Aunt Shannon's Visit

We were having so much fun when Aunt Shannon came to visit that we forgot to take pictures of us all just hanging out.  We did get some great shots while we were on our mini-vacation to the DuPage Children's Museum.  Here we are the night before in the jacuzzi at the hotel.  

Mom and John:

Swimming to Aunt Shannon:

The "nice" picture of John and Shannon:

The hilarious picture of John and Shannon:

Having Fun:

Swimming Race!

The next day in was on to the museum.  This is the museum we loved to take Will to when we lived in Oswego, so we thought it would be fun to bring John here too.  Here are the boys waking up in the hotel room and getting in a little Sesame Street while the grown-ups were getting ready.  

Look at that hair:

John playing with Mom's favorite thing at the Museum, the giant Lite Brite:

Controlling the colored lights:

Will and Dad, buildin' some stuff:

Playing the Wrench-Xylophone:

(Side-note:  Will's favorite Spanish word is xylofono, he tells people all the time - even strangers!)

Will in the tunnel suspended from the ceiling:

John was not too sure about the tunnel.

Hanging out with Daddy in the tunnel: 

This is how we maintain Will's perfect mohawk:

Bubbles!

Me and Shannon watching the kids play:

Should've been watching a little closer, I guess!

Splashing Aunt Shannon:

Soaking Wet:

Splashing Daddy (and the camera):

Payback!

Will and Brandon checking out the train exhibit.  After getting wet at the water tables, the mohawk is perfect again:

We had so much fun having Aunt Shannon visit us on her Spring Break.  Will and John are completely in love with her - especially John!  We can't wait for her to come back again!

A Very "John" Update

I can't believe it, but John is officially 18 months old.  He is a snuggly little guy with a great arm and a wicked temper!  His vocabulary has recently exploded.  Some of his favorite things to say are "happened?"  (what happened?), "fishit"(fix it), and "ahveet" (have it!).  He is frequently heard requesting "shows ... Emmo" (Sesame Street), "lilk murr"(more milk), and "naa" (banana).  And, of course, his bedtime friends "Ma" (Llama), "La" (Lila - the bulldog), and "linkit" (blanket).  He loves to run and dance and knock down block towers that his big brother builds for him.  He is great at giving kisses and hugs and (his very favorite) high-fives.  

Here's John riding Pumba at ToysRUs:

John sporting some rock-star glasses and lips-kazoo he got at his friend Zack's birthday party:

Everything is a hat to John, even his cereal bowl:

Cowboy John:

John's 18mo. portraits.  Here he is "dancing":

Our not-so-much-a-baby-anymore John, 18 months:

Holidays 2011

Well, it's getting close to Valentine's Day, which I guess means that I should get around to posting our Holiday pictures.  Here is our one and only picture from Thanksgiving.  It is Will dressed up in his Native American oufit he made in preschool.  They each chose special Native American names and Will's was "Freezing Snowflake".  The feathers in his headdress (you can't really see them in the picture) each had something Will said he was thankful for.  They said "my cars, my letters, my brother John".

Despite they boys' terrible behavior on the morning we tried to take Christmas-card pictures we did manage to get one nice famiy shot:

This is a great video of Will's preschool Christmas program.  Will is the second one from the right.  See if you can pick out his voice (especially in the second verse!).

We spent Christmas travelling to see our families this year.  One day in Iowa and then two weeks in Florida.  To view the rest of our holiday pictures, click here: https://picasaweb.google.com/101967531136493799652/Christmas2011?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCPHUn57i9Zv0KA&feat=directlink

Christmas Cards

I love sending out Christmas cards and a Christmas letter every year, so when I heard that one of the cutest online stationery stores was giving away 50 free Christmas cards to readers of one of my favorite blogs, I was totally in.

Tiny Prints ( http://www.tinyprints.com/shop/picture-christmas-cards.htm ) asked readers to post ideas on their blogs about how they display Christmas cards.  I love this idea I saw on etsy:  

It's a wire wreath made with loops for storing cards. (found here: http://www.etsy.com/listing/63647159/star-wreath-card-holder) We usually put the cards up on our mantle, but it fills up too quickly.  I'd love to hang this on top of our large mirror above the fireplace so we can show off all the cards we get!

If you have a blog and would like to enter to receive 50 cards from TinyPrints, check out this link: http://www.hostessblog.com/2011/11/a-rainbow-of-holiday-cheer-from-tiny-prints/

Halloween 2011

This year we had an even more fun Halloween than usual.  For the first time, we ALL (even the adults) dressed in costume and had a big Halloween party.  Here's the whole gang together:

From the left: Chris & Kerrie in back dressed as a Chippendale and a Playboy Bunny (very churchy); Kim, Derek, & Zack dressed as Barney & Betty Rubble and their son Bam-Bam; Doug, Candace, and Charlie dressed as Fred, Wilma, & Pebbles Flintstone; us dressed as farmers with a little cow and ear of corn; behind us are Adam, Mandi, & Lucas dressed as characters from the PBS show SuperWhy! Wonder Red, Alpha Pig and SuperWhy himself; and, Dan and Cara as mad scientists!

Are these our costumes or do mid-westerners just dress like this all the time?

Here we are on the day of Halloween carving our pumpkin.  (At least we didn't wait until the last minute!?)  Will is getting ready to take the very first scoop of pumpkin guts:

And after scooping with all his might, this is what he came up with:

Here's Will creating the spooky jack-o-lantern face:

All done!

Boo!

Oh no, when it gets dark John turns from a regular cow into a zombie-cow decapitating other cows and sucking out their brains with a sippy-cup!

We had a great time trick-or-treating with the boys.  The weather was pretty mild and the neighbors got a kick out of our family themed costumes.  After we were done, Will helped pass out the candy, which he really enjoyed.  Then we all watched "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" for the second year in a row.  I think we'll be making that a Henley-family tradition!

Grandparents Day??

This post is a little late, since it's from the end of September, but I'm just getting caught up.  Will's preschool had "Bring Your Grandparents To School Day" and since we don't live close to family, Will invited our friends Dan & Cara to be his special friends for the day.  It was a great choice because Dan and Cara took the whole day off and after school, brought the boys out to Tanners Orchard for some fall fun:

(poor John, had to be the lady)

Tanners has a huge play area will all kinds of farm equipment, vehicles, and playgrounds to play on. Here are the boys on the big wooden train:

John loves steering wheels!

On the tractor/trike dirt track. Not sure why, but Will went straight for the pink John Deere:

John's turn:

Caterpillar!  That's more like it:

John with Dan & Cara.  (ps- Dan is one of John's favorite people and yesterday (Nov. 13) he started saying Daniel.  It sounds like this "Naniel"... so cute!)

Last, but not least, here's Will picking apples.  They were delicious!

Thanks so much, Dan & Cara, for making my boys feel so adored!