Miscellaneous pictures

Here is a random assortment of things we've been up to lately.

I (Tina) decided to try to play with our new camera a bit.

I just liked how this captured Henry's love of books and foot crossing whenever he is in deep thought.

Finger paints + 2 toddlers=much entertainment + a mess

Derek and Henry on the sledding hill at the winter festival.


After almost taking out the guy working (see above picture in yellow hat), they made it to the bottom successfully. Although Henry looks concerned in the picture, we asked him if he had fun. He said, "Yah..do it again?" I guess next time it snows we'll head to a real (small) hill for more downhill adventures.

Long overdue

Somehow time has slipped away and we haven't posted anything new. We have lots of pictures but just never took the time to sit down and post. So, here's a long one with many pictures. Sorry for the delay.

First ride outside on his new tricycle. That was our first warm day a week or so ago--it was about 30!


After being stuck inside with cold weather, Levi and Henry find new ways to amuse themselves.


I (Tina) found a new way to amuse myself by yet again rearranging things in our house. "The corner" from past blogs is now back to being a non-toy storage area. The front room is now the toy room.

This past weekend was really warm, above freezing. We're excited that the snow is finally melting. Some of us discovered the joy of splashing in puddles.


And then the rediscovering of nature--this time rocks.

And more rocks in the driveway.

And the moving of rocks from driveway to....

..a nice big icy puddle!

Success!

Derek was outside with Henry for about 1.5 hours just walking around, visiting with neighbors, splashing in puddles and moving rocks. It really has given us spring fever! Maybe that's why we haven't blogged. We've actually been spending more time outside.

Someone turned seven today.

We don't seem to blog a lot about anything/anyone other than Henry. Which is probably the way it should be because he's really the only one with a lot of new/exciting stuff going on in his life. And he's cute. But today I thought I should mention another individual who is a constant in our home.



That is Zoe. She's our golden retriever and if you have visited us within the last seven years the two of you have met. If you aren't/weren't a dog person, sorry she doesn't know the difference. She's easily the most enthusiastic/loving greeter we've ever had in our home.

This is what she looked like a little more than seven years ago:

She's the yellow/white one. Anyway, she's a terrific dog. So this post will be devoted entirely to her.

Above is one of the funniest pictures we've taken of her. It has not been photoshopped, but it sure looks like a smile/grin to me.

This is a picture of an adolescent Zoe and much younger Derek.

For us, one of the best characteristics of Zoe is how well she does with Henry. The above picture was taken when Henry was two weeks old. I laid Henry on the floor for a little floor time and Zoe came over and laid down right beside him to see what he was all about.

One of the best/worst things about a dog is that they force you to get out of the house. Which is nice about 11.5 months of the year but really was a bummer this winter with the number of below zero days we had. It seems that these 'all family walks' are about Zoe's favorite thing in the world.

Next to hanging out with Henry on the floor.

Which is why we celebrated Zoe's birthday today by taking a nice long family walk that included hiking out onto one of the nearby frozen lakes to run off-leash. Frozen lakes by the way, make pretty safe dog parks in the winter since there's very little they can get into. Anyway, I think Zoe had a good time. She came home, drank some water, laid down and hasn't moved since.

Happy Birthday Zoe.

Then and Now

Remember this picture? It's from this post. I was lamenting all of the plastic baby stuff.

Well the house (and the boy) continue to change. Now the corner has morphed into this:

Speaking of change, here's the weekly picture we took of Henry when he was 12 months old.


And now here he is at 19 months:

It's funny, the pictures don't really show that much change in the last seven months. But, in reality, a lot has changed. He continues to stretch out and get thinner. I don't think he qualifies as skinny, but he sure is not the chunck he once was. Finally, we have this picture of Henry 'checking his email' (another direct quote).


Kind of funny to compare it to this picture.

That's all for now.

More Henry Quotes

Henry keeps us laughing with stuff he says these days and with his creativity while playing.

To Derek yesterday after a long, quiet time of "playing" alone he said in a serious tone, "Uh-Oh Daddy. Code Brown."
(meaning he had made a nice project in his diaper. I think we picked that saying up from Todd and Megan but I'm not sure.)

And the other was listed in the comments on the last quotes posting and I had forgotten about it when I was writing that. So I thought I would include it for those who don't check out the comments. It was from our time with Derek's family over Christmas. Henry likes to bonk heads with people--kind of like a hug or kiss. They are usually very gentle. Anyways, he and Grandma Cathy bonked but it must have been a little too hard because Henry immediately said "this...not...working."

Christmas photos--finally

Random pictures (mainly of Henry) from Christmas travels:

Snuggling with Grandma Janet (during our first part of the trip)

One of the many stringed instruments at Trent and Chris' house.

With cousin Hallie. Henry loved Hallie this summer and wanted her to carry him around. Now he a bit bigger but still likes her a lot.


"Christmas" dinner a few days late but wonderful. Including a cross country traveled ham and incredible sweet potatoes.

The weather was so warm in Virginia we went hiking two days. This was the first day with Trent, Maia and Bailey. Henry wanted to hike on his own until he wiped out on a big rock. No serious injury, just a bruise and a little more realistic perspective on his hiking ability.


Full family hike.

Lunch break.

A very tired Ginger at the end of the hike.


A very hungry Henry at the end of the hike. Grandpa Howard generously shared his snack.

Maia, Henry and Grandma Cathy playing Polly Pocket. (Henry has expanded his love of things with wheels to tiny dolls with clothing)

Brunch at The Little Grill. What a great place.

Back with Grandpa Delmar, Greg and Doug at Todd and Megan's house.


Our last busy day of play with Doug and Greg before heading home.

We drove a lot over break but it was SO nice to see family that we wished we could see more often. Thanks to all of you who hosted us along the way. We really appreciated it!

Henry quotes

So, I will eventually post more pictures from our travels but I need to take some time search through the pile of pictures Derek took. For now here are some Henry pictures and some of his quotes from yesterday. We thought they were a bit funny but we're a bit partial.

To Derek, who had a hooded sweatshirt on with strings. Henry pulled on the string and said "Henry take Daddy for a walk."

To me, with a wooden bulldozer in his hand which need a part glued back on. "Henny bulldozer need tape!" (We've mended many books with tape--obviously).