Life in the Big City

Well, we have done a bunch of things since living here. We are trying to take advantage of the coolest city in the world. We found out that you can get free passes to all of the museums at the library if you are a Chicago resident. We've been to the Shedd Aquarium, Adler Planetarium and the Chicago Children's Museum. Gavin can't say Museum (of he just wont try) so he has substituted it with "Zucchini" for some reason. So he says, we are going to the Zucchini today! It is wierd, but it's what makes Gavin, Gavin! We are saving the Field Museum for when Ryan's parents come to visit us in a few weeks. We also went to the Hershy store the other day and to the Lego Store! It was so fun. Gavin loved hoping on the bus and the subway to get downtown. I had to take a picture of him because he looked like such a Chicagoan, all bundled up complete with Ipod, ready to face the wind and cold! We call him our little urban pioneer. Here are some pictures of our eventful days.

Trying on the Hershy hat at Borders

I love taking ugly pictures of myself - I dont know why, I just love to laugh at myself!

Posing with some lego dudes.

Another lego dude

The guy had a bird on his head and some poop on his shoulder! Of all the things you can use legos to build, this is what they come up with? Well, Ryan and Gavin loved it.

Our Urban Pioneer

I have to put in the fact that it was my mother who bought him this i pod and in her defense, it was only $10.

Adler Planetarium

Gavin loved this little cartoon about the atmosphere on the moon

Story time with Daddy at borders

(Gavin saw that penguin from across the room and held it the whole time we were there. It was $12 for that little thing, I was praying he didn't somehow rip it or destroy it!

All kinds of time

Since we have moved to Chicago, it seems I have all kinds of time. We don't know too many people here and I don't have any huge church commitments anymore (we haven't found a home church yet). So, I have had lots of time to do other things. Since we've moved I've . . .

Made throw pillows

(since I'm sucn and El Cheapo, I have to mention that I got this fabric in the as is section at Ikea for $3 and I've gotten two pillows out of it and still have a bunch left over. I might make a bag out of it, too!)

crocheted a hat

And another hat

(thanks Gabrielle for modeling it for me!)

with mittens to match

I have had all of these Starbucks coffee stickers for well over a year and have not known what to do with them. Well, I decided to put them on my plain ol' white magnetic board. Now I have a super cool orignal magnetic board!

It went from this:

To this!

And of course, I have had so much time to spend with Gavin. We have been making valentine cards and crafts for everyone, making ramps for our train tracks and just playing a lot together. Yesterday he told me that he wanted a Notebook like Blues Clue's. So, I jumped online and found a picture of what it looks like. A few clicks of the mouse, some staples and a little tape and we had ourselved a handy dandy notebook! Gavin loves it! We have been taking it everywhere! It's pretty generic, but it works for us!

What have you been doing/like to do in your spare time?

"I love you mommy, Sweetheart"

Gavin has been very affectionate lately. While he would never sit down and cuddle with me, he tells me that he loves me about 50 times a day. And when he is really feelin' it, he'll throw in a "sweetheart" at the end. It is so cute. He is always telling Ryan he loves him, too. But I must note, Ryan never gets a "sweetheart".

Gavin never seems to surprise me, either. I was playing play dough with him a few days ago and I made some "french fries" and Gavin was taking them and laying them down by him. I said to him, "What are you doing with my french fries?" and he said, "I'm organizing them!" Even though it probably shouldn't have, it warmed my heart. Like mother like son, right?

We are really enjoying living in Chicago. It seems like there is always something to do here. One of my favorite things about the city is Jamba Juice. They have the most delicious fruit smoothies. We have only been there a few times (one smoothie is almost $5) but we went the other day with some friends of ours and Gavin got to drink quite a bit of my smoothie. Last night Ryan said that when he gets home from work we can go to Jamba Juice and Gavin starts jumping around saying "Jamba Juice is GOOD! Jamba Juice is GOOD!" It was so funny, especially since Ryan was just talking to me and we didn't even realize that Gavin was listening.

Another thing Gavin has picked up on lately is our spelling. We often resort to spelling things so that Gavin wont know what we are talking about. So randomly throughout the day Gavin will say, "O I T M, mom?" or "I P Q A?" It is so funny. He thinks that he is really talking our talk. The best part is his straight and serious face!

