Be back soon!

I know I have been absent from my blog lately and for that I am sorry! For whomever reads my blog...if there are any readers ;) I promise I will be back soon! I'm going on a trip this weekend with my sister to St. Louis, Missouri. Then Tuesday is my 27th Birthday so I have a lot going on right now. But I have a ton of things to blog about. Stay tuned!

Happy Thursday!

Valentine's Day

"When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth." Billy - age 4

"Love is what makes you smile when you're tired." Terri - age 4

"When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love." Rebecca- age 8

I remember being a kid and being so excited when Valentine's Day was approaching. I loved preparing my valentines for my class and picking the cutest one and making sure to draw little hearts next to that special boy's name. I also remember getting butterflies in my stomach when I would drop the little card into his valentine basket at the time of passing them out.

While Tyler and I worked on his valentines for his class, he made sure that the girls got one with a kitty on it and the boys got one with a dog on it. And on a few of the girl's cards, I noticed he wrote their names a little neater. Awww my little boy has a crush...or two!

We also prepared little goody bags to give out with his valentine cards. Here is a photo of him "helping" me put the dum dums in the bags. (300 dum dums to be exact! Minus the 4 he ate.)

Tyler even made me my own special valentine. Hand made and heart shaped! I love it.

He loved his valentine basket from me too.

Tyler and I went on a "date" for Valentines. We went to the movies and saw Gnomeo and Juliet. It was a VERY cute movie. Tyler got a hot dog, some candy and an orange soda. And afterward we did a mini "photo shoot" in a photo booth. Remember those?

I hope you all had a funtabulous Valentine's Day! <3

Winter Fun

The temperatures finally got warm enough so that when you walk outside your face doesn't burn. I figured it would be a perfect afternoon to go sledding. So Tyler and I went. We had a blast! Here's a couple photos.

As much fun as sledding is, I am looking forward to Spring so that we can have picnics and lay in the grass. Take naps in the hammock and spend a huge portion of the day outdoors.

Happy Tuesday!

Update on 1st Grade

With only four months left of First Grade, I figured now would be the perfect time to do an update on how this year has been going for Tyler.

Here's a look back at his first day of first grade:

http://aboynamedtyler.blogspot.com/2010/08/first-day-of-1st-grade.html

He likes school but he has definitely lost some of that enthusiasm he had his first week last August.

This is a typical morning in the Gingras household:

I wake Tyler up. He pulls the covers back over his head about 5 times before finally getting out of his bed and making his way to the bathroom. I have to then tell him he only has 15 minutes to get dressed, eat breakfast, brush his teeth, and since it's Winter, put all of his Winter gear on. He ignores me and runs around the entire upstairs (half the time he's naked). Then he likes to antagonize the two dogs and cause them to go into a barking fit. But finally he is dressed, teeth have been brushed and he's ready to go. But usually by then he's running to the door so he can make it to the bus in time before it drives away. Unfortunately we have not been successful every time and I've had to then drive him to school. But I don't mind having a little extra time with him in the morning. :)

But as you can see things have changed from the first day of school up until now. The first day he was awake at the break of dawn because of excitement. But now he sometimes pretends he's sick so he can stay home for the day. I remember those days... :)

He's doing very well in school. He knows how to read, spell most words and even tell time.

I can't believe how fast this year has gone. My little boy is growing up so fast.

Here are some photos from Tyler's after school fun:

Lake Geneva, Wisconsin

I know I have said and probably exaggerated in previous posts about how much I LOVE Winter. This statement is still true. I love the snow and the beauty of Winter. It's an amazing thing to photograph. But after a few months of temperatures in the teens and even single digits, my cabin fever started to set in. I needed to get out of the house. Desperately!

So a few weeks ago, on a Saturday, I convinced my mom and Tyler to head out to Lake Geneva Wisconsin for a few hours of fun. Outdoors. And by the way Lake Geneva is only a 45 minute drive from our home. Not too shabby. So we bundled up and off we went.

We had lunch at what used to be Houlihan's one of our favorite restaurants but now it's called something else. I can't remember the name off the top of my head. But it was good. And it was warm inside so that was nice. :)

After lunch Tyler and I decided we were going to be brave and walk out on the frozen lake.

Everyone else was doing it, so why couldn't we?

Standing on a frozen lake, the lake we swam in last Summer, with fish swimming beneath your feet is one of the most incredible feelings ever. Definitely an adrenaline rush. As long as you don't hear a cracking sound. :)

Here are some beautiful shots of the frozen lake.

Mom and Tyler :)

My mini me and I.

And some more gorgeous shots I got that day.

What better way to end a great day than to enjoy an ice cream cone? And who cares if it's 15* outside! That didn't stop Tyler from having his favorite sweet treat. (Cell phone picture, please excuse the quality.)

I hope you all are enjoying the Winter. And just think! Spring is only a few months away!

Happy Tuesday!

Santa's visit

For the past few months all Tyler has been talking about is Mario (Super Mario Bros.) and Santa Clause. He has been counting down the days until Christmas for weeks now. And he has been hoping that Santa would bring him the Mario DS game he wanted.

Tyler prepared for Santa's visit by sending his wish list to the North Pole.

Finally it was the night before Christmas so Tyler prepared by leaving cookies and milk out for Santa. And a nice little thank you note to the man in the red suit. :)

Tyler was very happy when he woke up the next morning to find the cookies had been eaten, the milk drank and everything he had asked for including his Super Mario DS game under the Christmas tree.

He was super excited and rambunctious the rest of the day so it was hard to get him to settle down for pictures. So here are a few I got of him.

Even throughout all the excitement that surrounds Christmas, Tyler was able to remember the true meaning of this time of year. When I asked him what it was his response was "Love and Jesus."

Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!

How to build a fabulous snow man

"There's no buddy, like a snow buddy."

When I was a kid I loved Frosty the Snow Man. I always felt sad when watching him melt away during the movie. And living in California I never got to make snow men because we didn't have any snow! Now that I am living in Illinois I get to relive all my childhood dreams that didn't come true. I get to make snow men, snow angels, go sledding and catch snow flakes on my tongue. And the best part...I have someone to do it with! My mini-me Tyler. :)

Last weekend it was gorgeous out. Around 30*. I know to some that may seem REALLY cold, but it's actually not so bad compared to the days it doesn't get higher than 5*. So since it was nice and "warm" outside Tyler and I headed outdoors to build a fabulous snow man. The funny thing is, is that I had no idea how to make one. Since Tyler has been living in Illinois for a few years longer than I have he knew exactly what to do. He showed me that if you roll the ball of snow along the ground it actually does get bigger. Like when you see a snowball rolling down a hill and it gets bigger and bigger until it's so enormous it could take out an elephant...you know exactly what I'm talking about. :) I thought that only happened in movies. Didn't know that was for real. But Tyler proved me wrong. He's such a smart little boy! So off we went to make our fabulous snow man. Here are the steps we took:

And while we were at it we made an igloo too. :)


Not only did we have a blast but I got a great workout. Rolling and lifting those giant snow balls was a lot harder than it looks. It was probably the best workout I've had in quite awhile :)