January & February 2010

January is a boring month.  You have to admit you agree.  The end of the Holiday season brings boredom (birthday highlights aside), so not much happened.  And after all the fuss that occurs between Black Friday and New Years Day, not having much happen was a welcomed relief.

Ethan’s birthday falls in February, and this year he turned five.  He was very excited to make the half-decade mark, and we were left trying to find out where the past 60 months had gone.  In five years Ethan has grown into a full-blown little boy. He is a great big brother to both Lucas (fights not withstanding) and Alayna (he’s already honing his big brother protection skills).  He’s either skipping through the house, absorbed in a puzzle (he prefers the 500 piece kind, and is determined to conquer a 1000 piece soon), building something, or decorating his room with … well, with stuff.  He tried Karate this year and enjoyed it, but we’re not sure he’ll do it again.  He likes getting his picture taken as well as seeing other people have their picture taken; so much so that he feels compelled to join them in their picture.  We are very thankful that God has brought him into our lives.

March 2010

They say March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb, well ours was reversed.  The beginning of the month was uneventful, but the end had back-to-back birthday and anniversary.  Erin turned… well she had another birthday this year.  She is doing well, continuing her effort to transform the homemade bag industry one bag at a time… with a lot of time in between each one.  Raising three kids leaves little time for anything else, but she ceaselessly and tirelessly fills her orders for bags, right up to the last minute.  She enjoys being able to stay home with the children and wouldn’t trade that for anything.

We celebrated our seventh anniversary by having a nice quiet dinner at a local establishment (Easy Street Café – home of the best onion rings; Outback’s Bloomin’ Onion is awful by comparison).  Seven years isn’t all that long, but when a lot happens in such a timeframe, it can seem like quite awhile.  But its been a wonderful adventure.

April  & May 2010

Shortly after Easter, we made our first foray into the world of homeschooling by attending a homeschooling convention.  We had discussed homeschooling for a while, and so we felt it was important to investigate.  Taking Alayna along with us, we drove south to spend two nights and three days at the Millennium Hotel in downtown Cincinnati. It didn’t take long to quickly surmise that “home education” is quite a subculture.  However, we also discovered that it is much more mainstream than we thought (which was evidenced by the lack of blue jean jumpers, although they still reared their ugly head here and there – no offense to those who love them).  Not knowing what we didn’t know, it was hard to determine where to start with everything.  But start we did and by the end of the weekend we learned quite a lot and selected a curriculum to use for Kindergarten.

May saw the grass get greener, the air become warmer, and the flowers start blooming.  The dark and depressing days of winter were fully passed, and we tried to spend as much time as possible out of doors to recover.  Our landscaping was beautified, the bowling alleys visited, the house projects commenced, and the little white stick had two pink stripes on it.  Yes, two stripes, not one.  You know, those little sticks that tell you another life will be visiting you in nine months by showing two pink lines.  The ones that say, “Ready or not, here someone comes!”  Yeah, we had one of those in May.   This wasn’t intentional, but one’s intentions and God’s plans don’t always coincide.  After the shock (which lasted well into July) we accepted and embraced the idea fully.  We are thankful to have another little boy join the family.  Estimated Arrival:  January 2011.  Actual Arrival: TBA.

June & July 2010

Summer was here and Ethan finished preschool!  After two years of attendance, he graduated with full honors (he was fully honored by all the doting family members).  He loved Rainbow preschool, but was also ready to begin the new adventure of homeschooling in the fall.

We try to get at least one camping trip in each year and July was our month.  We met up with some friends in the lovely city of Ada, Ohio.  It was great to spend time with friends, especially those whom we don’t often get to see.

Summer also brought the call: “Go west young family.”  Okay, so that’s not how it goes, but the Vile family heard and answered it.  Literally.  We left the house and two days later, with 24 hours of car time logged, we arrived in Loveland Colorado – the home of Erin’s brother and his wife and family.  We greatly enjoyed our time with geographically-challenged family (I think that’s the PC way to put it).  The kids enjoyed playing with their cousins, riding on Uncle Ryan’s boat, visiting the Rodeo, climbing a mountain, and generally raising a ruckus.  It went by quickly, but was fun while it lasted.  Erin’s mom joined us for the long ride home.  I’m pretty sure next time she’ll fly.

August 2010

Alayna turned one in August.  We’ve had fun watching her grow, explore, and learn so much over the past year.  She went mobile by her birthday, starting to crawl; then switched from four limbs to two and started walking by Thanksgiving!  We like to see her make her way around the house (if you see the movie Pirates of the Caribbean, watch how Johnny Depp walks – that’s what she looks like).  Her personality is becoming clearer, and she’s already learned the art of getting what she wants with just a look…  yes folks, she’s a girl.

