A Visit to Michigan

We visited our family in Michigan over a the weekend. The kids had a great time playing with their cousins outside in the gorgeous weather. On Saturday, we visited the local Physicians Park where older cousins JD and Isabelle keep a close watch over Alex & Elena.

After some dinner and a bath, the kids went back outside with more cousins to run around the front yard.

Grandma Liz has a way of making doing nothing fun. She found an old bowling ball in the garage and the kids had a blast rolling it down Papa's wheelchair ramp. Grandma also helped the kids take turns walking along the garden wall. It was sad when it was time to head back to Indiana!

Elena's Cat

Although Alex calls Ghengis his cat, and Jeff would argue that he is his cat since he has had him since med school, he really is Elena's cat. He sits under her chair at the table every night at dinner, comes over to her to be petted, and lets her lay on top of him. In the morning after Elena wakes up she runs around upstairs yelling for her kitty. In this photo and video Alex is sitting on Dad's lap watching his new favorite movie. No, it is not the Disney Cars movie anymore- it is Enchanted. Our Butler college babysitter Julie brought it over to watch and Alex hasn't let her take it home since. Jeff isn't too thrilled about the princess movie obsession!

Cousin Maddie's Baptism

Baby Madeline's baptism was Sunday morning, and the Walkers were in attendance! We did not go to the party afterwards in order to avoid infecting the newborn and sister Ellie with our nasty head colds. Hopefully we didn't share our cooties.

Reading Fun

Elena is all about books lately. She picks one out and climbs into your lap no matter what you are doing, demanding that you read to her. We have been going to the library every week since she joined our family. It has become a favorite destination, especially during the cold winter. Elena's favorite books to check out have cats or babies. Doesn't her hair look long without her pigtails in?

Alex's 1st First Sleepover

Alex had his first sleepover Friday night with his best friend Jack. The boys were SO excited to play together! They went to the park and played outside for hours before having a pizza party, then wearing matching Batman pajamas for bedtime.

Fixing the Table

Jeff fixed the kitchen table, with a little help from Alex and Elena. Elena is imitating everything lately, and got right under the table to help Dad out.

Alex decided one of the tools looked like a gun and pretended to play army men with his sister.

April Showers...

Alex and Elena recently got rain boots, and Alex was very insistent that he needed an umbrella to complete the look. He was very happy with his new purchase, and has been asking everyday if it will rain so he can wear his boots and carry his umbrella. The letter of the week at school was "U", so perhaps this could be considered educational?

Little Ballerinas

The kids brought the tutu out at bedtime the other night and danced around the room together. Alex will probably not like this picture very much in a couple of years!

Elena Making Banana Bread

Alex loves helping to cook, but Elena has not been interested until recently. She loves bananas, so we decided her first item to bake would be banana bread. She was very excited to mash (and taste) the bananas. This has become our new weekly tradition together with the over-ripe bananas.

Easter Brunch

We celebrated Easter on Sunday by having brunch with the Galvins. Aunt Melinda, Uncle Tony, Ellie, Uncle Bill, Kathy, Jonathan and Grandma Sandy came over for blueberry pancakes and football.

Potty Time

Elena has been interested in the potty lately, but this was the first time she pooped on the potty. What a big girl!

New Clothes for Alex

Aunt Tracey sent bags and bags of clothes and toys that cousins Matthew, Andy and Nicky had outgrown. Alex was excited to go through it all and insisted on trying things on immediately, even though some of it is a little too big for now. Alex has a whole new wardrobe for years to come. Thanks Aunt Tracey!

Cousin Ellie's 1st Birthday!

Ellie turned 1 on Thursday. Her party was a blast.The adorable birthday girl ate her beautiful cake so delicately her dress did not get dirty!Elena got right in the middle of the gift un-wrapping fun. She sat on the zoo toy she gave Ellie to watch her unwrap presents, with a little help from Aunt Melinda.
Elena grabbed a birthday balloon and headed to her favorite spot at the Robinson's house- the piano. She is quite a musician!Uncle Bill was also at the party and gave Alex cousin Jonathan's old Cub's hat, a new glove and baseball. Alex was very excited to try it all out and be a "real" baseball player.Alex & Elena posed with the birthday girl before heading home to bed.

Hockey Team In-Training

Jeff is a lifelong Red Wings fan and has been particularly excited about hockey during this terrific season. Go Red Wings! He bought two new sticks so everyone would have one to play with in on our evening hockey games. Wearing socks on the hardwood floors is good training for the ice rink! Alex loves to play, and even likes being "checked" by Daddy.

Elena will sometimes join in the fun, but mostly she just likes watching and chewing on the hockey sticks.

Elena's Baby

Elena's new baby talks, drinks water and pees in her diaper. Elena loves to bring her everywhere with her- in the car, to school, out to restaurants- and asks for in the morning when she wakes up. It is very sweet to watch her be a little mother. Elena shared her yogurt snack with her Monday evening before dinner.

Dad's Day at the BJE

Wednesday was Dad's Day at the BJE. Alex and his classmates hosted lunch, presented the Dad's with their gifts and performed a dance. The gift was a tie/belt rack made out of wood. Alex got to use an actual drill to make it, which he loved. Between his new painting skills and ability to use power tools, maybe he can be our Mr. Fix-it around the house?

