Happy Birthday, Ethan

4 years old! Can you believe it? We celebrated Ethan's birthday at a local restaurant that has a train half way around the wall. Ethan is obsessed with trains, in case you haven't noticed. The kids got to make their own pizza's while the adults got to pick from a mexican style buffet. It was a blast and he had a ball! Thanks for everyone who came, and participated, and thanks to family for their contributions and presents (I mean attendance, not just gifts to Ethan).

Even though it was Dylan's birthday, Ethan had fun on his own. Such a cute idea, Stacie had a Carnival theme with games and hot dogs.

Another Day Out with Thomas!

Yea... yes, I am being a little sarcastic. I love doing what Ethan loves to do, but this is obsessive. I know, I know, I'm enabling... This year was awesome, the weather was perfect, which means larger crowds.

Last night Ethan and I were watching his movie upstairs while Dad was watching a scary movie downstairs. I was in the bathroom and heard Ethan, "Mommy, I'm soooooo *yawn* tired". I came out to find - Sound asleep...

Summer Stay-cation 2010

This year is the first time since I started working full time that I have taken 11 consecutive days off. The nice thing is - Larry took the same week off. We had a great time going to the Gramley's trailer, Mom and John's in Peoria, and hanging out around town. Except for the fact that Ethan got the flu on the second day of vacation and Larry caught it the third. Bummer. All-in-all, I was grateful to spend the time with my family - sick or not.

Our good friends, the Gramley's (Chris, Stacie, Dylan, and Connor) have a cabin in Lee County. It's not too far and the area has a pool, fishing lake, and tons of activities. We had a blast riding their scooters, swimming, and just hanging out. It was so relaxing. We managed - er, shall I say, the kids managed to find a stationary train, which has now been named Blackie the Train in Amboy at the Amboy town museum and a whole Thomas section at the local pharmacy. We went for old time soda's and malts (which were delicious by the way). Of course there were tears shed as we left the pharmacy empty handed.

Ethan recouped quickly, but Larry took longer since he's older I suspect. We just took it easy for a few days. The following week, we went to Peoria to spend a few days with Mom, John, Rhonda, Allie, and Chelsey. It was fun going to dinner on Thursday just us and the Johnson's. Rhonda and Gang arrived later that evening. Friday, we went to the indoor water park and Ethan had a blast watching Chelsey on the big slide, and playing in the pool. Larry taught him to hang on the side of the pool and kick, and now he is just all about that. We made pizza's on the grill and laughed with each other. Saturday was time to go.

Ethan and I ran errands on Monday - he was such a trooper, and entertained everyone he came in contact with. We went to the All Aboard Diner as a reward and he could hardly stand it, he was so excited. That place is ridiculous! It is every train-obsessed kids dream!

Today, we went to visit Dad at work, and see Toy Story 3. We made it about half way through and he decided he could not sit still any longer and needed to go home immediately.

A few of my favorite things...

Thomas, my Sandbox, and my bike... Not in that order every day.

Day out with Ethan

Saturday was such an awesome day. I took Ethan to the Metra train station to watch trains, and thought we should just take a ride. So, we did. We took a short little ride to Naperville from Aurora. He was so excited and had such a blast. We ended up in Naperville with no plan. I have no experience with the train system. Since it was Saturday, the schedule wasn't as frequent. We arrived at the station at 9:23 am but the train back out wasn't until 11:28 am. What to do, what to do? We took a taxi to downtown and got to sing "taxi, taxi, riding in the back seat". We walked around downtown and visited Marbles, the Brain Store. We had brunch at Starbucks (yes, he loves it). We talked about Thomas, Olivia, Kai Lan, and the Backyardigans. We got a cab back to the train station and watched freight trains passing through. By the time we got back home, Ethan was exhausted. I enjoyed the time and the day so much. It was so random, and we had no plans, but it was such a great day.

2 Toots Train Whistle Grill

On my day off, I took Ethan to this cute little diner that has a train running throughout and delivers the food in it's cargo cars. He, of course, loved it!

Father's Day Breakfast...

Courtesy Chef Ronald McDonald

Sterioti, Maloney, Schmeiser afternoon

I have no idea why we didn't take more pics, or of anyone else... Jackson and Ethan.

Why God Made Moms... answers by 2nd Graders:

Why did God make mothers?
1. She's the only one who knows where the scotch tape is.
2. Mostly to clean the house.
3. To help us out of there when we were getting born.

How did God make mothers?
1. He used dirt, just like for the rest of us.
2. Magic plus super powers and a lot of stirring.
3. God made my mom just the same like he made me. He just used bigger parts.

What ingredients are mothers made of?
1. God makes mothers out of clouds and angel hair and everything nice in the world and one dab of mean..
2. They had to get their start from men's bones. Then they mostly use string, I think.

Why did God give you your mother and not some other mom?
1. We're related.
2. God knew she likes me a lot more than other people's mom like me.

What kind of a little girl was your mom?
1. My mom has always been my mom and none of that other stuff.
2. I don't know because I wasn't there, but my guess would be pretty bossy.
3. They say she used to be nice.

What did mom need to know about dad before she married him?
1. His last name.
2. She had to know his background. Like is he a crook? Does he get drunk on beer?
3. Does he make at least $800 a year? Did he say NO to drugs and YES to chores?
Why did your mom marry your dad?
1. My dad makes the best spaghetti in the world. And my mom eats a lot.
2. She got too old to do anything else with him.
3. My grandma says that mom didn't have her thinking cap on.

Who's the boss at your house?
1. Mom doesn't want to be boss, but she has to because dad's such a goof ball.
2. Mom. You can tell by room inspection. She sees the stuff under the bed.
3. I guess mom is, but only because she has a lot more to do than dad.

What's the difference between moms and dads?
1. Moms work at work and work at home and dads just go to work at work.
2. Moms know how to talk to teachers without scaring them.
3. Dads are taller and stronger, but moms have all the real power 'cause that's who you got to ask if you want to sleep over at your friends.
4. Moms have magic, they make you feel better without medicine.

What does your mom do in her spare time?
1. Mothers don't do spare time.
2. To hear her tell it, she pays bills all day long.

What would it take to make your mom perfect?
1. On the inside she's already perfect. Outside, I think some kind of plastic surgery.
2. Diet. You know, her hair. I'd diet, maybe blue.

If you could change one thing about your mom, what would it be?
1. She has this weird thing about me keeping my room clean. I'd get rid of that.
2. I'd make my mom smarter. Then she would know it was my sister who did it not me.
3. I would like for her to get rid of those invisible eyes on the back of her head.

Eureka!

I love ice cream! I found these little gems the other day. They may have been around for a while, but I just stumbled over them. These are perfect - in lieu of the entire pint or quart, these are single servings - 3.6 oz. Perfect! I can still eat the entire container but not feel so badly!

Homemade beanbags

This is a delightful little addition - It's quite pricey, but I highly recommend it. We got a new remote to go with the new HD receiver, to go with the new Blue Ray player, to go with the new flat screen. I love this thing! Larry loves this thing. More importantly, I love that we don't have 15 remotes sitting out all of the time getting lost, replacing batteries, and using 3 just to watch 1 movie! It's the Logitech Universal Remote! It really does do it all. You hit TV on, it turns on the receiver, the dish, and the TV. Then you hit 'watch movie' and it switches to the correct input channel, and turns on the blue ray player. It is seriously awesome!

Happy Easter

Grandma Johnson has a traditional Easter Egg Hunt for the kids each year. Of course, it is her prerogative to spoil them, and she does. It is really fun for Ethan because he loves the "challenge" and loves, loves the reward.