The boys love her, sometimes too much, which usually is occasion for one of her signature ear piercing shrieks (Dad calls it a banshee cry, but Mom refuses to entertain that term).  She’s a complete Daddy’s girl, and uses her Ninja Death-Grip to prevent anyone from stealing her away from him.   We love our little girl.

September 2010

This month marked the beginning of a new and immense adventure; a walk down an uncertain path.  The Vile Home Education School opened its doors and admitted a single student.  Erin started homeschooling Ethan.  The first few weeks were admittedly bumpy, as everyone was trying to adjust to this new way of life.  But once Ethan knew what to expect, and Erin adjusted to the routine, it was smooth sailing (well not without a few storms).  Ethan is learning a ton, already starting to read a few simple books!  He loves numbers and math is a breeze.  We’ve still got a lot to figure out in this area, but it’s going as well as can be expected!  We’re excited to see where this path leads.

October & November 2010

Fall was in full swing.  Leaves were changing colors and dropping off their branches – and the boys had fun helping Dad rake them up.  But colder and shorter days meant more time inside for the boys.  And considering that the two of them are still in the single digits and full of energy our house is… well, you’ve seen pictures of a mushroom cloud, right?  Lots of energy plus cramped small space equals large explosion; pretty much every night.  It’s fun, but a challenge to make it till 8:00pm.

Kevin had a birthday in October.  Each year goes by so quickly that it’s hard to keep track of the number, so we’ll just say it was another one.  He’s been working from home since May of 2008 and enjoying it.  The family is glad to have him around and will occasionally drop into his office (the back room – quietest place there is in a loud house).  And typically if one comes, the whole gang follows.  He does get work done though… somehow.

We had a chance to get away down to Hocking Hills, Ohio without the kids for a couple days.  It was a welcomed break – the calm before the storm – and we enjoyed some rest and relaxation.  The weather was nice and the landscape was beautiful, giving us opportunity to hike some beautiful trails.  Erin made it the first few miles or so, but then the reality of pregnancy set in and Kevin was forced to trek the last couple alone to retrieve the car and pick up the tired lady.  It was a fun time.

December 2010

Lucas turned four in December, and he certainly has grown up!  It was less than 12 months ago that he finished potty training, and just a few months ago he started preschool, what a whirlwind!  He loves going to Rainbow Preschool and does great.  He enjoys all kinds of sports, likes to mow the lawn with Dad (the whole thing), snuggling with his multitude of stuffed animals, and long walks by the beach – wait, was that Lucas?

Our little boy is a full of passion, the kind that manifests itself in large bursts of sound.  But we’re glad to see that he’s fully committed to things – either he completely likes them or hates them!  He likes his little sister and tries to be a helpful brother, although she’s not too sure about the nature of their relationship informing us all with her signature shriek.  He is a wonderful and irreplaceable addition to our family.  Thank God for little boys.

Well, that was our year in less than 1700 words, hopefully you made it the whole way, but we’ll forgive you if you skipped some!  We want to thank all our friends and family for all you mean to us; its great to have you all come along on the ride with us one day at a time!

May your Christmas be filled with love and joy as we celebrate the birth of our Savior and may the New Year bring many blessings. Would you let Christ be the center of this next year and allow Him to guide you in every step, for He wants our hearts and our lives!

With Love,
The Vile’s
- Kevin, Erin, Ethan, Lucas, Alayna and BABY!

Gram and Gramp and the kids at Bear Lake in Estes Park

Ethan had a blast exploring and climbing all over the rocks and find new trails off the main trail

Alayna had lots of fun hiking too

Couldn’t miss the Wyoming Frontier Days Rodeo

Lucas was so tired he almost fell asleep on Kevin’s shoulders (the child didn’t take a nap the whole time we were gone!… I think he’s still trying to catch up)

On the boat with Uncle Ryan… they had a blast!

Oh Captain, my captain

My mom has more pictures that I still need to get from her… I’ll post more later.

And the grand daddy day of my brothers visit was Sunday… a day at the races! For those of you who aren’t fans, I’m talking Nascar. For Christmas, my parents got all of us tickets to the Michigan International Speedway for the Nascar race (on Father’s Day). All I can say is it was so much fun! I’m not exactly sure when we all became Nascar fans but it happened and we can’t go back. Maybe it was all those Sunday’s my dad would have the race on TV in the “background” and we all just got so used to it and then actually started watching it and then found ourselves cheering on certain drivers, etc, etc, etc.

