney where Jamie had 4 days with us and Cooper & I stayed another week or so. So lovely to catch up with so many friends and family - thank you for taking the time to see us and to keep in touch on an ongoing basis. I've separated out the photos into various categories to make things easier.

Friends and Family in NZ & Australia

Highlights taken by VF

Jamie's photos Auckland & Queenstown

Jamie's photos more South Island incl Milford Sound & Akaroa

.

Visitor on the porch

2010-04-20T21:04:00.002-04:00

A visitor has moved onto our front porch - a robin has made a nest on top of the light (you might have to double-click the photos to see her properly)! She has been there for about 10 days now, and Cooper & I roped off the porch as she gets very bothered when people come near. I have no idea how many eggs are on the nest, but I guess time will tell once we see more beaks poking over the top. The nest appeared quite suddenly so must have only taken a few days to make.

Playing Shops - the latest fave game

2010-04-12T20:58:00.002-04:00

At Nonna & Poppa's in February, Cooper fell in love with their pretend cash register. I found one here for $15 and it has been just the best investment! The apparatus above forms a "regular" shop, but other additions make it become a library, a bookshop (yes two different games!), a restaurant, a hardware store and other variations. The restaurant is the most involved game as he takes the orders as a waiter, goes to his kitchen and cooks the food, calls for deliveries via the microphone on the cash register, and brings the bill after you've eaten the food. All wearing an apron with the pockets stuffed full of utensils!

Living Room update

2010-01-26T21:29:00.001-05:00

Redesigned living room - has been a work-in-progress over the past year with special thanks to international design advisor Helen, fabric from Carol, upholstery by Terry and the local furniture shop/designers (the last 3 all within a block of the house!). Still need to get the pictures on the wall but they are SO heavy I fear it will take some serious construction/reinforcement. BTW if anyone comes across a cool chandelier that would work in this room, take a photo/email the link to me!!

Special thanks

2010-01-14T21:35:00.005-05:00

Thank you to the many special friends who sent cards, flowers and messages of support following our 10week miscarriage last week. It was/is a rough ride
.

December 2009 photo links

2009-12-31T23:55:00.004-05:00

December whizzed by FAST! We met Mother & Dad in Hawaii on Dec 1st for a couple of weeks and had a very awesome time; then came home to the snow and getting ready for Christmas and our post-Christmas Christmas party on 26th.

Click here for Hawaii pics

Click here for Christmas pics

Too busy to take party pics of the 45 or so great friends who came, but here are a couple the day after of some of the over-nighters....

Elana with Aunty Camille

Morning storytime with Aunty Liz

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!

Birthday photos

2009-11-28T22:45:00.000-05:00

Click here for the photos.....

Birthday Cake

2009-11-27T23:00:00.004-05:00

Big day tomorrow.... Cooper will be 3! He has been saying since July that he wants a cake like Oskar's with coloured dots and sprinkles on it. Somewhere along the line he also has mentioned cupcakes (I assume because a friend had cupcakes for her 2nd birthday and the picture of his 1st birthday has him with a cupcake). So I found a lady who makes GIANT cupcakes and gave her the photo of Oskar's cake and this is what she came up with! It is the size or a normal birthday cake (but taller!). When I picked it up today and we let him have a peep inside the box, the look on his face was priceless!! (Yes, I will add the 3 candles in the morning)

New big boy bed

2009-11-10T22:46:00.004-05:00

Seeing as there is an almost 3-year old in our house, it was time for a new bed. We talked about it a bit and Cooper announced that he 'would like a bunk bed for my big-boy bed please mummy'. So eventually off we went to do some shopping and he was quite taken with one that had it's own staircase (as were we, as a staircase seems a little more safe than a ladder). So we ordered it (along with various matching pieces of furniture), and a few days before it was to be delivered Cooper said 'I would like black sheets on my bed'. I tried to ignore the request, but it was repeated several times over about 3 days including in the shop where we went to get the sheets and duvets (comforters) - sheets etc plural as of course you need double of everything being bunks. So trying to get something to go with black sheets was interesting - couldn't be orange as that would look like Halloween which was in full swing at the time; so I found a green to match the stripe in his curtains that had white spots on it. When the bunks arrived and I was making up the beds there was a bit of a commotion about not wanting the spotted side, only the nice green side of the duvet. So here is the psychedelic green underside which for Cooper is the outside (and does NOT match the stripe in the curtains!). You are forgiven for thinking that we have a teenager in the house!!!
Luckily his room is quite big as the bunks are quite huge. On the left underneath is a writing desk and the double-bed underneath has wheels on it so good for moving to vacuum. The stairs have drawers in them which is quite cool.