Cookies!

Elena and Alex helped Mom make cookies after dinner Wednesday night. Alex pulled the chair Elena was sitting on over to the oven so they could both watch the cookies bake. Yummy!

George Monkey

Alex and Elena love the "George Monkey" movie, a.k.a. Curious George. They have talked non-stop about George since our trip to see him at the Children's Museum. Before we turned on the movie, they ran down to the basement to find their Curious George dolls from Uncle Tom and then did their George Monkey dance during the opening song of the movie. So cute!

The Muscle Man & Big Girl

Alex insisted on wearing his muscle shirt after we went swimming at the indoor gym pool this morning. He took breaks from lunch periodically to flex his big muscles. What a silly boy! Elena is sitting at the table instead of on top of it to eat now. She is getting to be such a big girl!

Alex at the Doctor

Alex was a very brave boy on Thursday morning! Dr. Youkalis did a procedure to help Alex stop getting so many nosebleeds. Alex was a rockstar and only cried "for a minute." We were very proud of him!

A Trip to the Children's Museum

As a reward for Alex's bravery, we went to the Children's Museum. There was a new Curious George exhibit , better known at our house as "George Monkey." The kids played with the golf exhibit, farm and windmills. The entire exhibit was in both English and Spanish! The kids also rode the carosel, visited the trains and ate lunch at the restaurant. Elena was a very tired girl towards the end of our outing. What a fun day!

Christmas Eve in Michigan

After a very busy day, which included 5 hours in the car for our drive up to Michigan, and a feast over at Aunt Terry's house, the kids were very tired. After sprinkling reindeer food (thanks Grandma Sandy!), and reading one of our favorite books "Grumpy Santa," we put out cookies and milk for Santa. Of course, Elena had to taste them to be sure they were good enough for Santa to eat.

Grandma Sandy's Birthday

We celebrated Grandma Sandy's birthday at Buca di Bepo. We all enjoyed an excuse to over-eat and spend the evening together. Grandma Sandy was happy just to have her family with her, although she seemed to like her presents too!

Little Painter

Alex "helped" Dad paint our bathroom this weekend. He had been helping Mom take the wallpaper down little by little for weeks, and was VERY excited for the painting part. He was quite proud of his hard work.

Alex's Photo Shoot

Alex was such a ham for a recent photo shoot. He loves having his picture taken and had begun "borrowing" Mom's camera to take pictures lately.

Snow Angels

The boys braved sub-zero temperatures to play in the snow. They went sledding, threw snowballs and made snow angels before coming inside.

Hat Girl

Elena does not liked the cold weather, but is enjoying wearing her new winter gear. In this photo she is standing next to her new favorite playgound- Mom & Dad's desk. She plays on the computer and scavenges in the drawers every chance she gets!

Merry Christmas

Christmas morning was full of suprises. The kids were excited to see what Santa had left in their stockings, next to the milk and cookies they had left out. Gifts includes books, stuffed animals and new toothbrushes.

Milk & Cookies for Santa

The kids were so excited for Santa to come visit! Dad made a fire to warm up the chimney since it was so cold outside on Christmas Eve. After making cookies to leave out for Santa, Alex told us what toys he thought Santa might bring. Of course, it helped that he had a sneak preview when he went looking around in the basement utility room the weekend before...

Happy 33rd Birthday Elizabeth!

Mom's special day was spent at yoga class and finishing up preparations for Christmas. Dad helped make the day wonderful by getting her favorite Buca di Beppo lemon chicken for dinner and a yummy cake.

Alex's Snowman

Alex could play out in the snow all day! He was a big help to Dad with shoveling, so they had time afterwards to build a snowman. Alex named it Cooper-Logan, after his two favorite babysitters.

Neighborhood Santa

Alex was so excited to see Santa again for the second time in one week. He dressed up in a tie and wore his Thomas the Train hat so Santa would understand how much he wants Knapford Station for his train track. Elena was not thrilled with Santa, but at least she did not cry the entire time again.

Elena's Adoption Day Celebration

Sunday (12.9.07) marked the one year anniversary that Elena joined our family. We celebrated the happy occasion with an Oreo Cookie Cake. It is hard to remember now what our lives were like without her!

Play Your Guitar with Alex

Like most other 3 year olds, Alex is obsessed with the Wiggles right now. One of his favorite songs is called "Play Your Guitar with Murray." Alex is playing his guitar just like Murray in this video. He really gets into, complete with the floor spin, while Elena dances along.

More!

Elena loves ice cream almost as much as her Mom! She will even say "more" to get Mom to share with her.

Yo Gabba Gabba

Yo Gabba Gabba is one of those children's shows that is so awful, it is actually funny. It is kiddie crack- we turn it on and the kids are instantly mesmerized for the whole show. Our favorite episode so far is "Sleepy." Alex and Elena have the routine down to the "Hold Still" song already.

ABC Song

Alex is getting very good at singing the ABCs, with just a little help from Mom.

Shake the Baby!

When Elena is done eating, Jeff shakes the food off and makes her laugh and laugh!