Bucket List

So...one of the girls from Jack's birth board posted her list of 100 things she wants to do in 2011. You can see it here.

Anyway...my friend Cecilia has inspired me to write and complete my own list of 100 things to do in 2011. I've been working on it for a while now and it's still not complete...so it may just have to be a work in progress...but here is what I have put together so far. And as I complete each one...I will be sure to blog it as well. Enjoy!

1. Run the Indianapolis Mini Marathon

2. Take the boys to the 500 Festival Parade

3. Leave Jack overnight with Mamaw and Papaw

4. See a play at the Indianapolis Reparatory Theatre

5. Give blood

6. Help plant this year's garden

7. Plan out our summer flower beds

8. See a movie at the IMAX

9. Ride in the hot air balloon at Conner Prairie

10. Picnic at Oliver Winery

11. Visit a new state

12. Host a Halloween Party for friends and family

13. Write an apology letter

14. Ride the Polar Express at Christmas

15. Fly a kite with the boys

16. Visit a new festival

17. Start sewing

18. Walk the Canal downtown

19. Road trip to Entertrainment Junction

20. Do a chocolate fondue for dinner

21. Volunteer at school

22. Read 10 books on the Pulitzer list

23. Picnic at an Indian's Game

24. Drive through Brown County to see fall leaves

25. Backpack overnight with Jason

26. Complete a service project with Jack

27. See the butterflies at White River Gardens

28. Take a photography class

29. Participate in a family bowling night with grandparents

30. Go camping with the boys

31. Take a carriage ride downtown

32. Write a letter to Santa and deliver it to the mailbox on the Circle

33. Participate in an exercise class

34. Have ice cream for dinner on July 4th

35. Go to a concert

36. Visit grandparents at the cemetery

37. Write a monthly letter to Jason's grandma

38. Hike in Eagle Creek

39. See the Planetarium at the Children's Museum

40. Participate in River Watch and maintain a stream

41. Run a 5K benefit

42. Plan a GNO at Wine & Canvas

43. Pay someone's order in the drive thru

44. Eat something fried at the Indiana State Fair

45. Take boys to the Brownsburg Homecoming Parade & game

46. Swim in Beaver Dam Lake

47. Kayak with Jason in the lake

48. Catch lightning bugs with the boys

49. Save money for an eReader

50. Spend the night at Story Inn in Brown County

51. Repell Hemlock Cliffs

52. Picnic at Symphony on the Prairie

>53. Hike in Deam

54. Paint pottery with my mom

55. Teach Jack to spit watermelon seeds

56. Go to Indianapolis' Earth Day Celebration

57. Get up for a sunrise

58. Walk the Indianapolis Museum of Art's 100 Acres

59. Eat ice cream at BRICS (Broad Ripple Ice Cream Station)

60. See "The Giant" in Pendleton

61. Partake in Bean Blossom's Bluegrass Festival

2. Take an art class at the Indianapolis Art Center

63. Take Ashley to the Wizard of Oz Museum in northern Indiana

64. Plan a couple's Cracker's Comedy night

65. See an outdoor movie at Holiday Park

66. Watch the lighting of the Christmas Tree on the Circle

67. Ride the people mover downtown

68. Implement "Slow Cooker Sundays"

69. Make a baby with Jason

70. Send in for Graham's birth certificate!

71. Get Graham his own library card

72. Eat a pretzel at the Indianapolis Zoo

73. Climb the steps to the top of the War Memorial on Monument Circle

74. Bake more cookies

75. Lose weight for myself

76. Have a family pillow fight

77. Attend the St. Patrick's Day Parade

78. Obtain CPR certification

79. Donate to PBS

80. Get my hair styled

81. Play a family round of mini golf

82. Buy ice cream from the ice cream man

83. Walk the Monon and eat at Bub's Burgers

84. Visit Carter's Toy Museum

85. Get a foot massage at Foot Finesse

86. Do a couples dinner at The Melting Pot

So...I have 25 more to go...I'll keep you posted...

