The Fall House

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-24T14:25:00.002-05:00

Cookies for Santa-Check.
Clean house for relatives tomorrow- Check."What? I have to put a tie on and go to church TONIGHT? Fine. Just promise me that Santa is really coming tonight, and I will do what ever you ask. Just try to eliminate the amount of pictures you take Mom."

It's a sister!

2009-12-19T12:18:00.002-05:00

It's a sister! Tommy has a picture up on his bedroom window, and is very proud. I have decided that I am completely incapable of blogging. I was going to use Facebook as an excuse, but I am terrible at updating that too.

In other news, Potty training was a quick huge success. Less than a week! Woohoo! Next on the task list, cleaning out the computer room to make room for sister!

the curls are taking over

2009-11-18T19:57:00.002-05:00

and I am loving it. So, to update, Tommy is in a big boy bed, and we are tackling potty training. Time passes so fast!!

Oct 31

2009-11-02T19:55:00.002-05:00

Great fun was had. We actually socialized with adults. My mom rocks. She took Tommy for the night. He go out with his cousins and get some treats. It was a really good day. Homemade costumes rock. It comes in handy to have an engineer with a full arsenal of tools to construct my vision...

no title needed.

2009-10-12T19:24:00.004-04:00

A boy conflicted

2009-10-02T18:48:00.004-04:00

In a week where the Tigers are in a pennant race, and the MSU game is on the schedule for big blue, one boy stands conflicted. What to wear?????? Who needs my support the most today? Okay, both is an acceptable answer. Thank goodness. Don't know what he would have done if he had to choose.

Just so that you know that I am not exaggerating... This is the boy that usually watches Blues Clues in the morning when mommy doesn't have to be to work until 9:30. This morning, he finished breakfast, went over to the couch and said, "Mommy, I need to watch football or baseball."

I turned on sports center, and he watched for 5 minutes while I finished packing his lunch. Daddy and Pop Row Row should be so proud.

Between Daddy and Tommy, I feel my days of TV are very numbered. I have insisted that we only have one TV in the house thus far. I enjoy the fact that we do not watch all that much when T is awake, but I just do not have a good feeling about this. Do other two year olds enjoy sports center recaps?

Light writing

2009-09-12T21:37:00.002-04:00

Oh... the fun!!!

So, if you have never learned to light wright with your digital camera, you must. it is quite fun.

T is almost 2

2009-09-08T21:54:00.002-04:00

I can not believe how old he is.. i refuse to believe it. he is still one for another couple of weeks... he is still my sweet little baby boy..but he will tell you, "I am not a baby, I am a big boy."

I know I am bias as his mother, but I sewar to you, it does not get any cuter than my sweet little Tommy...

the darndest things

2009-08-31T22:15:00.002-04:00

Some recent Tommy sayings:

"Oh...I made a big mess mamma."

"I want more watermelon, Lisa." (daycare teacher: "Tommy that is all of the watermelon your mommy packed") "It's okay, just call mamma."

"Can I please see pop row row in a few minutes?"

"Mia, I ride a train, did you ride a train?"

"I got a owie on my elmo" (Daddy, "You mean your elbow, Tommy?") "Yes, my elmo."

"Mamma, I spitting. Spitting is a bad idea. Spitting rude, okay mamma?"

He is all over this communicating thing. It is pretty cute. Had a fantastic weekend with my family. He misses "Uncle Bill and everybody" a lot.

The dog, the myth, the legend

2009-08-22T20:26:00.003-04:00

Dash, the wonder doggie, has a new forever home. He has retired to a lake house. He is loving it, and so are his new family members. He has a little furry brother to play with, and a great yard and house situation. We have been looking to do this for about six months now, but were waiting for the right family to come around. It was incredibly difficult on us to make this decision, but in the end it was for the best. He is a fantastic pet, but he has an unusually high amount of dander, making it very difficult for our family and friends with allergies to enjoy a visit to our house. We also have found ourselves traveling more, and it just was not working. We hemmed and hawed about it for quite a while. Tommy does not seem to be too worried about it either, he has only asked about Dash twice since the move, and I just tell him, "Dash lives with a new family now." and that seems to be satisfactory to him. I thought Tommy would ask more questions, but he simply has moved on pretty quickly. Matt and I miss him terribly, but are happy that he is happy. It has been a week now, and it is still strange for Matt and I to go to bed without the furry little dude following along to the room. We still are careful about not leaving the door open for more than about a half second. It was very weird for me to come home to see Matt mowing the lawn without this happy little guy tied out to the tree, enjoying the breeze. But... no more barking when the garage door opens, no more kicking him off of the couch every time I get back into the living room, and best of all, the vacuuming situation will be drastically different. We may be able to vacuum without having to dump out the container 3 times before we are finished. Still, it is a little odd. But Dash is very okay with this decision, I have been in contact with his new mommy, and he has transitioned beautifully. It is just a little odd for us. It is what it is. I guess I can look forward to being able to wear black pants again without making sure that I have a lint roller in the car. If nothing else, there is always that.