It was an all day adventure (without kids might I add… beautiful). We get to MIS and pop the trunk for some serious tailgating… ahhh the racing crowd… how fun. It was a beautiful day… rain clouds threatened but stayed away until after the race… how nice. The roar of the engines was thrilling and LOUD!!! (good thing we had ear plugs). Not many crashes, just some spin outs but the end was exciting. It was a Green, White, Checkered (GWC) finish. During caution prior to the GWC, Dale E Jr. is on empty trying to conserve fuel by turning off his engine and coasting and restarting it… he’s in the lead and as they start back up, on the last lap another spin out by someone and they finish in caution and just as he crosses the finish he runs out of gas and has to be pushed to Victory Lane… I was bummed cuz he couldn’t even do a burn out… oh well, it was exciting. (I probably didn’t explain that at all right or it probably didn’t even make sense but it was a cool finish).

Ok, here’s some pics from our “day at the races”

Dad’s guy, Jeff Gordon

The fam… sorry I cut you off Mom!

I think Jr & Gordon are in this picture

The winning moment

Noah and Ethan playing at a pond at our hotel in Sauder Village… little mischievous boys

What a crew… Noah, clipping a clothes pin to his lip and Ethan eating his sandal

They LOVED Monkey Jump!!

Rain will NEVER keep the Smith family from a game!! On our way to the Mud Hens… but it stopped in time for the game.

The best is yet to come….

Ryleigh Mae … oh, so cute!

The babies (for now)

We visited the Little Pioneer Village that was complete with a log cabin (kid sized) with all kinds of kid sized home toys… they had a blast cutting food for the “stew” and ironing clothes. It was a kids (and parents) dream!

Ethan, so serious ironing his clothes!

All Aboard!

So excited!

Cousins

So I’m just realizing I’m going to have to break our week into a number of posts so… stay tuned for more family pictures to come!

So after making arrangements for the boys to head to grandma’s, I was off!

I arrived Thursday afternoon and spent the day chatting, watching their precious little boys and of course watching Grey Anatomy and Lost (can’t miss an episode). Then Friday we went to a yummy restaurant for lunch… Rumbie’s (I think)… Hawaiian food. Friday night we headed over to Scottsdale to our resort. Ate at a great Italian pizza place, Oregano’s and spent some time chatting over coffee and cookies. Saturday was a wonderful, relaxing day at the pool. I couldn’t get enough of the beautiful sunshine and warmth! I think they got really sick of me saying how much I loved the sun!!! (winter has been LONG in Ohio!) Saturday night we met up with some more college sisters (we were all in Omega Alpha Phi together). So fun to catch up on each other lives… just like old times. But we are all moms and apparently just can’t stay up late anymore… we were back to the hotel by 9:15! We did spend some time in the hot tub… but were in bed by 10:00… I guess no more partying for us. hehe

Sunday we met the Rob (Tiff’s man) & Josh (Jo’s man) and the little ones for lunch at Which Wich for lunch (yummy sandwiches). And then watched the kiddos play in a nearby fountain. Cuteness! Sunday evening we ordered in and watched Juno and Monday EARLY morning, I headed back home. What a FUN, FUN time away with the girls! We had a great time visiting, catching up, reminiscing and making great new memories. I just love getting together with old girlfriends and picking up where we left off 5 or 10 years ago. What a blessing. We can’t wait for our next get together!!!!
Enjoy the pics.

Jack (Jo’s oldest)

Elijah (Tiffani’s little one)

Jonas (Jo’s youngest… until July)

While we were there, Ryan and Heidi took us on a 3.6 mile hike in Estes Park. Ethan hiked a little over a mile down the mountain… he loved it. Lucas loved riding on my back and Noah hiked the whole thing! He did great and earned his first Rocky Mountain National Park patch! Good job Noah!

We also went to the Cheyenne Frontier Days in Wyoming. We watched an air show in the morning and then hit the Rodeo in the afternoon.

The kids had lots of fun just playing around the house. Ethan fell in love with Noah’s tricycle and learned how to stay clear of Noah’s “hugs” All in all, we had a great visit and we look forward to being together again at Christmas.

Love you guys and miss you already!

Colorado

We packed the van and took off Thursday morning hopeing to make it to Omaha, NE and crash there for the night. The boys did amazing in the car. Ethan loved looking out the window, reading his books and playing with cars. And Lucas only cried when he was ready to eat! We took our time and made it to Omaha with enough time to take a short swim in the hotel pool before bedtime. We crashed and then Friday was 8 hours of flat, straight driving through exciting Nebraska. We finally made it to CO in time for dinner.

We were greeted with great big hugs from Noah and Ethan was finally able to see his cousin he’s been talking about all week!

Here’s some pictures of our drive as well as some play time around the house: