Happy Halloween

You never know what to expect on that special day of trick or treating. We ended up having a great night. Joshua was a fireman and Dylan a frog. They wanted to go to each and every house, other than the really scary one next door (scary organ music, guys jumping out at you, etc.). Joshua would lead the way and Dylan was right behind him. We even took a hay ride in the neighborhood. They took everything thing in and got so excited. It was a fun Halloween!!

Our Little Helpers

J and D really are "little helpers". It is funny to see the things they get into or the things they want to do. I need to keep in mind that they are little boys.

Scott and I needed to do some planting, so while we were working so were the boys. D gets into everything. He sees us raking, digging, using the wheel barrow, and watering. He wants to be right there in the middle of the action.

We also love to see the flowers blooming so we'll go outside each day to look for new blooms. It is so much fun. My gerber daises are actually still blooming, unfortunately D is starting to pick the not fully grown blooms off. This is a little something he loves to do with all my plants. Maybe he'll be in the landscaping or flower business when he gets older. J will be there to check on D and make sure he has done it correctly. Just like his mother.

Chicago Marathon

I normally blog about the boys but this week it is all about their Daddy. This past weekend Scott ran the Chicago Marathon for the second time. Last year was very difficult on all the runners. The temps reached into the upper 80's and they ran out of fluids for the runners to drink. They actually had to stop the race but yet Scott was able to finish. I hate to mention the fact that he ended up in the ER due to dehydration.

This year the organizers did a great job and had plenty of fluids. The temps reached into the low 80's making it still pretty hot. It ended up being a much better run for Scott in comparison to last year.

They allow 45,000 participants but ended up with 33,000 running this year. Probably due to the high temps again. It is such an awesome experience as a spectator. You meet all kinds of people from all over the world and get to experience all in my wonderful home town of Chicago.

For those of you who don't know remember how far these runners run, that would be a mere 26.2 miles. A good 24 more miles than I'll ever be able to run. I was able to get a pic of the lead runners. A Kenyan won the men's with a time of a little over 2 hours. All I can say is "incredible".

Scott will be embarrassed once he sees his shirtless pic on the blog. He does have a rather nice upper body though. Needs some more sun. I guess that's what you get for being an accountant who is in an office each day.

I was so proud of Scott to see him with his medal. Great job Scott!! I can't wait for you to run again next year.

Fun With Friends

We have a babysitter, Ms. Rose, that babysits for us and a lot of other families we know. She has no children of her own so the children that she babysits for are like her own. J and D adore her and have the best time. She had pictures/portrait taken of all the children she babysits for. It was fun but we all know how difficult it can be to take pics of little ones. After awhile D was not too happy but Joshua did great. They all did walk away with some skittles though. I'm sure the pics will turn out just as she wanted.

We got to spend an evening at our house for dinner with some friends who have a son J's age. The boys had the best time and J and his little friend Evan got to eat at their own table. It was fun to catch up and hang out.

It has been such a blessing to have friends that are in the same stage of life. To talk, to complain, but to just fellowship and enjoy each other's company. We have a lot of great friends both here in B'ham and in Chicago.

If the Shoe Fits

One of their favorite things lately has been going into our closet and trying on our shoes. They love to walk around in them and just have fun. This day they both chose a pair of Daddy's shoes. I thought it was photo worthy so I had to get some pics.

We had a block party the other night. We strolled down the street in the wagon and the boys spent the entire time on the " jumping thing". They had alot of fun. Dylan finds creative ways to jump or not jump. Last year Joshua wouldn't even go near it and Dylan was too small. This year we had to practically drag them away.

My New Bicycle

We wanted to get Joshua a "big boy" bike for his birthday, which is the beginning of November. We took him to a few places to get him sized for a bike. He took to riding the bike like a charm in the store. Of course I ran into a deal I couldn't pass up so I ended up getting the bike for him a little early. That's ok because now he gets to ride it even more before the weather gets too cold.

We have a great driveway to ride bikes on but unfortunately there are some spots that aren't level. Joshua quickly found one of those spots and ended up in the bushes. It was classic. We tried not to laugh too hard. He was ok just scared a little.

Dylan calls Joshua's bike "car" and wants to ride it just as much. We'll stick to the tricyle for him for awhile. At least we know that Joshua and Dylan can share helmets if need be . We can't believe the size of Dylan's head compared to his brother who is 2 years older. We definitely have fun with that.

They are growing up too fast. Probably 3-4 months ago Dylan was pretty scared to be pushed in the baby swing. Now he is on the big swing flying away. He'll be riding Joshua's bike in no time.

My Mom

I have been kind of out of the loop and out of my element this past week. Normally I am writing about the boys but this time it is about my mom. My mother, Betty Rybak, passed away on August 31st in Chicago. She had been sick this past year and wasn't really getting any better. The hard part was being so far in distance from her and my dad. Each time we would see her, which was 2-3 times a year, she looked physically different. To be honest, it wasn't my mom that I was looking at. I didn't recognize her because of all the weight and water gain.

This blog was mostly for my mom so that she could keep up with my boys. I think she got a chance every once and awhile to look at it. I just wanted her to know how much her grandchildren loved her and wanted her to be able to see what the boys were up to. I also loved her very much and knew it was important to stay connected even though we were hours away from her. I knew she loved Joshua and Dylan. She loved being around them and hearing all about them. All that to say that my mom will be greatly missed.