A lot of time is spent just playing on the top during the day! He does sleep on the bottom at night but is allowed to have his afternoon sleep on top if he wants. Here is the view from the top!

A small boy and LOTS of Autumn leaves!

2009-10-31T21:42:00.001-04:00

Photos of Cooper in the front yard playing in the leaves.....

Comings and Goings....

2009-10-18T09:15:00.006-04:00

We have had a lovely warm yet busy Summer here in Michigan. In mid-July Maria arrived from Dubai via New Zealand for 3 weeks, then at the beginning of August Jac jetted in from London with Hugh joining her for the last 2 weeks followed by Mother & Dad for a very short visit last week. All of a sudden it is October and the leaves are turning and the nights are getting chilly.... where did the Summer go???? Here are some of the things we have been up to....

On July 21st I had the final step of my 5-year journey through bureaucracy - the ceremony in which I got my US Citizenship! (now, no nasty comments from kiwis please like someone made when I did the Michigan quiz on Facebook.... you really don't have to worry, I don't have to forfeit my NZ citizenship or hand in the passport).
Usually the ceremony takes place in a courthouse, but once a year (starting last year) they randomly select people to 'take the oath' at a baseball game!! The news report is here, the photos are here.... We had an official picture taken on our way out of the stadium when the game was almost over - I think I look relieved, Jamie looks extremely happy and Cooper looks tired! For those sporting buffs, it was cool that the Detroit Tigers actually beat the Seattle Mariners that night!

The next day Maria of Arabia arrived and we greeted her with bran muffins and hot chocolate. The following evening was the 2nd Annual River Cruise raising funds for the Cancer Society. Funnily enough Maria was present for last years cruise as well! We took our neighbours with us as well and here are some pics.....

I booked tickets for 'A day out with Thomas' when Jac was here. Cooper took the day VERY seriously (check out his face in most of the photos!).

These are the cool flowers that arrived from Jac after she left....

We had a very short visit from Mother & Dad - Dad was only here about 3 days! Cooper was especially happy to see them again! We had yet another cool BBQ on the patio on the Sunday night they were here. (Thanks to Mother for the photo!)

Fresh Organic Veges all Summer long

2009-10-17T23:55:00.010-04:00

I've been meaning to post this for ages. I think I mentioned last Summer about the Bay City Farmer's Market on Tuesdays and Thursdays where we get most of our veges during the Summer. Well one of the vendors there is a CSA (Community-Supported Agriculture) farm and so this time last year we signed up for a box of random veges each week along with garden flowers and organic eggs. The farmer brings the box from the 'Garden Gate Farm' to the market every Thursday and Cooper and I walk down and pick it up. Here are the contents of the box from a couple of weeks ago. The taste of the vegetables reminds me of back in the old West Melton days when Dad had a huge vege garden and Mother had the chooks (chickens) for our fresh eggs. Jac & I used to be mortified whenever people came to visit and Mother would send them home with a couple of cabbages, a bunch of carrots and some broccoli. Such an embarrassing thing to do (until you are an adult and have to do your own shopping!!).
PS: FYI Jeremy the farm only uses heirloom seeds!

Latest train layout

2009-10-17T23:55:00.008-04:00

Here is the updated train layout - with special thanks to Poppa Smith for making it so that any train can get to any place and rejigging the rails in less than 45 minutes to achieve this;

and also to Christopher M who is now 10 and donated his Thomas collection of trains and rails to Cooper - essentially doubling the size of the Island of Sodor in the Train Room!

Sequel to the Bat Problem

2009-10-17T23:42:00.008-04:00

Remember the issues we had with bats over the past 3 years? (See previous post here...). Well this year we hired 'Critter Man' to come and deal with them. This involved about a dozen visits, extremely long ladders and 2 days of a 'man-lift' to get him up high enough to inspect every square inch of the house, fill in holes and gaps (they can get in though holes less than a centimetre in diameter). In several places he put one-way traps in place so that they could get out to get food but not back in, thus necessitating them finding alternative permanent residences!

