HAPPY EASTER!

EASTER EGG HUNT

Due to the five inches of snow we just received on the second day of Spring our community easter egg hunt was postponed. We decided to have our own, so Mike and I surprised the kids with hidden eggs all over the house. The kids had so so much fun!

DYING EASTER EGGS

A touch of Spring!

Is it the perfect proportion?

What color will it be?

Look at Mine!

A VISIT WITH THE MARBLES

Say Cheese!

Our friends the Marbles were able to visit from Indiana for a couple of days.The kids played for hours! They enjoyed running around in the basement going to Jill and Katie's preschool for an Easter egg hunt, making Easter egg necklaces, having pizza and a sleep over. What great friends!

Look at us....we're funny!

A tradition to make silly faces.

The Babies.... So Cute!

Hey we're not babies... Look at what we can do now...

walk, crawl, play on our own, and climb the stairs.

We're the mighty toddlers!

Andrew and Tyler played in the basement by themselves for at least an hour.

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY

We woke up this morning to find a Leprechaun

had visited our home in the night playing tricks
and turning everything upside down!

We then enjoyed a yummy breakfast of green shamrock pancakes.

CHICAGO DAY TRIP

Prologue.... We the Thomas family set out for Chicago on an adventure to experience the biggest St. Patrick's Day Celebration. We began our trip at 7:00 a.m. getting everyone up and ready. Then we were off to the train station were we rode the train through the corn fields to the city for an hour and a half. We then took the elevated train further in to town. The kids Love the train rides.

Waiting for the L- Train... The waiting time has begun.

Jill was upset because she did not get to walk through the twisting gate.

Will this be the beginning of a long day? :)

Watching the buildings rush by.

DYING THE CHICAGO RIVER GREEN

The first chapter ... watching the Chicago River change colors. Ever year Chicago has a tradition where they dye the river green for St. Patrick's Day. We wanted to witness this event. It first turns bright orange and then bright green. We made our way through the crowds to high elevations on one of the bridges. This way we could see above the thousands of people. We then waited..... for an hour and a half!.. I guess we missed the bridge where the dye is put in. The dye then floats down the river. Well we were down the river. Therefore, it took forever. We left and walked up stream to see the color.

Where's the Thomas'...... Can you find Mike, Jill, and Jaden.

Chicago river before the dye.

Chicago River after the dye.

It was a grand sight as we watched the Irish claim the city once again.

CHICAGO ST. PATTY'S DAY PARADE

The second chapter in the day.....finding a way into the crowds of people to see the parade. We continued our 6 block walk looking for a spot with fewer people. We found one... Yea! After waiting for twenty minutes we were finally able to find our way to the front. The waiting paid off... we saw some great floats, heard beautiful bag pipes and the kids got hats, necklaces, and candy!

The last chapter in our day.... Dinner. We thought the perfect ending would be to have Chicago Deep Dishes pizza, but with the crowds it was more waiting, so we kept on walking and walking until we found somewhere to eat. The kids were ready for a break and we finally found a resteraunt. It was a Dive! Although, it was nice to stop and rest. Tyler says it all in the above picture. Let's go home! (He was only crying because I took the salt away from him. It didn't last long.) We finished off our day with more walking, riding the elevated train ride and then the train ride home!

It was craziness, but we enjoyed our Adventure in Chicago!

PRINCESS JILL

Jill was in her element today. She adores the Disney Princess' and her friend let her borrow the beautiful Belle costume. She spent all day in it. She had so much fun dancing to her princess music.

BABY BELLY

WHAT BELLY?

Tonight Tyler started crying and kept pulling at his shirt, so I took it off and he immediately proceeded to run around the house with a big smile. I don't think he cared that it is snowing outside again! He's ready for Spring. He was so cute.

See he is growing..... Just not up.

THOMAS PLANETARIUM

LUNAR ECLIPSE FEBRUARY 20, 2008

Mike taught the children about the lunar eclipse and how the moon hides in the shadow of the earth every few years. The children were fascinated with this new knowledge, and excited that it was going to happen that very night.

Jill and Jaden watching the beginning of the eclipse. Jill kept saying... This is going to be Great!

We braved the 0 degree weather to watch the eclipse with a non-obstructed view.

As the children watched the eclipse we overheard Jaden say.... The moon is my friend. Hello moon. Jaden and Jill kept saying Hello friend we love you. Jaden would run into the other room and talk to the moon on his play phone. He would whisper to his friend (the moon)... it is now half covered. Ya, it is an eclipse. He would then run to the window to look at the progress of the real moon and go back and report to his moon friend again. It was so cute.

What a wonderful opportunity it was to teach the children about the world God created for us, and to watch the joy of learning on their faces. It was a fun night. I do not recall seeing a lunar eclipse myself. It was fascinating.

FREEDOM

Tyler has been walking around furniture since 9 months. He took upto ten steps at Christmas time. Then in the first weeks of January he took off, and has been walking ever since. Tyler has always loved to walk. When we held his hand to walk with him his whole face would light up with a grin. When he first started walking he would just giggle and smile. He is enjoying romping around with his brother and sister. He loves this new found freedom and exploration time.

He is now 13 1/2 months old. He is so funny and sweet. We love him. He is a shorty like the rest of us. He is still in his 6-9 month pants. That doesn't slow him down at all as he has just started to tackle Jaden, and loves it.

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!

Sending you lots of HUGS & KISSES for Valentines! We love and miss you all!

MISSED OPPORTUNITIES

Jill never used a binki when she was a baby, but last night I guess she decided to make up for missed opportunities.

JADEN'S MISSING TOOTH

On Wednesday, January 30 Jaden lost his first tooth at school. He had been wiggling it for weeks to get it lose, as his permament tooth had already come in behind it. He has decided to collect them all as they fall out. He loves to stick his tongue in the space and call it his pink tooth.

Winter Fun

SNOOOW DAYS . . . . .







January 2008

We are enjoying the Chicago winter weather. We love the "snow days" from school and have spent the time sledding on our hill in the backyard, playing games, and talking around the table drinking hot chocolate.

CELEBRATING NEW YEARS DAY 2008

We celebrated the New Year with a family game of bowling. We had so much fun! All of the children had their own unique style of bowling, which made it fun to watch, and we did a lot of giggling!Aleath only had one ball hit the bumper resulting in one true gutter ball.

We all had excellent scores.....

Mike 132

Aleath 153

Jaden 101

Jill 88