Whatever Writes

Jon's Halloween Pumpkin

Jon drew the picture, Dave cut it out.

Every Year

I take pictures of "The Tree." And here they are:

Dave at the Zoo

Only Dave would snuggle with the Flamingos.

I miss you Grandma Newby

We think Gilbert may have inherited Grandma Newby's tongue. To prove it, we'll have to see if he can touch his nose with it!

Every little bit helps

Gilbert is a climber. With effort, he makes it to the top of the couch. I love his little tongue!

Yes, I am completely insane, thank you

I just took the Harry Potter Husband test and laughed out loud with my results. I was rather hoping for the Snape result, but will quite happily settle for a Weasley twin. Strictly speaking, the Weasley twin.

Your result for The Harry Potter Husband Test...

Mrs. Weasley Twin

Take The Harry Potter Husband Test at HelloQuizzy

Chicks

My brother and his wife bought day-old chicks in May. I captured these videos when we visited a day later with Jon. I apologize for the music, it just seemed right at the time.

Honest to Goodness!

A real live honey bee! Dave saw this honey bee harvesting pollen from our crocuses on Sunday. I couldn't resist trying to snap photos of such a rarely seen creature.

Here she is in flight; you can see her pollen baskets are full.

Here she is inside the crocus.

And, hovering.

Gilbert did not want to be left out

Gilbert has joined the rest of us in illness and has his very own cold. I took this picture of him taking a (hopefully) restful nap this morning.

Rebecca is on the mend

Rebecca came down with aspiration induced pneumonia. I don't know if I've said that correctly, but it's essentially what I understand to be the case. She's wearing a bi-pap mask that is giving her air pressure to help inflate the air sacks in her lungs. She also has been receiving vest treatments which is a vest that inflates and deflates with air fast enough to vibrate her lungs and loosen up phlegm. She certainly did not like them while wearing the mask, but now that she's done wearing the mask the vest treatments aren't so offensive.

Happy Birthday Jon!

Happy Birthday to You!

The Birthday boy finished his supper and could hardly wait for cake!

We sang to Jon just before his "birth minute" and Grandpa and Grandma even called and sang along with us! (The blizzard kept anyone from actually coming to Jon's party.)

Jon blew out the candle at exactly 7:30!

Jon quickly dug into his piece of cake, and even asked for more when he was finished with it! I admit we did oblige him with another piece.

birthday boy

Gilbert plays with Grandma and Grandpa

Gilbert's six month Birthday!

Gilbert is officially a half year old. In celebration we visited Grandma and Grandpa's house.

Jump, Jive an' Wail

Gilbert dances!

Our Morning

Gilbert never wants to miss any of the fun of getting ready in the morning. He always wakes up and is happy to be a part of the hubbub. Naturally, Jon gives him kisses!

Happy Birthday Rebecca

Eleven years old, today!

Happy

I snapped these of Jon putting his coat on the other day. He was so happy!

In Which Jon Feeds Gilbert

I took this video a few days after Christmas. As soon as we introduced Gilbert to spoon feeding, Jon wanted to take over. I don't think he had ever seen a child being fed before, but he seemed to know exactly what to do. We got a big kick out of Jon exclaiming over the "mess!" and over his almost constant commentary.

This is a movie of Jon and Gilbert

I don't know if this will be able to be accessed by Jon at school because of the filter, but I thought I'd give it a try anyway. Hope it works!

And below, is a link to the same movie, only lesser quality.

Very Poor Resolution

Download file

This link that says "download file" is a movie of Jon reading to Gilbert.

Improving penmanship

Jon copied (all on his own, and it was his idea to do it) this book cover onto his magna doodle over Christmas. I was so impressed that I took a picture of it. He has since copied other book titles.

Santa Train

Jon reminded us of this Santa train when we asked him what he wanted for Christmas. It was put away broken, at least two years ago, but Jon remembered it. Dave soldered the broken part (the noisy part!) and he put it together last night. Gilbert couldn't take his eyes off, and Jon didn't mind sharing the joy.

Rebecca shares

Rebecca shared a spot on her bed with Gilbert last evening. Looks like they both got a kick out of it.

Antics

Jonathon and Gilbert doing what they do best. Warming our hearts.

Jon saw a Christmas story book on Gilbert's desk and wanted to read it to him. Every few pages Jon leaned over to give Gilbert kisses.

Apparently, Gilbert has his own way of showing affection.

Christmas Photo

Laughing with Mommy

Self Portrait?

Jon created this critter last night before he went to bed. When Dave went up to turn Jon's Christmas lights off, he saw it tucked in with Jon. It's so peculiarly spindly... I do wonder if it might not be an attempt at a self portrait!!

Jon's Tree

Jon's so excited for Christmas decorations to go up! We put up his tree this weekend.

Grandma's Touch

Gilbert doesn't stand a chance against Grandma! He's sleeping in no time!

The tree that brings joy

We receive many comments on this beautiful tree each year, and I think that it must bring a lot of people joy.

Baby is on Grandpa

This is one of Gilbert's favorite places to take a nap.

Whoops! Looks like Grandpa got comfortable too!