The Little Green Frog Part II: Not so Little Anymore

2009-08-12T20:25:00.006-04:00

Remember the green frog who liked my dasies (on the stem in the background)? Well, turns out there are a million like him all over my yard. They are so gosh darn cute! We had fun with a little green frog on the deck yesterday. Tommy spotted it. then it jumped over the edge! Not to worry, it was a tree frog, with sticky legs, so it hung out on the side of the deck for a while. Tommy looked and looked at it. He was very amused. Daddy came over to get the frog back on the deck. He jumped on Daddy's foot. That was hilarious!! Tommy really liked things so far... then things took a turn for the worse. The frog jumped on Tommy's leg. He did not like that one little bit. He let out a TERRIFIED scream. Then the frog jumped off, all was right with the world again, and the little green frog moved on with his day. And Tommy moved on with his. He even bragged later "I got a frog on my leg!" He seems to forget the part where he screamed like his life was in danger, but I suppose that is all for the best. Tommy and I went an picked a cucumber, and went inside to eat it with Daddy before bed. It was delicious. I never realized that this particular vegetable could be so flavorful. Don't get me wrong, I do love cucumbers, I just never realized how truely yummy they could be. The end. I think this story would make an excellent screen play, it is riviting.

mmmmm ahhhggghhh

2009-08-04T19:24:00.007-04:00

mmmmm ahhhggghhh went the little green frog one day... I could not get that song out of my head as I took this series of pictures. Those of you who know the song, I apologize. It is one of those songs that sticks around in the ol' noggin for quite some time. I just felt the need to share that moment with all of you, hoping that if I put it down in writing, it would leave my head. That theory proved false. To those of you who do not know the song, I apologize if you feel left out, that was not my intention. Find peace in the knowledge that you do not want the song in your head right now, it is not good. If you are a sub 5 year old, you may find the song amusing and possibly hilarious, but otherwise, you are not missing a thing. Speaking of hilarious, my son said the following to me in the car today, out of nowhere, "Mommy, I am hilarious." I laughed out loud. He is hilarious.

...Please pardon the small interuption in the story... Did you ever realize how hard it is to use the mouse in your non dominant hand when you are trying to stop an almost two year old from playing with it, while he is trying to avoid Daddy? Daddy is starting the tub. The tub that goes right before the story. The story that goes right before prayers. The prayers that go right before bed. He is not interested in the day ending, so is attempting to hide with me. Something tells me that Daddy will find him. Now back to your regularly scheduled post...

Ahh... dasies. I love them. This time of year, they are the best. So sunny, so bright, so cute. Mine have taken off this year. I cut about 50 dasies a week to bring into the office and Tommy's daycare. I do not want the summer to end! I am loving this. Apparently the entire small creature world agrees with me. I caught all of these little buddies enjoying the dasies tonight. (Sorry for the quality of some of the pictures, it is hard to capture the little guys)

A moth enjoys the color yellow.

A daddy long legs climbs up the long stems. Can you see him?

A grasshopper jumps on top.

A fly lands on a flower to join in on the fun.

The little green frog hides on a leaf.

Oh, and by the way, the dragonflies at my house are bright cardinal red this year. I have never seen anything like it. Anyone else have red dragonflies this year?Also, I know what you are thinking. Two posts in one week. Has Katie lost her job? What is with all of the free time? Not to worry. All is well. Just felt like sharing a little more lately. I am sure that I will be back to my once a month posting soon enough. Just enjoy the extra communication while it lasts.

By the way, Grandma came to visit this weekend and Tommy loved it. She brought a fire truck to ride on. And hats to play with.

Come on people. I know you do not come to this website to listen to my random thoughts... you come for pictures of the cute dude. Isn't he a cute dude?