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1 vs 2

So my last post really got me thinking about how I compare the boys. That lead to me realizing that while I compare them I totally treat them differently. It's not been on purpose, but looking back here's what I've noticed:

First Child / Second Child

Slept in our bed until 9 months / Slept next to our bed for 7 months

Didn't leave the house for 4 weeks / Was at the bowling alley at 2 weeks

Was read to every night / Didn't see a book until 3 months

Eating purees at 4 months / Didn't like purees, tried at 4, 5, 6 months

Eating solids only by 7 months / At 7 months eats whatever here and there

Did what it took to put to sleep / Laid him in bed to fall asleep on own

Cloth diapered for 1 year / Never saw a cloth diaper

Never watched TV until over 1 / Watched TV since he came home

Started signing at 6 months / Jason's tried a few signs out

So this is my short list...those of you with more than one...feel free to add what you've done differently the second time around...consciously or not.

Milestones...

Having two boys born in May, it's very easy to compare their milestones...and just as easy to forget that Jack was born three weeks before Graham in May. So while I'm not "supposed" to compare babies and their milestones, I just can't seem to help myself...nor help myself from always feeling like poor little Graham is "behind".

When we went to Tulsa for Christmas when Jack was an infant Jack could get into a sitting position on his own, get on his knees and bounce, stand holding onto objects and he started crawling on Christmas Day. But Graham...poor little Graham couldn't do any of that and although he'd been rocking on his hands and knees for weeks he was no where near crawling. But at Christmas Jack was getting ready to turn 8 months while Graham had just turned 7 months so again I have to remind myself that Graham is not behind, Graham is not behind, Graham is not behind.

Well...in true "their own time" fashion...Graham proved he's not behind and really showed off some of his skills. The day before Christmas Graham started moving. Not a crawl on hands and knees...but a slow painful looking "dead man's crawl" as Jason coined it. But he started moving and 3 weeks before his brother. Once we got home from Tulsa, Graham just seemed to flourish. He started staying on his hands and knees and taking small movements forward on them and he started getting into a sitting position on his own and is now pulling up on anything and everything he can get his pudgy little fingers around!

So now we see him going in circles on his belly, getting on all fours and chasing after toys or Jack. Or simply sitting up to enjoy the crazy antics his brother has in store for him. So see...Graham is not behind!

Happy Thanksgiving

I love this holiday because you have great food and don't have to buy presents for everyone! This year we were in Indiana for Thanksgiving so we joined my mom's family at my Aunt Patty's house. There are so many things for us to be thankful for, mainly our health, our friends and our family. Since I have a super large family I'll spare you the over indulgence of photos and just give you a little taste of what I am so lucky to have in my life.

First there's my mom

. I love her so much and am so thankful for the love she shows not only me but my children as well. Her entire family is lucky to have her. She gives so freely and unselfishly and only gets 1/5 of her kindness returned. She really is the best mom.

Then there are her sisters. A second mom and a best friend to me. These are children numbers 2, 7 and 9 to my grandparents...so really Patty was like a second mom to many.

And then there are my boys. A girl can only get so lucky to have kids like these. Not only cute, but smart, funny, healthy and happy. What more could a mother want or ask for?

Oh yeah! A super awesome husband that loves her and their kids and shows if freely and openly every single day.

Eye Candy

Yum!

Mona Jack

Sometimes you capture an image by accident that just speaks to you. I'm not sure what this one is saying exactly, but there's something about it I just love. I think it's got a Mona Lisa appeal to it. Perhaps I should call it Mona Jack.

Another Day at the Museum

So by now everyone should know that we are regulars at the Children's Museum. It's only the world's largest and best so why not take advantage of the family pass we have? Jack never seems to tire of it and it's a great way to burn off some energy, so here are a few more pictures from yet another day at the Museum. And if you're ever in Indy...look me up...we'll take you to the Museum too!

Yep...he still loves trains...

And now he's able to do the hand car himself!

The first time he's ever participated in the song and dance!

Practicing his fishing for summers at the lake

The Halloween Party is BACK!

