Christmas 2011

Christmas was a fun time for the Lokey boys. This is the first year that Ryan was beginning to understand about Santa. And Evan really got a kick out of unwrapping presents - lot of squealing with delight. 

Since we'd be in Fraser on Christmas Day, Santa came to our house on December 23. Santa brought them "Band in a Box". Here's Evan beating on a tambourine with a drumstick. 

Ryan plays the tiny cymbals.

We also got them a set of Dr. Seuss books. 

Ryan reads The Cat in the Hat. 

Playing with their trucks from Aunt Carol. 

The aftermath, part 1.

We were at my parents on Christmas Day. We went to church and then came home to open gifts. 

Evan tries on an elephant mask. 

Evan models new construction gear. So serious. 

The aftermath, part 2. 

When we got home from my parents on December 30, the boys had to get reaquainted with their toys we'd left at home, both old and new. They also had to play with all the stuff they'd received at Grandma & Grandpa's. So here's the aftermath, part 3. Now...to find a place for all this stuff. 

We want to thank everyone for their generous gifts. We are blessed to have such loving family and friends in our lives.

Hope you all had an enjoyable holiday! Happy 2012!

Love, 

Becky, Burke, Ryan & Evan

Pre-Christmas Fun!

Earlier this week, we had some pre-Christmas fun thanks to Grandma & Grandpa Ponka.

Gifts arrived from Grandma & Grandpa to Ryan & Evan. (Practical gifts that Mama is especially thankful for.) Due to their practicality we opened them right away.

Ryan's bean bag got a new insert so it is more chair-like again. 

"Can you smile," I ask. This is what I got - hands over face. 

Evan has been showing signs of wanting to be rid of his high chair. Now we have a new booster seat for him to use. Such a big boy!

Then Burke and the boys decorated a gingerbread man that Grandma provided us. 

Dada demonstrates...

Evan applies a candy button.

Ryan applies a candy button while Dada and Evan snooze.

Final product...

No wait... Ryan wanted him to have a nose and ears. Burke added the eyebrows. 

Then we enjoyed some ice cream!

Happy Holidays!

Bundled Up

We've gotten surprisingly little snow thus far - maybe a couple inches, all of which has melted away by now. We had a little bit this past weekend, so we bundled the boys up for some outside time. Ryan is really enjoying snow now, which is fun for me to see. He was so tentative for his first 3 winters. Evan is not so much tentative, but his thick snow gear makes it hard to maneuver. He reminds me of Randy from A Christmas Story. Evan literally fell down, couldn't get up, and was calling for me to help. 

We'll see how snow play continues to evolve over the course of Winter 2011/2012. 

Artists

This is how the boys play with the easel...

Ryan does some drawing, but quickly shifts his interest to being imaginitive with the marker caps. At one point, they were construction cones being hauled in a dump truck of his. Recently, they've been going on his finger tips. 

Evan spends more time actually drawing, but that includes drawing on his hands and sometimes face, as well as the paper. 

However it occurs, we love the creativity!

Tree Murder

A big part of the boys' excitement this fall rotated around "tree trucks" and all the activity that surrounded said trucks. To me, on one hand, it was fascinating to see the methodical work these men did, safely taking down (too) many trees in our neighborhood. On the other hand, I felt very sad to see the destruction of so many beautiful mature trees. Sigh...

Even though this post doesn't have too much to do with the boys, I felt it was important to document the trees' existence (and demise) in our blog.

This is a before picture. It was taken in August 2010. Look at the full pines in our back yard. It is something about our house that I really liked. The sense of being secluded in nature. (Note: No view of neighboring house.)

We were notified over the summer that trees would be trimmed and/or taken down. The work didn't begin until November. This sign popped up on our front yard one day, as "tree trucks" blocked big portions of the road. The boys were interested in the sign. Ryan is reading letters to Evan. 

And then, one day, the trees were gone. Sad. 

They even left the equipment right in our backyard for a few days. The boys checked it out, under supervision, of course, and were really respectful about it. They didn't even try or seem to show interest in climbing on it, which I was thankful for.

The last tree they demolished was this huge tree by our shed. Burke was glad to see it go because that means less leaves to rake in the fall. This tree was particularly fascinating to watch them remove. It involved tethering men to the tree. When they cut large pieces of trunk and let them drop, I could feel the thud throughout the house. 

And that was that. No more beautiful trees to line our property. 

All in the name of electric wires. 

I better never lose my power again. 

Snowmen

On Evan's birthday, also my parents last day visiting, we went to St. Joe for lunch. The streets of downtown St. Joe are decorated with these snowman sculptures. I tried to get pictures of a few of them. As always, the boys are hard to keep still.

The first one we stopped to take a look at.

This one they liked to bang on, like a drum. 

Very cool Elvis snowman. I think it was my favorite. Of course, the boys loved the guitar. 

R & E with Grandma & Grandpa.

(I also really liked the colors and snowflakes on this one. It's my second fave.)

Evan's 2nd Birthday

On Saturday, November 26 we celebrated Evan's birthday a few days early since we had so many special family members in town. We had a little fiesta in his honor.

Here's Evan with a taco.  

Somehow, almost all of Evan's gifts make some sort of noise. Fun for him. Mama needs earplugs. 

A guitar for our budding musician - from Burke, Ryan & me

Nana & Lolo gave him six (yes, six) trucks that make lots of cool siren and other vroom-y car noises.

Carol & Pete gave him a quiet toy. This cool easel will get lots of use because not only is he a budding musician, he's a budding artist. 

Birthday cupcakes for my big boy!

He was not big into eating the cake part of the cupcake. He mostly just ate off the frosting.

Evan with his birthday loot.

Thank you, everyone!

On his actual birthday, December 1, we had another little celebration. In this picture, he's opening another present from Mama & Dada. He was really funny about getting the wrapping paper/tape stuck on his fingers. Hence, the icky-ish face he's making.

Yes, it's another noisy toy. 

This time we had chocolate cupcakes. 

He still only wanted the frosting. 

It's hard to believe that our Little E is already two years old. What a hilarious, silly, fun boy we have on our hands. We look forward to many more years of Evan keeping us on our toes! 

We love you, Evan!!

Happy 2nd Birthday!!

Thanksgiving 2011

We are THANKFUL that both sets of grandparents could join us at our house for this special holiday!

Evan's Feast

He really liked the mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce.

Ryan's Feast

He pretty much stuck only to mashed potatoes. 

For better or worse, he's getting to be a pickier eater these days. 

In addition to having my parents and Burke's parents visit, Carol & Pete and Steve also joined us. It was a festive full house. Hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving!!

Football with Lolo

We were so lucky to have Nana & Lolo here in Michigan for Thanksgiving. The boys were lucky to have Lolo play a little football with them!

Everyone was tuckered out after this game of football!