The Sleeping Bear Dunes

2009-08-01T18:11:00.010-04:00

So, if you have not ever been to the Sleeping Bear Dunes, go. Take your camera. Prepare to burn your feet on hot sand. Prepare to do a lot of hiking. Prepare to have your mind blown. It is breathtaking. Seriously, you need to go.

This post is long overdue, but the issue is simple. I have well over 200 pictures of the place, and narrowing it down to just a few to share with you has been difficult. Now, I need to decide which ones to print. Matt and I loved the trip so much that we definately want some prints up at the house, just do not know which ones. If you have any guidance in this area, or any comments about the pictures, I have put a number under each one for your commenting convience. (for all two of you that comment.)

3

4

18- might be my favorite, but I am fickle, and may change my mind before I publish this post.

29- we are quite far up at this point. that little white dot in the water to the leftof matt's hip is a seagull flying over the water.

Still at grandma and grandpa's

2009-07-07T20:33:00.007-04:00

My son is having about the best vacation that a 1 3/4 year old can have... There has been the air show. (it was loud-that is why everyone has thier ears protected- thanks to Uncle Eric). Tommy now is obsessed with planes. I do not know how this little boy is going to function independtly when he get home, after being waited on hand and foot by his adorable cousins. He is really soaking it all up. Next, we got to go ride on the Manitu, and have 5 servings of Moomers ice cream. It was amazing. The view from the ship was breathtaking. Tommy is now obsessed with boats. Tommy is also now obsessed with ice cream. Also, everyone is enjoying the new back yard! The waterfall is so natural and relaxing! Only a few more days of resting relaxing and having fun. Too bad there are no jobs for Matt and I up here... we love this area!! And I just need to mention it again... Does life get any better than this for a little boy? Tommy is now obsessed with Grandpa.

on vacation

2009-07-04T11:39:00.000-04:00

Tommy is having a blast with his cousins! He feels like a big dude!

There once was a little boy who wanted to go outside...

2009-06-23T21:21:00.012-04:00

There once was a little boy named Tommy who wanted to go outside. It was hot outside, but Tommy did not seem to notice. Mom let him wear his bathing suit, so the heat was not so bad.

First Tommy ran through (okay...he only really ran around) the sprinkler. That was enough to get wet though.Then, he needed a break, and took a seat in the chair.Then, he played with a pine needle.Then he played with some bark. He told his Mommy what nice bark it was.
Then, he took off his sandals. He liked the tickle of the grass on his toes.Then, the day got even better.What is that you see Tommy?Over here Tommy?Oh... over there. What is it?
Oh... a cute little froggie! How fun!Tommy chased the frog for a long time, but eventually, it was time to go inside.It was a great day. Tommy even made some artwork before bed.Goodnight!

We got a new bike rack today!

2009-06-19T19:53:00.002-04:00

Now we can take our bikes on the road. Thanks to Daddy and Tommy putting things together.

I have no real story behind this picture. I just love my lillies

This is how I brush my teeth

2009-06-18T19:45:00.003-04:00

By Tommy.

Step one. Let mom do the brushing.

Step two. Get frustrated. Demand to do it myself.

Step three. Get toothbrush wet.
Step four. Suck water off the toothbrush. Repeat steps three and four as many times as possible, until mom turns off the water.

what a cute little voice...

2009-06-09T20:39:00.008-04:00

The little dude has been especially cute lately, I find myself reaching for the camera at all times. I just feel like I need to capture it all...

Here are some cute pictures of Tommy announcing that he is going to "sneak" into the garden, Tommy once he is in the garden (it must be confusing to him that I am telling him to get out of the garden and taking a picture of it at the same time, I am sure it sent a mixed message. I refer to myself as the "Mommaratzi"sometimes. I should probably put the camera down and parent...) Also included are photos of Tommy's rock collection. He is so proud of his rocks. He will tell you which ones are heavy, which are flat, etc. There is also a photo of Tommy "Helping" water the garden, and one of him eating an entire apple (a fairly large one) on his own.

We took a bike ride to the park and the lake on Sunday, there are a couple of photos of Daddy and Tommy wading in the water. Lastly, my son's favorite breakfast cereal is now Frosted mini-wheats, he will even eat them dry! In the mini-wheats photo, he is telling me to put the camera down. I should probably listen to him...

So the first video is Tommy singing his ABC's. Or at least some semblance of an attempt to do this. He is very quickly distracted by his dinosaur.