YES! The Halloween Party is BACK BABY!!! What an awesome weekend we had! I know in a previous post (and if I were really cool, I'd know how to link posts and mark lines through text and all that really cool blogger stuff) I mentioned my family having tons of little kids growing up and putting on big Easter E

gg hunts, totally awesome Halloween parties and great Thanksgiving and Christmas feasts. Why then you ask, do we not do this any more? There are no little kids in our family! No little cousins for Jack and Graham to grow up with, no little cousins or big cousins to fight and get in trouble with. Well...this weekend marked the return of the Halloween Party! Saturday night (which was a perfect fall evening and full moon!) we hosted a super fun party for adults and kids. 45 people showed up! And of those 45 people 13 were under the age of five! Talk about amazing! The kids dressed up in costumes, went on a hay ride (thanks to Angie!) and busted piñatas! We tried to roast s'mores but no one was interested in them once they had a bag of candy in their hands! It was truly a night of friendship, family and fun. All the kids got along fantastically running and chasing one another and enjoying just being a kid. It was all that I remembered from being a kid.

Graham dressed as "Rex" from Toy Story 3

Jack dressed as a train Engineer. Sierra gave him Bash right before the party and one could not separate train and Engineer the entire night.

"The Boys"

Max, Bowen, Jack, Lincoln

The hayride. Angie and Lilly drove

All the kids lined up for their turn at the piñata!

Jack

Bowen

Lincoln, the boy is a natural born athlete...

Clark!

Fall Chores

This coming weekend we are hosting our first kids Halloween party. Tons of family and friends are coming over to partake in some tricks and treats including a hay ride, bonfire and pinata. But from all our summer fun, the house has been a little neglected. I mean who really wants to weed flower beds when you could be going to the zoo or hiking in Brown County or swimming in Wisconsin or watching a canoe race in Michigan?

So on Sunday Jason headed outside to tackle our beast of a yard with his trusty helper...Jack. The boys worked diligently outside all morning...Jason raking leaves and burning them in the fire pit and Jack mowing the lawn with his little mower or pushing his train around his water table. Close to noon I brought Graham outside to see what I could do to help...because I really didn't feel like cleaning (although that's going to have to be done at some point too...BOO!). Jason handed me the leaf sucker and I was in charge of sucking leaves out of the flower beds.

For the rest of the morning and into the early afternoon we worked on de-leafing the yard. But of course...whenever there's a big pile of leaves one must take advantage of the opportunity to jump in them. I mean this time only comes around once a year right?! So Jack burried Jason in the leaves and the two of them jumped in them and scattered them only to rake them back up and jump in them again. So much fun watching Jack and Jason enjoy the simple pleasures in life! I can't wait until next year when Graham will be out there wrestling along with them!

I love this picture!

They look like they're working hard huh?!

Sharing some brother time

Graham...enjoying life as usual

Fabulous Fall

What a terrific weekend we had! On Saturday morning Mandi, JT and Jackson came over and we took the kids to the Children's Museum's Haunted House...Skeletown. This was the first time I had ever been to their haunted house...and probably the first haunted house I'd been to since I was in high school! We went during their special "lights on" hours so it wasn't as frightening. Each room we went through was done up with skeletons visiting some famous Indianapolis place. There was a Colts room, an IMA room and various other rooms highlighting all the fun and family friendly things to do in the city. I carried curious Jack through...not because he was scared but because he wanted to explore every nook and cranny possible and we had to keep the line moving. But he did a great job!

What? We're going to a haunted house? SWEET!

Finishing up at the end of Skeletown

Sitting with Skele

That was fun!

We had packed lunches to eat at the Museum and after we filled our bellies we headed over to Waterman's Farm to pick some pumpkins and partake in their fall festival. We'd never been to this place before, but went on a recommendation from one of Jason's work friends. Actually, it was Gretchen aka "the goil's" mom. Jack played with Karis (the goil) while we were at Jason's work conference in Brown County.

Jack and Jackson seemed to have tons of fun running through the corn maze (or the maize maze as Jason kept calling it),

crawling through the straw tunnel and climbing the straw mountain,

and climbing in giant tires.

We took a hay ride out to the pumpkin patch and after looking at every pumpkin there Jack finally decided on a pumpkin to carry back to the wagon.

There was tons to do there including watching a giant mechanical T-Rex smash pumpkins in it's mouth...but to me it seemed to be lacking that "pumpkin patch" feel. The pumpkins were laid out on hard dirt to make the patch and there was no area where you could take that classic "pumpkin patch picture". You know the one where the kids are surrounded by nothing but pumpkins. Jason liked this place better because there were more activities so we'll see where we end up next year. Maybe we'll try another place! Each year we'll just experience a new pumpkin patch until we find that "perfect" one!