Hungarian vacation

We finally have a couple of new stamps in our passports thanks to our decision to attend Michael and Eszter's wedding in Hungary. We had a beautiful time enjoying walking the city of Budapest, drinking palinka, sampling the local fare (mmmmm venison stew), meeting new people and reconnecting with some former aquaintances, kicking butt in bocce, perfecting the Hungarian phrase for "I would like two more Jagermeisters please," dancing till dawn and then some, and, very importantly, sleeping until we woke up on our own accord. Please note we couldn't have done this without the generous offer from Grandma Stanley - aka abuelita or "beeta" as Lucia says - to stay with the kids. The last pictures below are from our return to Milwaukee. As jetlagged as we were, there was a bit of time to take abuelita to a Brewers game and one more night of story time together.

Block Partying and Baby Girl turns TWO

Summer is in full swing as we have our block party; Lucia has her birthday party; Jack meets his junior kindergarten teacher; and, mom and dad prepare for a trip to Hungary without the bambinos. We've got some great pictures to share and hopefully we'll have lots more after our short little trip.

99 pictures downloaded from the camera today

I'm sure many people have this issue with digital cameras: so many pictures taken, so long to download them and to share them. In this batch, you'll see grandpa nudge's visit, crazy hat day, our refurbished bench, Jack @ the farm, playing in the backyard, Kat's TRES LECHES birthday cake and our NEW little shade garden. Woohoo! We'll be sure to take many pictures of our summer adventures, but we can't promise fast turn around times on the downloading.

Breakin' in Spring

Spring Break is over and we are back to work, but we had a nice relaxing week.
We went "up North" for a few days and enjoyed sunny days chasing bubbles and watching the sunset over the frozen lake! Grandpa Nudge also came out for a few days and kept us company...overall it was a great vacation - as long as we don't include our NCAA brackets.

Come on SPRING!!!

Ugh - winter is still sticking around. The forecasters called for light snow showers totaling maybe an inch the other day and they got it pretty wrong. Dada walked up the driveway through about 4 inches. Our days have been spent mainly inside going to museums, the domes, open gyms and the like. Mama has been as patient as can be with us - dealing with our sicknesses and our high energy level. Enjoy this latest batch of pictures that help to tell the story.

Christmas 2009

We're so glad 2009 ended and a visit from Mack, BB and Callista helped us beyond belief. The holiday vacation is just about over, but we've made the most of our time by going to the domes, visiting the Sprecher brewery, making yummy food, eating said food, scraping ugly blue paint off beautiful wood, installing a new kitchen faucet, weathering incessant colds, sniffles and the occasional pink eye, shoveling a little bit of snow, lamenting the cancelation of Dollhouse, making snow people on top of snow pyramids, spending a bit of time with awesome friends and neighbors, and, celebrating the arrival of BABY BEATRIX STANLEY SANDER. In short, 2010 has started off normally and may it continue to be so for you and yours!!

Falling colors

It's been a very, long time since our last post - school and the little ones have been keeping us busy! Jack now loves school (or Work as he often calls it - I guess when both parents work at school that could be confusing). Lucia is a busy, little bee and very bosy, but most of the time it is cute, even when annoying. Her vocabulary is expanding daily, but she still drops all the last sounds and is therefore difficult to understand. Below are some pictures of Abuelita's visit (when we all got the flu), Halloween and Fall in the leaves. Enjoy!!!

New School x Three

Happy New School Year to All! Kat and Jason have started the school year off just fine, but the big news is that JACK has started pre-school. Week number one made him feel a bit like number two, but there were bright moments amongst all the tears. Take care all and send kind wishes to Mack and BB - no labor as of Labor Day - but they're close.



Got my Triceratops Mochila filled with goodies to make it through the day.

It was a bit chilly for the first day of school, but good ole Lucia was ready for some alone time.

Jack was asked to decorate this paper person in his own image. The boy's on an acorn trip as of late.

US: How was school, Jack?

JACK: It was GREAT, but I missed you guys and I cried.

US: We missed you, too, buddy. To celebrate let's have some...

CORN!!!!

Mid-Summer Pictures 2009

Hi everyone - I know it's been a while, but Jason's been busy with writing and summer school. Kat's been chasing the kids. Luckily we've been enjoying the summer with some friends and we're looking forward to a trip to see Grandma and Grandpa Meyler down in Texas. We'll post some more pictures before school starts (for Jason, Kat and JACK!) at the end of the month. For now, enjoy a couple of our favorite shots.

June

Little Miss Lucia Bean is up and walking and celebrated her 1st birthday - so no matter her size, she is now officially a toddler. And just like her brother, she is crazy adventurous - climbing everything in her sight and chasing Jack around, like he chases Chaplin. So needless to say - us parents are getting our exercise! Here are some pictures from the last month.

A simple tribute to the mother of the Milwaukee Meyler household. We love you so very much. Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers!!

Spring?

We have had a few warm days and have been working in the yard...but it is still mostly cold here. Jack is up to his usual antics and is constantly asking to play baseball or some other sport. He is actually getting quite good at catching and pitching. Lucia started to crawl about a month ago and although she is quite adept at crawling all she really wants to do is walk. She pulls to standing on just about anything and even managed to crawl on top of a box on the floor today - YIKES! Hard to imagine, but she might just be more adventurous than her brother. Anyway - here are some pictures from the last month. Enjoy!

Love the double stroller!

A rare family portrait - even Chaps is there.

Lucia enjoys some sun at the Lake.

Off to find some geese and Mom's head.

He's a Cowboy, baby.

Ah, a dog's life.

Dad - keeping his arms fit.

We just love it when Jack wants to hold Lucia - so does she

Move Dad so we can watch cartoons!

Two happy prisoners

I found it! Happy Easter.

Alone again...

Well - things here have begun to return to normal and we are all itching for Spring so that we can run off some of Jack's energy and have some new places to explore. Both Jack and Lucia are doing well, although Jack misses his Abuelita terribly and keeps asking when she is going to come back and see him. Jack has been "potty trained" for about a month now - but still refuses to use the potty for #2 - so half way there. Lucia is sitting up perfectly and is rocking onto her knees and attempting to crawl, but hasn't yet figured out how to get her left leg out from under her. Her front bottom teeth (two of them) have also emerged - almost exactly to the day of when she turned 8 months. Below are some pictures taken over the last couple of months - hopefully the next entry we will be outside.

Daddy's little girl
A weary Chaplin awaits the day she can pull tails.

Okay - you try to get two kids to hold still together.

Yum. Breakfast!

Ditto.

Our best attempt at a family portrait.

Dirty Mouth?

Clean it up!

Bye Bye Abuelita!

A happy girl!

Holidays

Okay - well things have been 'unusual' around here for the last couple of months - hence the dearth of new posts. But here are some pictures from that time period. We hope that things in our household will return to 'normal' soon and that we will be back to our regulary scheduled posting...thanks to everyone for all your support and we hope to have good news to spread soon.

Lucia - with her crooked, little smile @ 4 months.

Jack enjoying the big trucks that put in our new driveway.

Jack and Mama on Halloween - Jack's in my old costume - made and saved by Abuelita Kitty.

Jack's future is so VERY bright - he needs to wear 3 pairs of shades!

Look - they do like eachother!

Jack's Thanksgiving dinner consisted of olives and pickles.

Lucia discovers her feet!

Busy, Busy, Busy

Sorry that it has been so long since our last post. Time is just flying by lately. Lucia is now 3 months old and actually slept through the night for the last 2 nights!! We are crossing our fingers that it continues. She is also managing to hold and shake her rattle - all with the left hand - so we may have a Southpaw afterall. Jack is keeping us busy as usual. He is a bundle of 2 year old energy - both the good and the bad. He is now capable of holding simple conversations for anyone who wants to give him a call and find out what he is eating or playing with at the moment. Here are some pictures from the last month.

Yes she can definately see you now.

Starting to look like the old man snoozing on the couch!

Jack likes a view when he drinks his milk.
Family gym time.

The ladies.

Holding hands? This may be future blackmail material.

Lucia always finds something to laugh at these days.

Girl's clothes sure are pretty.