The next video is what Matt refers to as my best video yet. Tommy does 10 little monkeys. Somewhat. His voice is so darn cute! See ya later!!!

Your monthly Fall house pictoral update...

2009-05-20T20:47:00.009-04:00

So, I know that your expectations of this blog are low, as far as updates go, but I will keep doing monthly updates at least. My job requires that I spend a lot of time on the computer now, and I just have no desire to stare at the screen once I get home... However, I do love sharing pictures of our little cutie with the world, so I will not give up on this blogging thing yet.Things have been busy as always here at the Fall house. We are loving spring!! We bought new bikes, and riding has been fantastic! Side note- I have exercise induced hives, which makes it so that when too much blood flows (increased heart rate, etc.) I break out. The breakouts are specific to the area I am working. (ie. when I am running, my thighs break out) Anyhow, I say that to say this: I love my new bike. I have never been able to ride without my hands breaking out severely due to the vibration on the handlebars (this is the same reason I can not push a lawnmower) However, my new bike has great shocks! I have not had one single issue with my hands! It is glorious! I am so excited, I ride it just about every day. We are borrowing a little bike trialer thingy from my Mom for Thomas to use, and he is loving it! "Go fast, Mommy! Go fast!" He is a great little motivator!
Tommy's language continues developing so much every day. He loves to communicate. He really can get stuck on a theme though... Matt's grandpa passed away peacefully last week, and will be greatly missed. Tommy loved to sit on his lap. We were able to spend some quality time with the Fall side of our family through this difficult time, and it was quite refreshing. Matt's sister and her fiancee flew in from New York for the funeral, and Tommy got to meet his Uncle Mike. Something about Uncle Mike really captured Tommy. He really enjoyed spending time with him. We were in the car for a half hour trip that somehow took us an hour, and practly the whole time, Tommy kept saying, "Mike! Hey! Uncle Mike! Hey, Mike!" and when Michael turned around and said, "Tommy!" Tommy would laugh, and laugh and laugh. I am not kidding you, this game lasted at least 20 minutes. I was afraid that Michael may need a neck brace after turning his head back and forth so much, but Tommy really enjoyed the game. I had a similar Tommy experience this afternoon driving back from daycare with him. Shortly after we left campus, he yelled very clearly from the back seat, "No more monkies jumping...bed" I took this as a cue to sing the song, and everytime we got to the "No more monkies..." part, Thomas would yell along. We did this the ENTIRE 30 minute ride home. My mouth was very dry once I arrived home.
Wow! This is turning into quite a long post! Here are some updated pictures of the cool little dude:
I am loving the gardening again this year. There is something marvelous about a well planned perinnal garden. The plants we have put in have continued to thrive, and we are likely in need of dividing many of them in the fall. They are just getting too big for their space. I will post some pictures of the Beard Tounge, Daisies, Sedum and other perennials as they bloom, but for now here are some garden pictures:

Some sedum that is really taking off
My favorite late spring bulb, ornamental onion.
Some bleeding hearts, Thanks Angie! They are doing great!
Phlox

That is all that is in bloom in the planned garden areas, but I went for a walk in the woods on our property and found a couple of flowers. I also took some peaceful pictures that I really like, and well, since it is my blog after all, I am going to share them.I know that this one is Trillium, because I have been on the hunt for one of these, and could not find it at any of our local nursery. Matt happened to see one out of the corner deep in the woods when he was cutting the grass. I can not believe that we have been looking everywhere and it is growing wild on our property. I have since learned that is is an endangered, protected plant, Native to Michigan, so I think I will just leave them where they are, since they are so beautiful.Does anyone know what this beautiful little blueish purpleish flower is?

Happy Star Wars Day!

2009-05-04T16:05:00.001-04:00

What??? Happy Star Wars Day???

Yes... May the 4th be with you.

Ha!Ha!Ha!