One thing he has been doing that I am not proud of, it asking everyone for a prize. When he learns a Bible verse or does something VERY good, we give him a prize. His last prize was some play dough that I picked up at Target for .15 cents on clearance. These prizes are by no means extravagant, but he doesn't know the difference. Also, since we have moved, his Grandma has sent him all kinds of things in the mail. We actually had to start rationing his packages b/c they are too much! So, anytime we go anywhere he asks outright, "You have a prize for me?" It is very embarrassing. We are working on it, though! I am sure it didn't help that his birthday and Christmas are back to back as well.

Anyway, it has been forever since i have posted and I realize that I don't even have Christmas pictures up, but I will save those for another post. This one is already too long. Sorry about all the words. Here are some pictures of our silly boy!

Movin' on up - or actually down and to the west

We are moving out little family to Chicago! Ryan got a job working for Starbucks in the downtown area. We are very excited and have wanted to move there for a long time! It is our favorite place to be. We have been praying about moving there for a few years. We have alwasy been waiting for God's perfect timing. We have made a few attempts at it, but it never seemed to work out. This time, we got the green light! We are headed down there the day after Christmas to look at apartments (we are leaving Gavin with my parents, so keep me in your prayers. It is so hard for me to leave him, even though I know he is in great hands and wont even think about me!). We will be moving to the northern part of the downtown area. Ryan starts his job on January 21st. It is our goal to be all moved in by the end of the second week in January! We are looking forward to following the Lord's leading as to where we will attend church. There are several churches that we plan to visit during our first few months. We know that the Lord will show us exactly where he wants us to serve. We are very excited and hope that everyone will come and visit us at some point! Please keep us in your prayers these next few weeks as we tie up any loose ends here in Michigan!

Gavin talk

Every night when we put Gavin to bed, I tuck him in really tight and say, "Snug as a bug in a rug"(And of course I have to do the same to pooh bear). So when I don't do it, Gavin says, "Kleese do 'nugget,nugget, bug, rug!" I dont know how he got that from what I was saying, but he loves it!

Sometimes he will go and get a toy and put it behind his back and say to me, "I have prize for you!" and then give me the toy. THen he will take the toy back, of course.

His new thing is terrible fear of the spanking. When we are out in public and he is doing something wrong I will give him, "the look". You moms know what I am talking about. And he will say really loud while covering us bum with his hands, "You not give me spanking, mom?" I am constantly hushing him so that I don't get sent to jail!

Harvest Party

We had our Dobbertin Family Harvest Party this weekend. I have been looking forward to it for months now! Since fall is my fav. season, we went all out for this bash! We had it at Jason and Kate's house - the best location for fall fun! Our activites included : a doughnut eating contest, carving pumpkins, smores, making carmel apples, hot apple cider, pizza (of course, a Dobb. Family staple), a bon fire, the kids in their costumes, party favors, and the most fun of all - a hay ride! We have decided to make this an annual event! Here are some pictures of our night!

Jason and Kate with John Deere boy

Me and Ryan - the winners of the pumpkin carving contest

Jenna, Kate, Jas, Phil, Michelle, Mia - sittin' round the bon fire

Jason and Kate with their discuting vomiting pumpkin!

Me and Kate - acting dumb

Farmer Gav

Yummy!

Almost got it!



Well, blogger is being a big old booger right now, so I can't upload anymore pics. I'll post some more later - hopefully!

Trick or Treat

Well, our Halloween was super fun! We started our day by cutting up our pumkins and scooping out the seeds to roast! Instead of carving our pumpkins this year, we decided to make a pie out of them. Yes, I made a REAL pumpkin pie, from scratch! We cooked the pumpkin and even made our own crust! It took a long time, but it was fun and worth it in the end.
After dinner we headed out for the candy portion of our evening. Gavin loved it and had so much fun getting candy from all the houses. His costume was a hand me down from my sister. I am pretty sure that it is an alligator, but Gavin totally thought it was a dinasour, so we went with that! Halloween in Dearborn is AWESOME! We were pleasantly suprised. Everyone pulled out their firepits and sat in their driveways to pass out candy and hang out with the neighbors. There were only about two houses on each block that did not participate. It was a fun family event. There were kids everywhere! I really could have done without the gaudy and scary lawn decor at some houses, but the rest good. Gavin lasted for about four or five blocks. At every house he would say, "trick or treats" and then "Tank you" and then as we were walking away he would say, "We trick or treats at another house?" He filled up his bucket twice. At the last house we went to as we were walking back down the driveway Gavin said, "no more trick or treats. We go home now." At lease he knows when enough is enough!
So we came home and ate some of the candy and had a peice of our pie. Gavin was on such a sugar high. He ended up not going to bed until 10:00! He was such a crazy boy! Here are some pictures of our day!

