The Green Eyed Momma

Daddy surprised us with a road trip to Weber Orchard. Ryan and Mikey loved looking at and touching all of the goods harvested locally! Ryan and Mikey picked out pumpkins. Ryan was trying to tell us that the pumpkins were orange. Mikey loves to look at Indian corn, as he is amazed at how many different colors each cob can be. The gift shop had dinosaur puppets! Mikey and Daddy stopped to play with them, while Ryan and I just laughed! (Silly guys!) The boys helped Mike select 4 different varieties of apples, way more than we indented to buy, but they had so much fun selecting them! Mikey and Ryan, wanted to see how tall they were before we headed home! *Thanks Daddy for taking us to the orchard, it wasn't your fault that the orchard was picked clean the weekend before! Who knew that it was Johnny Appleseed's birthday, and everyone in the state would come to this orchard? The boys and I had fun any way! Thanks for trying to surprise us!

Mikey was so excited to be building a fire truck, that he talked about it all week! Before we left the house he asked if Grandpa knew we were making a fire truck, as he would be very proud! Mikey-Daddy-Ryan Mikey has gotten so much better at driving nails in with the hammer! The Rookie hit 2 nails, and helped to put the stickers on his fire truck! Ryan and Mikey couldn't wait to play with their fire trucks, as they had sirens!

On our way to New York, we stopped by Jersey City, NJ to show Mikey where he lived and the hospital where he was born. The one thing we really miss, is the amazing view at Fisk park, which was right across the street from our apartment! On your far right is the new tower being built, Mikey was shocked he could see it all the way in New Jersey. Jenny, Ryan, and Mikey; with the Empire State building behind us! Even the Holland Tunnel paid tribute to 9-11! Finally in New York City! Mike, Ryan, and Mikey We stopped to watch the Marine Corps Band, play patriotic music; it was very moving! We then went to the M & M Store! Mikey and Ryan almost couldn't contain their excitement, they didn't know that M &M's came in so many colors! Mikey and Ryan with the M&M Lady Liberties! The new Father Duffy Memorial in Times Square. Jenny, Mikey and Ryan in the heart of Times Square! I loved that the 9-11 tributes were every where, even inches away from the New Years Eve count dow...

We debated if Ryan was ready for Build and Grow, and thought that we would try a class with both boys just to see how it worked out. When they posted that the project was a police car, with flashing light...two little boys were very excited to go to Lowes ! Ryan the "Rookie" and his new red apron, he has some growing to do! Unfortunately , this is how Ryan spent most of the class...with his hands over his ears, as the hammering sounds were too loud for him. Mikey and Ryan The Pro vs. The Rookie, lets call it a draw! Both boys did great, and couldn't wait to show off their completed police cars!

Words can not express the great loss that happened on 9-11-01. We lost 2,996 American heroes that morning, when 4 planes were flown into the Tower One, Tower Two at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and at Shanksville, PA. I had only been at work for a few minutes, waiting for the bank to open, when the phone at my desk rang. It was Mike, calling to tell me that a plane had flown into Tower One. I remember trying to rush Mike off of the phone, so I could unlock the doors to the bank, and start my busy day. He stopped me and said "Jen, did you hear what I said? A plane was flown into the World Trade Center, you need to get to a TV." I stopped and said, " Oh, my God, I'm sorry I didn't catch what you said the first time. Let me call you back." I remember running down the steps to our break room, getting the attention of our bank manager and telling her I was taking the television upstairs, as something horrible had just taken place in New York. She helped ...

We dodged the rain drops, and went to the Maryland State Fair, on Labor Day. Mikey and Ryan, couldn't wait to visit the barns filled with baby animals. Brodus , the hog, weighed in at a whopping 1001 pounds, and was on the Today Show. Mikey saw the pedal tractors and made a bee line for the blue one! Ryan was excited that they had one his size! Ryan and Daddy Ryan and his prize! Mikey and Daddy Ryan and Mikey, were so happy to both win plastic hammers that squeak! Mikey and Ryan found a "huge" tractor! Mikey-Jenny-Ryan

For as long as our nephew, Dylan, has been in school he has had a plastic container of snacks in the pantry. Each morning he picks out his chips or snack, and throws it in his lunch bag. (He is now a 7th grader, amazing how time flies...) So when the boys were old enough, Grandma showed them the snack bucket, and let them pick out their very own treats. It soon became a running joke, go to Grandma's house, go see what the latest treat was in the snack bucket. As the boys grew, they knew that if they asked permission, batted their eye lashes, and it wasn't dinner time, Grandma would let them have fruit snacks or cheese its. Grandma called in May, and asked to speak with Mikey. The two of them made a deal, that if he would give up diapers, and be 100% potty trained, she would send him a snack bucket of his very own. (We had been trying for months, and nothing was working, Mikey had zero motivation!) Wait...back up...you encourage salty and sugary snacks? Are you crazy...