A picture update

2009-04-12T20:33:00.009-04:00

I hope everyone had a great Easter. Again, I have failed at this blogging thing...I am providing all two or three of you that actually still have faith in my blog and visit it occasionally the opportunity to view multiple pictures, in no particular order, to get you up to speed on the Fall House. Again, I promise to try harder to make this a regular thing. What has happened since I last blogged? Lots! I made a cute little quilt for my sister's new baby girl (coming in June). Work is still work. One of Tommy's favorite activities in the world is to help Mommy or Daddy recycle. He is hilarious. Whatever he is doing, if he sees one of us rinsing a plastic bottle or taking apart a box, he stops what he is doing and says" Mamma! (or daddy) Cycle?" Then, he runs over to me (or Daddy) and grabs whatever the object is, and heads to the garage, where he puts the object to be recycle in the proper bin (with mommy or daddy telling him which bin it goes in). Then, he comes inside for a bragging session, he walks over to the parent who did not help out and says"Daddy, I cycled!! I cycled!!" Then, we tell him good job, and he moves on with his day. The other morning, he cracked me up with this. Daddy already went to work and I had a milk jug that needed recycling. He helped, but then came inside and could not find anyone to brag to, so he walked over to the dog (who was eating breakfast) and said "Dash, I cycled! I cyled!" I laughed so hard!! Anyhow, you did not come to read my ramblings, you came to see pictures of the cutie, so here they are...

Tommy loves "Forts"
This is one of his favorite forts to build with help, and then hide and "read". Outside is the best!!, and when you are not outside, you are thinking about outside...Hats? Hats are awesome! By the way, when Thomas pumps his fist in the air and says "Awesome!" I can not contain my smile, it is hilarious. He started doing this about a month or so ago, and it still has not gotten old, but I digress... here is the awesome hat picture...
I just can not believe how big he is getting, he loves eating on his own, sitting at the real table, and coloring...That's all for now. By the way, tonight I made some delicious PB and Choc. cupcakes. Both of my dudes LOVED them.

Cardboard

2009-02-24T19:25:00.002-05:00

Daddy got something in the mail today. Tommy did not care what it was. The important thing is that it came in a box.

Hi

2009-02-23T19:52:00.012-05:00

Hello! Life in the Fall house has been okie dokie lately. . Yes, I did say "okie dokie". I am bringing the phrase back. Along with "yepper pepper". But, I digress...working like crazy, but glad to have jobs. Tommy is growing like a weed. He is getting too smart for his own good. Matt has been painting. I can't wait to post some pictures of all of the painting the hubby has been doing. It is turning out soooooooooo nice! That will come soon enough, we are getting close to finished and by "we", I really mean "he", I am not the painter in the house. I shovel driveways and play with the kid, those are my main household duties. :) Anyhow, here are some pics and videos of the kid...enjoy!!

Smiling for the camera...he is so interested in the camera now.

Showing you his monkey, his favorite stuffed toy by far. I do not know why. He has just decided it needs to be with him everywhere.

Sitting with Daddy and the monkey, getting ready to read.

Going nuh-night...with the monkey.

Now for those of you who wanted me to post more videos, here are a couple of the cutie. The first one is him being indecisive. He never seems to be able to make up his mind...

The next is him splashing in the tub, a bit camera shy though, usually it is much more...wet...Anyhow, I always sing him this song about the rain, he loves it...
"The rains came down and the floods came up (3 times), and the house on the rock stood firm. The rains came down ant the floods came up (3 times), and the house on the sand went SPLAT!"
When I sing "the rains came down", I just shake my fingers from above his head, down to the water. When I sing "the floods came up" I splash water from the tub into his face...he loves this...Both times I say house, put my fingers together and make a little"house", and of course when I say "Splat" I splash the water...then he splashes a lot of water...I am telling you...he is a crazy splasher...

The next video is him introducing you to his favorite animal

Tickling the monkey...

4 YEARS!

2009-02-12T20:44:00.004-05:00

No, I am not referring in the title to how long it has been since I have last posted, I am simply referring to the fact that it has been 4 glorious years today that Matthew and I have been a blissfully married couple :) Anyhow...We have been up to lots, I have included a video of Tommy for those of you who are excited about seeing the little guy. He is talking like crazy. His list of vocab grows every day. Just because I am so proud, I am going to attempt to list as many of his words here: Mommy, Daddy, Tommy, Dash, Bop (grandpa Fall), Nana (Grandma Ferguson), Chloe, Nolan, Mia, Christa, Pat, Chico, hi, bye, stop, off, down, blue, guy, sit down, all done, up, baby, Taggie, na-night, kiss, thank you, please, pizza, fruit, apple, juice, milk, one, two (demonstrated in video), again, yes, yeah, no,blow, hot, cold, get down, shoes, socks, feet, hand, hair, belly, eyes, ears, nose, mine, you, bed, snack, tub, peek-a-boo. That is all I can come up with now, but essentially, he repeats anything. It is so darn cute. I have got to get video of him "reading". He loves to sit down with a book and blabber.