Sonny took a break from trains to...

...create a piece of modern art this afternoon. when i asked him what it was called he said, "i don't have any time, mommy!" the demands of a toddler artist are intense. i thought i'd share his work with all of you :)

jumping beanies.

john and isaiah have a way of making everything goofy and a reason for a belly laugh. here is one such time...

to see midwest vacation::part 3 scroll down past part 2. blogger decided they should be in that order instead.

Midwest Vacation::Part 2

After uploading around 15 pictures to this post alone , I'm realizing 2 parts are simply not enough. So... our vacation recap has now expanded to 3 parts. Our time in Indianapolis was really wonderful. We stayed with my parents and enjoyed 10 days together. Among the highlights were spending quality time together at home, sharing meals together, watching Isaiah rip his bike around the "trail" (aka: my parent's landscaping), playing with Geico the gecko, getting prepared for my sister's bridal shower, celebrating my sister at her bridal shower, seeing Karin and the Smiths, going to the Indianapolis Children's Museum, seeing my brother, and going to my grandparents house. We packed in a lot of meaningful events and still had time to really talk and enjoy each other's company. What a great trip!

Isaiah and I in the backseat, ready to travel from Tiffin to Indy.

Isaiah asked Daddy to put "little lovey" on his head, so Ramin happily obliged :)

I got to see my best friend, Erin and her two boys Brett (3) and Noah (1). We had a great morning together and the boys played like old buddies. This is the two of them enjoying a popsicle together.

That same morning Mom and I got to babysit for sweet Noah Biggerstaff. Ramin and Noah's Dad, Ben went out for lunch, so we had the honor of caring for this little fella. 

Me, Isaiah, Brett, Erin and Noah

Watermelon at Grammy Debi's. He loves it anytime, anywhere. 

Isaiah and his pal Papa Jon

This was hilarious...Mom and I bought Isaiah paints, paper and brushes so that he could do some painting and he ended up using all of the above materials to make a train. After about an hour of lining up his paint tubs and brushes he said, "Mommy, I'm done painting." I love my Sonny.

Of course all of the available boxes were quickly engineered into a track with tunnels. 

Grammy Debi and Isaiah on the "Reuben Wells" at the Indianapolis Children's Museum. It's a real train that they actually have preserved inside the museum. Isaiah was struck silent with awe. 

Lauren and I

Isaiah James ready for a dinosaur dig at the Children's Museum. I can't believe he wore the goggles without any fight. 

Grammy and Isaiah watching the model version of the Reuben Wells chuffing along the track. 

An amazing blown glass sculpture at the Museum. It was enormous and breathtaking. I wish I could have captured it more accurately. 

Rookie of the Year: Isaiah James Razavi

Midwest Vacation::Part 3

Here are the rest of the pictures from our vacation. Enjoy!

I had the honor of throwing a bridal shower for my sister who will become Lauren Elizabeth Church on September 19th in Eugene, OR. We had a great time celebrating her. Here is a beautiful shot of her at the 'Welcome Table.'

Lauren's fiance, Ryan not only helped me gather photos from throughout their relationship, but gave me explanations, too. I matted the photos on black paper with the typed explanations, and hung them with ribbon representing their wedding colors. It was a fun project!

Mom and I made this fruit bouquet :)

Lauren's sweet little cake.

Gram, Mom, Lauren and I

What a huge treat it was for me (and for Lauren) to have my dear friends Julie Smith and Karin Stroessler there. We all moved to Boulder together over 4 years ago and Julie and Karin have both moved in the last year. I love them both so much!

Mom, Isaiah and I spent a day up at my grandparents farm in Northern Indiana. We had such a wonderful day together. It began how most of my adventures as a kid at Gram's did...with his head in the deep freeze choosing a treat to get things going :)

Grammy Debi and Sonny sitting together outside.

I've been waiting for 3 years to get a picture of Isaiah running next to Gram and Pop's bean fields. He just happened to pick the spot right smack dab in the middle of their veggie garden. I don't think he smashed anything! Notice the old brick schoolhouse in the background. 

While we were at the farm we received word that one of our friends in the area had built an amazing display of all of his childhood trains in addition to a real model train set up complete with 3 tiers of track, bridges, tunnels and what one day will be cities, mountains, and countryside. Isaiah was thrilled, as you can see :)

A Sonny's personal heaven.

After the trains we went over to Aunty Kathy and Uncle Barry's house to see the kitties, Daisy and Lilly. Isaiah was surprisingly gentle with them. Here he is with Daisy.

Isaiah and Lilly

When we were done visiting with the kittens, Isaiah decided that he wanted to drive Uncle Barry's truck. He was very serious about the trip he was taking his Grammy Debi on. 

Our last night at Mom and Dad's we had dinner and visited with our dear family friend, Julie Ingels. She and Mom have been friends since before there were any kids on the scene and we just love her (and her family). She was even sweet enough to search 6 stores for just the right toy for Isaiah. 

Midwest Vacation::Part 1

In mid-July Ramin, Isaiah and I hit the road and toured through Ohio and Indiana to spend time with our families. We had a really wonderful time and made lots of great memories. There are a lot of pictures from the trip, so I thought I'd split my posts into part 1 and part 2. Below are some pictures of our time in Ohio. I don't have any pictures of Hocking Hills State Park where we spent a few days with Ramin's parents, his sister and her 2 boys, but it was great. Isaiah got to meet Dylan (7) and Noah (nearly 3), his cousins, for the first time and play on the beach and in the forest. He also roasted marshmallows with the boys and his Papa and rode his strider bike on the trails there. 

After we left Hocking Hills, we headed up to Tiffin to stay with Ramin's Grandpa and celebrate his Mom's 60th birthday. We loved catching up with all of the family we have there and watching the cousins play together. The pictures below are from our time in Tiffin. Enjoy!

Isaiah lining up some legos on Opi's table. Noah is playing with a truck in the background. 

A shot of the family enjoying Tom's delicious cooking at Trudy's 60th birthday party

Ramin with Ben, Dylan and Isaiah::Light Saber training :)

The birthday girl and Dad

Judy, Opi and Tom

Isaiah and Bruni playing Lincoln logs

Ramin, Isaiah and Opi

Isaiah watching a movie with Dylan

Sweet Noah-I took the picture a second too soon-he smiled right after 

Lili and Noah

Grammy Trudy with her 3 year olds-we were saying goodbye

Papa saying goodbye with a big swing in the air-classic Papa move!

I Love My Son

There are a couple of reasons why I specifically love my son today: 1. his unending love for lining up his toys and how he'll spend hours doing it and 2. our mutual love for Target. Both are expressed in this video.