Oh man....

A friend wrote me last month and said "Hey! I haven't seen any new blog posts, you guys ok?" and I thought it hadn't been that long since I posted. Today when I popped over to see that our year in review was the last post I  realized she had every right be to worried!  Pretty soon I am going to have to do a 1/2 year in review instead of just posting!

A couple of highlights from my hiatus of posting are:

Quinn moved up from a tiger cub to a wolf cub at scouts. They made a really neat "Wolf O Matic" machine for the boys to evolve through. 

Nolan turned 6 with his 1st big friend party!  He chose a Kung Zhu battle hamster theme (can you even read battle hamster without laughing? I can't) and the boys had a great time.

5 was such a great age for Nolan. He is really a funny, joyful addition to our family. I am hopeful that 6 is as great as 5 was for him.

 

Quinn raced his Batmobile Pinewood Derby car and came in very close to last but still loved every minute of it. 

Hopefully, I will be able to keep up more frequently! Thanks for being patient with me while I keep up with life!

Our Year in Review

At our traditional New Years Eve fondue dinner, we all shared some of our own highlights from 2010. Here are our favorite memories from the year.

Nolan:  going to school, becoming a junior park ranger

Jim: 1st family vacation to Colorado, going to Adventureland with the cousins, Karen's arm getting back to normal with help of a great new OT

Quinn: finding a new scout troop and school with no bullying, becoming a jr. ranger, going to Texas by myself, making a great snow fort with all the snow.

Karen: finally making a garden at our new house, taking the boys on their 1st mountain hike, Trader Joe's came to Des Moines, Q started piano lessons.

It is so good to go back and think about all the good things we did.We hope your 2010 was full of as many wonderful memories as ours.

More Protection than Expected?

Nolan started his 1st organized sport this week and is loving it! He was very excited that he got new gear for his soccer practice "sin-guards". This is one of those times that I can't bear to correct their little kid words as it makes me so happy hear "sin-guards" over and over again.

What Does Christmas Look Like At The Lynchs?

 we bake

                            
 
WE READ 












wE bUiLd

wE jOke

   










WE PLAY

                                    We LaUGh













we EAT

                  FAMILY

We Need A Little Sithmas....

Nothing says Christmas like a Darth Vader gingerbread cookie. These tasty treats accompanied the 4 of us and our friends the Landis' on our 3rd annual solstice caroling extravaganza (a day late this year). This is one of my favorite holiday traditions...what can be better than bringing the holiday cheer to unsuspecting neighbors and friends?  Doing it with Star Wars gingerbread men  and 3 happy little boys squeezed into the back seat cracking each other up.

Fun Day at Fair Park... or was it?

Yesterday we went to Fair Park  to the Natural History Museum to see a really cool dinosaur exhibit. Nolan was pumped, he popped out of bed with his Allosaurus shirt on ready to go. After nearly being eaten by a life sized anamatronic T-Rex, we headed outside from some lunch and discovered this really cool maze/sculpture/water garden/turtle sanctuary thing that runs over and through the pond behind the museum.  In the picture above you can see me thinking, this is not the best idea but then he was off. He went around the corner ... we heard a splash, then cries for help.  The picture below is the result. 

The best part of the story is that when we were leaving, another mom with 2 small girls asked me if he had just fallen into this water. When I told her yes, she quickly said "Sophia, come here. I have something I want to show you." It's never good when your child is the example for what not  to do! :)

Happy Birthday Quinn

Today marks the 8th anniversary of the day that we became parents and Quinn Riley entered the world. From that day on we have marveled at just about everything this child does. He continues to make us smarter and better people and brings a new perspective to everything he encounters. Here are just a few things we loved about our 7 year old Quinn:
1. He lost his 1st tooth. (and his 2nd and his 3rd)
2. He found a love of all ball sports, especially soccer.
3. He stuck with his love of the Miama Dolphins despite the rest of the family's affection for other teams.
4. He gained an amazing amount of self awareness.
5. He has decided that the things that are hard for him he will conquer.
6. He learned he can change the world.
7. He discovered a love of drawing.
8. After a hard year, we are starting to see his real smile again.

We can't wait to see what we love about the 8year old Quinn.

We love you Quinn! Happy Birthday.