You can imagine the excitement from a small boy as we watched him from various windows as well as from outside. He was also very helpful in also trimming some branches that were scraping the roof on the 3rd floor the last day he had the man-lift and the guys from the city were very happy to have to only deal with the already-cut branches. Here they are with their tricky mulching machine which Cooper was of course very impressed with!

News update : (

2009-10-16T22:44:00.001-04:00

Dear Everyone.
As some of you may know or have wondered, we have been lying low since early 2008 and have been rather less social than previously due to a multitude of tests & investigations for us both between Feb & Nov 2008 followed by several rounds of IVF between December 2008 and July this year. The process has been hugely difficult both physically and emotionally (way more so than we could have ever imagined it would be). We have not done a lot of things we would have liked to as up until now this has been priority No. 1. So apologies to everyone we haven't been in touch with, to all the friends we wanted to have to come and stay over Summer, and for not getting down-under to visit this year.

The reasoning for presenting this info. in this rather public forum is two-fold: explaining what we've been up to for the past 18 months or more and requesting respectfully, that questions about a sibling for Cooper be held off unless the situation changes (in which case of course we will let you know).

For the few family and friends who knew about this situation already, thank you for all your love and support during this difficult time.

J & V xx

PS. The above-noted difficulties stress to us all the more, how blessed we are with Cooper who came about in the 'routine' way.

The Sabbath Boy

2009-10-15T22:38:00.005-04:00

For quite some time Cooper didn't like wearing new clothes at all, even clothes that he had worn several times (but thankfully not his everyday clothes). So every Saturday morning, getting ready for church was quite a drama. So what I've been doing for the last year or so is to get Cooper to put his clothes out himself on Friday night and the next morning he lies down beside 'The Sabbath Boy' and we swap the clothes over! Here is the Summer boy (and his special shoehorn!).

Cooper Singing

2009-10-15T22:29:00.006-04:00

Cooper has finally started singing but usually it is in his bed or in a different room to where I am. Finally I managed to catch one of his songs.... This one is The B-I-B-L-E (preceded by what sounds like "would you like me to sing it again? 3 and 4" - probably Aunty Maria the music teachers influence of 'counting in' before starting a song!), other favourites are the ABC song and the Bob the Builder theme song - which he seems to know ALL the words for.

Autumn in Michigan

2009-10-02T22:25:00.001-04:00

The leaves are turning and we had our annual visit to a pumpkin farm after which I had to make some pumpkin soup. I decided to roast them first and thought they looked like something out of a food magazine when I was taking them out of the oven!

Back soon!

2009-10-01T21:09:00.001-04:00

Sorry for the lack of postings of late - we have had a busy Summer here in the USA. Updates are being created in draft and will post later in the week.....

Kiwi-style dinner

2009-07-07T18:42:00.001-04:00

Jamie thought that tonight's dinner was quite a 'bloggable' event. The salad on the left was from Zarbo's recipe book and was roasted beetroot (beets here in the US), cherry tomatoes, haloumi cheese, fresh basil and a very interesting but delicious dressing of vinegar, olive oil, garlic, S&P and crushed fennel seeds. (On the right, just standard veges - green beans and green/yellow zucchinis with onion & garlic)

Pics for Oskar

2009-06-23T13:17:00.007-04:00

Today we had an exciting morning with a broken down bus right outside our window. Just like when Thomas the Tank Engine broke down and Bertie bus came to collect the passengers; another bus had to come and take the passengers to where they were going. We watched all the people get off and onto the other bus and then the driver lifted up the bonnet (hood) to see what was wrong. Then along came a mechanic in his truck and they worked out (with us watching) that one of the belts was broken. Cooper got to climb up some little steps and into the bus-driver's seat and see all the levers and touch the big steering wheel. The bus driver poked his head through the window and pushed some buttons that made the seat go up and down whilst Cooper was sitting on it. And then the world's biggest tow-truck appeared (at which point we came inside as that was a little bit too scary!) and towed it away.

Back Patio Pic for Mother of the fast-growing clematis in flower

2009-06-11T17:07:00.001-04:00

Pic for Aunty Rebecca & Oskar of latest track layout

2009-06-11T17:06:00.000-04:00

Cooper ready for church in his new "flash gears"

2009-05-24T23:20:00.003-04:00

Life in Bay City....

2009-05-24T22:59:00.012-04:00

Here are Jamie and Cooper on the driveway in front of the house and garage a few weeks ago at the end of Winter.

And a close up now of the blooms of Spring! It's like the plants are on steroids the way they grow here - my Virginian creeper on the back patio grows several centimetres a day!

My small friend & I in the local coffee shop....

Family self-portrait by Jamie

Did I really NEED another vice????? - JPF

2009-05-22T21:27:00.003-04:00

This compelling little bit showed up in my e-mail entirely unsolicited, and I am beginning to think these Starbuck-y people are filled with evil-ness........

Pictures from this week..... click on the links

2009-05-03T15:51:00.004-04:00

Here is a series of pics on the kodakgallery of Cooper being a fireman when we were cleaning the driveway - rather hazardous for me.....

...and some delightful ones of him & Bella playing in the rain

....and our first Patio Party of 2009!!!

Looking smart (and grown-up!) for church @ breakfasttime

2009-05-02T08:36:00.000-04:00

Cooper being Daddy (including hat!)

2009-04-24T23:43:00.002-04:00

Back patio happenings

2009-04-23T21:49:00.002-04:00

Now that the weather is not so cold, we are getting out a bit more. Here is Cooper sorting out payment at the petrol pump on the back patio (the car is Bella's). He is liking his new sunglasses so much that they often appear at breakfast time (it is hard for me to not laugh!).

Bella's dog Sophie lives on both sides of the fence (the gate is usually open), here she is tired after a chasing game all around the patio. When the little ones get tired of her following them, they can now climb upstairs in Bella's new fort (Brave Bella goes down the slide standing up).

Jamie's latest cooking extravaganza

2009-04-08T23:38:00.004-04:00

Here are some pictures of what Jamie cooked for dinner recently....

This is a spinach parmesan custard with parmesan crisps.

The soup is Greek lemon egg rice soup (Avgolemono) - FABULOUS!!

Discovering a magnifying glass @ the Berkley House

2009-03-27T22:06:00.003-04:00

Ye olde trucky-truck passes a major MILEstone!

2009-03-27T22:01:00.002-04:00

Run, run as fast as you can, you can't catch me I'm the Gingerbread Man!

2009-03-13T22:03:00.005-04:00

Cooper loves his gingerbread man book that Nonna bought him when she last came here.
We made gingerbread men the other day and he went running to get the book and then decided he was the fox putting the gingerbread man on his nose and then eating him"because he is REALLY a cookie". More pics here....

News update from the Bay City Times

2009-02-23T12:54:00.004-05:00

Check this link out!!
My USA-adapted version of Mother's nutmeat balls is famous!!!

Train pics for Cooper's Poppa and Aunty Rebecca

2009-02-22T15:51:00.004-05:00

We have a new train layout (the other one was partially dismantled whilst I was in the shower one morning). I thought you both might like to see the 3 different circular parts and the new level crossing! I assume you saw the YouTube video I sent you of the train action too? Here is a link to the pictures.... V. x

Lost Luggage

2009-02-22T11:28:00.002-05:00

For all those who have been to visit us and had their luggage not arrive - we now know this is a common occurrence - seems to happen about 50% of the time here in the USA; here is a news article from NZ . It seems that losing luggage is so rare there that it makes news headlines!!

Snow, snow, snow....

2009-02-21T11:44:00.005-05:00

As I write this we are having a snowstorm. We are expecting about 6-8 inches and it is supposed to fall at the rate of 2 inches per hour!! Amazing. I am trying to get a series of photos out the front window every 15 minutes which I will post (if it works out ok). I have been meaning to put a few pics up from the last big snowstorm in early January but havent got to it so here they are.... You can see how deep the snow was and the other one a snowblower action-man shot of Jamie clearing all the footpaths (sidewalks) and driveway etc.

Between then and now we had a bit here and there, but as of yesterday it had all completely melted, so today's will sort us out for a few more weeks of Winter I daresay!

