Fun at Best Buy

Dave finally "caved" and bought a new TV today--46 inches of HD heaven. :) He got a pretty good deal on it, so I can't complain. Anyway, while he was taking care of the transaction, his dad (who came to help load it into his truck) and I took the boys back to Tyler's favorite part of the whole store--the music room. Below, you will see why he likes it so much! :)

Believe it or not, he really does have rhythm!

Papa Dave decided to visit the guitar room and belt out a few tunes of his own.

Okay, on the count of three......

Success!

Tyler didn't waste any time taking our new purchase for a test drive.

We topped off our day with a McKendree Bearcat b-ball game in the late afternoon--and they won!

Our Little Athlete

Tyler loves going to basketball practice every Saturday and he's doing great. He's a good defender, an excellent dribbler/passer, an awesome rebounder, and most of his shots are nothin' but net. Oh, and he runs FAST. The second his team takes a shot at the basket, he's already on his way, full speed ahead, to the other end of the court. As soon as he gets there, he immediately gets into his "defense stance" (arms in the air, legs spread) and waits for his chance to either steal the ball or rebound a missed shot by the other team. A couple of the other parents were surprised by his speed and by his knowledge of the sport--maybe all of those hours spent in front of the TV with Dave watching endless b-ball games are paying off. :) We're told that he's going to be a dynamite player when he gets older; hopefully, his love of the sport continues to grow!

Practicing defense with Coach Dave
Tyler in action
Tyler and Marcus, one of our neighbors. We know what these two will be doing outside this summer!

A Fun Snow Day

We weren't lucky enough to have a "bad weather day" off work, but we did manage to get home early enough for Tyler and Dave to make a few runs down the hill on the side of our house before it got dark. Tyler wasted no time getting bundled up and immediately grabbed his snow shovel so that he could help Dave clear off the driveway. He also LOVED going sledding; you could hear him giggle every time he sailed down the hill. I really think he could have stayed outside for hours! Connor, on the other hand, was a completely different story. It took us 15 minutes just to get his snow boots to stay on (he kept kicking them off before we could stand him up). Then, when we finally got him outside, he just stood shell-shocked in the garage, looking less than thrilled about venturing out into the snow. We carried him around to the side of the house so that he could see Tyler sledding, thinking that once he saw how much fun his big brother was having, he'd want to join in the fun for sure. NOT!! Better luck next year. :)

Our first (and probably only) REAL snow this winter--a whole 7 inches!

One of Tyler's favorite things to do when it snows is shovel off our driveway and sidewalk. He would do it all day long if we never called him in!

Tyler had a blast sledding down our hill on his penguin tube from Mama Jeanie.

Unfortunately, Connor did NOT share his excitement, but Dad had to do it just once for posterity. :)

Footprints :)

SLU Game

Today, we had a "Mommy-Daddy-Tyler" day and it was a lot of fun. First, we took Tyler to lunch at Hard Rock Cafe; he loved the constant music that played in the restaurant. Then, we headed over to Chaifetz Arena to watch the men's Billiken basketball team play against Richmond.

Having fun "pre-gaming" at Hard Rock Cafe

Watching the flags is one of Tyler's favorite part of SLU games (after watching Dad play trumpet, of course!).

Hangin' with Dad

Starting a fire together--Tyler's job is to wad up the newspaper and Connor throws the "paper balls" into the fireplace. It results in more excitement than you might think. :)

Horsing around--one of the things that we "boys" do best!

Another fun b-ball practice session today!

A Fun Visit With Good Friends

Today, we met up with some good friends, The Kaltmayer's, for lunch in E'Ville. They moved back into the area last summer after being gone for several years--we're so glad that they're back! We ate lunch at a Mexican restaurant called LaFonda and had a lot of fun.

The Lunning and Kaltmayer Families

Connor enjoying some puppy-lovins.

Tyler really likes Nick.

The Fisch is Back!

One of our good friends, John (who we've always called Fisch because of his last name), recently moved back to the Lou from New Orleans. His girlfriend, Liz, helped to organize a surprise "Welcome Back" party at our favorite hangout, Humphrey's. It was a really fun night!

Becky and me

Zaegnut, Fisch, Franko, and Dave

Guys and Girls

Gifts from Daddy

Dave spent the past week in New York on business and, as he always does while on business trips, picked up a little something for the boys. Connor flipped out over his New York City cars and Tyler really likes his cab t-shirt. :)

Getting ready to walk Mama Carol & Papa Dave's doggies with Cousin Taylor

Happy 5th Birthday, Tyler-Bug!

Today was Tyler's very first basketball practice and he had a lot of fun. He was a little bit shy at first, but as soon as made a couple of shots, that pretty much took care of it. He actually made several baskets during practice, so it's no surprise that he can't wait until next Saturday. :)

Mommy and Connor watching from the sidelines

Later in the day, we celebrated Tyler's birthday with our family and friends. It was a fun time for everyone, especially the kids, and Tyler received lots of cool gifts. Our theme this year was Scooby-Doo, one of Tyler's fave characters right now. He loves to watch re-runs of it over and over again. :)

All of the cousins from both sides of our family

Everyone wanted to have their picture taken with the birthday boy!

Tyler hangin' with his "Band Homies."

Tyler opened his presents from Dave and I later that night.

School Party

Today, Dave and I met at the daycare to celebrate Tyler's birthday with his class. We're fortunate to have jobs that are, not only flexible, but less than 10 minutes from the boys' school. We had fun singing "Happy Birthday" with Tyler's teachers and classmates and enjoyed watching the kids devour the cupcakes that we baked last night.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!

Tyler had fun celebrating his special day with his school friends, especially his best buddy, John.

Our "Big" Little Man

I took Tyler to Portrait Innovations today for his 5-year photos and he did awesome! I love going to this studio--the rooms are huge and the photographers are great. Something else that I really like about it is that the photographers use Digital SLR cameras and are mobile; rather than waiting for your child to look at a camera on a tripod (like most studios), the staff are constantly moving to get the just the right angle and capture your child's smile right away. When I took Tyler there a year ago, I actually ended up not ordering much because most of his smiles were forced and "cheesy"--not the genuine Tyler-smile that I know and love. This year's photo session was completely different, though; in almost all of the photos, I was able to see his signature dimple (on the right side of his mouth), which usually only shows up when his smile is real. So guess what? I ended up with six different poses and spent more than I EVER have on studio photos! I also ended up with a CD that included most of the photos, so it really wasn't a bad deal. Anyway, here are some of my favorites.