Funny Sayings

Gavin is always saying the funniest things, as I am sure all kids do. I love to write down what he says and read it few months later. It is amazing to me how fast I forget things ( although this should come as no suprise to Anne). So, anyway, here are some of the things that he has been saying lately.

On the way home from BSF (which Gavin refers to as Play dough Bible class), he just blurts out, "My Teachers not love me, mamma" and said, "oh Gavin, thats not true! I am sure your teachers love you" and he simply says, "No, they not."

The other day he grabbed a sticky note off of my board that had a phone number and an e mail address on it and he brought it to me holding it up with both hands and said, "I read you story, Mamma." So I said, "Okay, lets here it." He put on a very serious face and looked at the paper as if he were reading it and proceeded to say, "God loves me. God loves us and sent his son." and then he said, "Touch my God story mom, touch it." So I touched it and he said, "Nice God story!" Then he went on to quote some more scripture! It was so cute.

When he does something wrong and we start to talk about it leading up to the spanking Gavin will say, " You not spank me, mamma. You just teasin' me."

As I was typing this he says to me, "You a big girl mamma. I'm getting big too. Am I getting bigger?"

He still can't pronouce quite a few words and I love it. Here are a few of the best ones.

Sandwich is Mondich.

Love is Lub

Video is Bideo

Pooh Bear is Kooh Bear (although he can say other P words)

well, I could go on, but I am sure you are tired of my kid stories.

Gavin's Package

Annie sent Gavin a package in the mail so I video taped us opening it so that she would be able to see it.

Spicer Orchards

I spent a few days out at my mom and dad's house to help watch my two nephews, Jonas and Mason. My sister in law suprised my brother and took him on a suprise anniversary trip to their honeymoom spot - Main. So, we got to spend some time with their boys! I was so thankful for the time with them. I was able to get to know their baby, Mason a little better. He is such a sweet boy and we got a lot of bonding time. Jonas and Gavin had lots of fun handing out together. They are the becoming best buddies. On Friday morning my mom and I decided to take the boys to Spicer Orchards. It was a chore with all three boys but definately worth it! They loved it! Here are some pictures from our weekend!

Our latest battle

Apparently it is impossible for a two (practically three) year old to sit still. I have about 15 pictures in this same spot and this is the best one. Pathetic, I know. But thats a boy for you! (thanks to J and K for creating a perfect photo op in front of their CUTE house)

Being an only child must be rough. Gavin has resorted to Elmo and Pooh Bear as constant companions. Actually, the Elmo stuffed animals are new to the sceene, but Pooh has been going everywhere with us and Gavin has been treating him like a human being. We set him a place at breakfast, we wipe his nose when it is runny. Gavin attempts to change his diaper ( even though we have no diapers in the house . . . maybe I should have Gavin potty train pooh so he knows what it is like!!) , he gets buckled into the car when we go places(poor pooh has to sit in the car a lot, I refuse to let Gavin take him inside). Pooh even gets covered up at night and gets his back rubbed by Gavin. When we ask Gavin why he loves pooh so much he simply says, "We are buddies!" So there you have it, the desperate measures my son takes to have a playmate - I guess it isn't always that much fun to play with your mom! I know this pooh story is dragging on forever, but I just have to add this one last bit. The other day Gavin wanted me to play trains with him, but I couldn't so I said to have pooh play with him and Gavin says, "But he doesn't have any hands!" Okay, enough with the pooh stories . . .

Gavin got to take a bubble bath today. I think its his first ever. He liked it. It was a must after our morning craft . . . (see picture below)

This is our craft today. It is supossed to look like a tree with fall leaves. Does it? He sure had fun getting paint all over his hands and arms. We made about six of them. Suprisingly, this was the best one. We like to make them for everyone in the family! Gavin even picks which one goes to whom (is it who or whom?).

Anyway, thats what we've been up to . . .