Bob the Builder

2009-02-16T12:00:00.002-05:00

Most days I seem to call Cooper "Bob" more that I call him by his real name. The tools are ever-present which can be a bit of a pain in a house the size of ours on so many levels as we have to take them with us wherever we go. His old training walker has been resurrected to become a trailer which makes the moving somewhat easier, but when the trailer, toolbox and wagon full of bricks all need to come up a couple of flights of stairs, it is quite a mission. Here are some pics from the last few weeks. Here is the link...

In Cooper's pocket

2009-02-16T09:55:00.003-05:00

Cooper is definitely Jamie's son. On Friday he managed to fit 3 cameras into his sweatshirt pocket (I have seen Jamie with 2 real cameras in one pocket!). The next day we were going to a concert at church (for those who know 'Singing Bob' , 'Grandpa Bob' and 'Mr Benny' as Cooper calls them, they sing in a Christian-country-honky-tonk manner with Cooper being particularly impressed with their guitar-playing skills) in the evening. Cooper wouldn't let me empty his pocket (one pocket, mind you - the other was empty for his hand) before we left and various things kept coming out as we were listening to the music. He carried the pot from his red kitchen under his arm (not sure if there was some connection from the cooking school that we had at church the previous week to do with the pot), but when we got home and he was in bed, I emptied out the one pocket and this is what I found!!

Valentine's Day

2009-02-14T10:20:00.000-05:00

Here are Jamie's contrasting Valentine's Day treats - sugar-free jelly and a dark chocolate!!

It's a little early (and cold0 for outdoor tulips, so I have been buying inside ones growing in pots!

Some Updates....

2009-01-22T17:14:00.013-05:00

Cooper is VERY into being a builder of late. His Poppa gave him some tools, as did his Aunt Andrea and Uncle Jon so we have some wherever we go (whether at Bay City or Berkley). Here he is first thing in the morning with a tool belt over his pyjamas, during the evening (with Jamie in the background on the computer!) and also a picture I took when Jamie was working - we were going to visit him at the hospital for dinner and Cooper wanted to wear his builder-man toolbelt, his doctor's pager and his beads! Certainly covering all career options there.... construction worker, radiologist and rock-star!

I had a few issues recently trying to fix a toy bulldozer with some superglue. Jamie thought the moment was very "bloggable"

We are also quite obsessed with trains in out house (well, two of us are!) Here is the latest Thomas the Tank Engine layout (yes it was me who got carried away buying tracks and 'voice recognition' trains for Cranky the Crane to greet by name!).

Currently the collection includes Thomas, Percy and the Red Cabose (from Nonna on Cooper's birthday), Molly & coal tender, Jack the Digger, Bertie Bus and Toby the Tram (from Santa) and the talking James and Edward along with their coal tenders (who mysteriously appeared after a shopping trip to Toys R Us!!)

Lost and Found

2009-01-08T16:58:00.003-05:00

Did any of our recent guests loose a navy-blue sweatshirt with a collar and a zip partway down the front? Has a label 'Made in Jordan' and brand-name is 'Champion'. Let us know via 'comments'!

Also found are 4 chocolate Santas and a chocolate snowman from Harrods. Snowman has already vanished.... (and he didn't melt when the snow did). I don't think the Santas will keep until next Christmas but I dont want to eat them all myself (for obvious reasons!!).

Dad's cool candle will wait until the Sydney temperatures are cooler before we post it as the outside actually is real wax and might not fare so well after it leaves Michigan.

Christmas Treats by Victoria, photo by Jamie!

2008-12-31T22:11:00.001-05:00

Christmas 2008

2008-12-25T23:08:00.003-05:00

We had a very cool Christmas with Jac (V's sister) and husband Hugh in residence for a week or so. They had ordered a White Christmas and it certainly happened outside!!

Here are some pics....

.

BIG snow today!!!

2008-12-19T21:51:00.004-05:00

Today we had about 30cm of snow over about 6 hours!! It was quite a mission to walk up the road this afternoon to get milk etc because some people hadn't had their footpaths (sidewalks) shovelled yet so it was quite a workout pushing the stroller! Here is Cooper after we got home playing in it outside. I couldn't find his gloves quickly so I put some of my leather ones on him!