Luke is 4

Luke turned 4 today.

He continues to be a boy that loves life and always looking for a "good time" (a favorite phrase of his that he picked up from a song).

He is sporting is new shirt from his grandma. He thinks it is cool. He tells anyone that will listen, "I got a front (he turns around) and a back!"














Luke's treat for the day was a dinner with no force feeding (he is not a big fan of eating), a milkshake and even desert.

90

Jeremy’s Grandma Sommerfeld celebrated her 90th birthday. The Sommerfeld family gathered for the occasion. Almost the entire family was able to come. Grandma is an amazing Godly woman, who is filled with grace and contentment. The party, hosted by Jeremy’s mom, was wonderful. Grandma seemed to enjoy all of it; seeing the family, eating and posing for countless pictures.

Luke loves to hug her! After every Sunday dinner he makes a point to hug her before loading into the car, if he forgets, he lets us know.

Luke and his buddy Noah, who stayed at our house for the weekend, eating (or should I say shoving in) the cake.

And Brayden just taking it all in.

DC with kids

Jeremy's cousin and family, the Ross gang, stayed at our house for the weekend (in town to celebrate Grandma Sommerfeld's 90th). We decided to head into Washington DC. First stop was at the EPA's headquarters, an amazing and interesting building. A brief stop at my dad's office, he was not there but we sat in his office to feed the kids, then headed to the White House for a few photo ops. Our photo is in front of the White House Christmas tree.

After the photo shoot we walked to the Smithsonian Museum of American History. Before heading there Jeremy and the boys dined on treats from a street vendor (yikes).

Finally at the museum we only made it into 2 of the exhibits. The place was wall to wall people. The museum had only been reopened for a few weeks and apparently everyone else thought it was a good idea to see it the day after Thanksgiving. The boys enjoyed the Invention at Play, where they created wind mills amongst other things. Then we head to America on the Move to see the trains, ships, buses and cars. They hopped on the Chicago L for a ride and walked the machine room of an ocean liner. After that we were done, the kids were done and we headed home.

Thanksgiving

We celebrated Thanksgiving with the Jenkins this year. Jeremy's grandparents were the hosts for the festivities!

Lots of food, lots of family, lots of fun.

Deer for Thanksgiving

Last night the boys went to bed at 6:30 (actually got in bed at 7:00). How did we do that? They were told that if they wanted to go hunting in the morning they must go to bed early and they did it!

Carter and Luke slept in the long johns so they would be ready to go.

Jeremy woke them up at 5:15 a.m. I know that sounds early but they usually wake before 6:00 a.m. any other day. Dressed in camo and orange from head to toe they headed out.

After a breakfast stop at McDonald's and spilled syrup, they were ready for the hunt. Jeremy led and the boys followed. They spotted a buck. The buck was too far to shoot, Jeremy called him in and it came closer (despite the boys trying to be "quiet"). Jeremy shot and got him! Carter and Luke were thrilled.

I cannot forget to mention another highlight was the hot cocoa in the thermos. Carter and Luke thought that was such a treat.

That was the start to our Thanksgiving day.

Butter, Jello and Thanks

Carter's kindergarten class invited the parents to join them for a Thanksgiving treat. The class prepared a video. The video was a picture of each child and a drawing about what they were thankful for. Each child spoke about their drawing. Carter was thankful for his parents and family because he loves them.

His head dress tells a story about a boy who went on a journey to find a bear.

The children shared corn bread and butter, made by the class, for everyone to enjoy.

Luke's preschool hosted a Thanksgiving lunch. Brayden & I joined Luke for some yummy food. Luke, not being a big eater, dined on a roll and orange jello.

And Luke said he was thankful for his dog.

FYI, we have no dog and Luke is deathly afraid of them. He told me he is thankful for his dog that he will have some day.

Pump it Up

Luke celebrated his 4th birthday with a party a Pump it Up, a place the has rooms filled with giant moonbounces. He loved every minute of it.

Pump it up provided the birthday boy with a special t-shirt which he was thrilled to wear (and he slept in it).

Luke has been in counting down the days until it was time for the party and was thrilled when the day actually arrived. Luke definitely let his big brother Carter know that it was Luke's day and not his!

He invited all of his friends and loved that they could join him in the fun.

By the end he was wiped out but he loved his moment to be the birthday boy!

The Pancake Store

A friend invited Carter to join them for a special breakfast treat. The lovely Mrs. King took the boys, Conner and Carter, to dine at IHOP. Carter has never been to an IHOP so he was thrilled. He spent the morning asking when it was time to go to the pancake store. Once there the boys selected chocolate chip pancakes with the works and Carter discovered he like butter pecan syrup! I have no idea what that tastes like with the chocolate chip pancakes but he like it!

What a special treat!

Swinging

After another doctor appointment for Brayden, the boys and I joined some friends at the amazing Clemyjontri park. Thankfully it was not nearly as busy as the last time we were there but the carousel was closed for the season. Luke found a new swing to try (sporting his King of the Playground shirt) and Brayden enjoyed his moment in the special swing. Carter was busy climbing.

End of the Season

Soccer season came to an end this past weekend.












Luke had a blast and is celebrating his goal. Mini soccer hands out medals, he was wearing his proudly.

Carter seems to be a bit more of the defense mind set when it comes to soccer. He wants to protect that goal. Since he moved up to the older soccer group, the kids each get little trophies (in the photo he is holding his cupcake!)

Trick or Treat Waterford Style

All day long Luke asked "Is it time for trick 'n treating yet?" I told him that it would be time when it was dark. Then he asked over and over again. "When is it time for dark?"

Halloween is always fun. Dressing up and lots of candy. Well, Waterford does Halloween right. The historic village hosts tons of trick or treaters. The old homes and dark streets make for perfect Halloween scenery. The elementary school decorates several houses and helps supply the candy. When I say decorate, I do not mean just some fun lights and pumpkins. They really take it to another level. This barn was decorated like Halloween in Mexico and even had a Mariachi band playing outside.

We joined several families for the adventure. Carter and Luke were ready as Batman and Robin. Brayden opted not to wear a costume this year. The boys were thrilled with the amount of candy and had lots of fun seeing friends all dressed up.