Peter's Baptism

 Opa and Oma Hanemaayer came to visit for Peter's baptism and since it was the week before Christmas, we decided to celebrate it a bit.  I made a crown roast which should've cooked a bit longer... but we remedied the situation quickly with the aide of the microwave ;) and the result was delicious!

 Saturday morning we exchanged gifts.  James woke up and when he saw the tree and all it's spread, he stood, stared, and said "presents!!".  Such innocence is darling.

 Peter Jeremiah was baptized on  Sunday, December 19, 2010.  The gown is the same worn by James and Lucas, but my mom and I sewed the cap to go with it for Peter.

 Peter and his proud parents.

Peter with his proud grandparents.

Peter Jeremiah Haveman has Arrived!!

 Our little Peter arrived on Sunday, November 28th at 2:07pm.  He weighed in at 7lbs 7ozs and was 20 inches long.  Technically he was due on November 17 and so the doctor convinced me to be induced as I was 11 days over and he doesn't like to go over 7 days.  Peter doesn't look overdue at all... I think the dates were off!


Daddy and his little man...  Peter sure has the Haveman look ;)  Now that Jerry has his 3rd son, he's talking about the BIG shop he needs to build...

I think he's smiling, isn't he?... 

A proud big brother; James has been asking me for the last few weeks "are we going to get a baby mom?".  He'd ask me this when we'd be in the car headed for the store :)  So sweet. 

 Lucas and Peter... Lucas has always loved to have his head rubbed for comfort, and I watch him do the same for Peter.

A break for donuts... It's amazing the leverage one has when we're talking about donuts and cartoons ;)  The boys were well behaved in the hospital room when these were offered!

Marie was a wonderful addition to our family this past weekend!!  She came out for Thanksgiving and cooked us an amazing meal on Black Friday of Turkey, cranberry sauce and vegetables with, of course, a delicious dessert of pie... Mmmm!!!  What a treat :)  Then, she cared for James and Lucas while Peter was born.  A fabulous aunt indeed and what a blessing!

And here's our ever growing family :)  We'll get a better photo later... but this'll be good for now ;)

New Highline videos!!

Here is a video of the Sandwich storm.  There were several poles that were left standing but were to damaged, so they had to be taken down before work could continue on this section. 

Life on the High Lines

This what I have been doing on the Transmission lines lately.  On Oct 26th a large wind storm blew through the Chicago area knocking down 60 95-100ft wood poles and bringing down close to 3.5 miles of wire in Sandwich IL, a small farming community west of Chicago.  40 plus lineman spent the next 25 days making it safe for the public and restoring the line.  When all was done, 120 poles were handled, and over 50 miles of wire was cleaned up or replaced.  It was the largest project ever done by the transmission department.  Here is how I spent the last 25 days.
                                           First there was material to be ordered and delivered.
                                          In this picture is the first of over 80,000 ft of wire.

Jerry's Work

 On Monday I packed up the boys and headed out to Sandwich, IL to watch as a helicopter set poles for Jerry and his fellow workers.  The whole operation was pretty impressive (which I guess was the point because the cost of it, from what Jerry has told me, is amazing... and they say they overbudgeted by having one extra employee... sheesh!)
Jerry will better be able to tell the details, but I thought that until he comes home and can put up his own photos, I'd give you all an idea of what happened.

All the holes had previously been set by comed employees, so the job of the helicopter was to carry poles to the holes and drop them in while comed workers stood below, faced over 100 mph wind forces, and guided the pole down to secure it in.  Each pole took about 10 minutes to set by the helicopter and Jerry had to hustle to move on to the next pole.  By the time I met Jerry for dinner, he looked about ready to fall over and sleep.  Poor guy.
In this photo you can see the helicopter lowering the pole to the ground.  The arm from that truck you see meets up with it and Jerry will be able to tell you what happens next.

 This is a view of the line that they have set.

Here you can see the line as well as the helicopter with its ropes hanging down. 
So hopefully that helps the menfolk understand a wee bit better when you talk to Jerry about all the details. :)

My Latest Creation



 

   So I am always amazed at how quickly one can go through diaper bags.  Well... maybe it's because I use the freebees from the hospital, but still!  Actually, I've bought 2 in the past and the freebees are doing better...  For this new little bundle who's due to arrive, I decided to make my own bag.  Unfortunately, I don't think it will stand up to any more than the last 2 bags I purchased, because it's cloth; and the cloth is far from heavy duty.  But isn't it beautiful material?  I would look at this material each time I walked into a Joann's and now I finally had a use for it!!
The bag certainly has it's flaws, but you can't tell in this photo, so we'll pretend they aren't there :)

The interior of the bag is made with PUL fabric, like what they use for cloth diaper covers.  It was finicky to work with, but all that is on the inside :)

 This is the change pad I made to match.  Again, several inperfections, but good enough to change a dirty diaper on :)  The center strip is made with fleece... also finicky to work with; stretchy and caused for much frustration!!  This is why I came to the conclusion... "it's for changing dirty diapers!"

This is the changepad all rolled up.

A Day at the Pumpkin Patch

Today we met up with a good friend of mine, Mis Lori, for a morning visit and an afternoon at the pumpkin patch.  I have to say, Lori's husband loves his big screen TV and he has a BIG screen.  Lori had it playing kids TV and James was taken by it.  I think the bugs flying around on the screen were bigger than he is!!

Anyhow, after a warm cup of hot cocoa and coffee cake, we headed out to Dollinger's pumpkin patch.  This farm has pumpkins and gourds for sale, a fun play area for the kids, animals to look at and an area to pet the goats.  Lucas, who is usually terrified of dogs and cats, actually walked into the pen with the goats... I was shocked!!  James gave a few of them a quick pet and then was ready to move on.

A favourite stop is this play truck.  Someone put alot of work into it!

Fall Colours

Please don't be jealous of the beauty of the Canadian Highways :)

And who can resist some backseat smiles?

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving!!

We decided to go north for a fabulous Turkey and Ham meal with my parents and celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving.  What a good time :)  I'm sorry I didn't take a photo of the table and all the delicious food to make you all drool.  My brother John barbequed the turkey after marinating it in reisling wine and then using the wine to baste it.  The turkey turned out nice and moist and the gravy was mm-mm good!!  For the table, my mom and niece Yvonne had gone out and picked up a bunch of fallen leaves which my mom then ironed between wax paper and used as a decoration that looked lovely and festive!

 We also went up with the intention of seeing Dave and Angeline's newest addition, miss Olivia Diane VanLaren.  Isn't she precious?  That makes 4 girls and 1 boy for them :)

 The little ones surveying the scene.

 The Hanemaayer family tries to get together once a month to celebrate all the birthdays in that month... so now is the time for celebration.  Angeline made the cakes and we all enjoyed the sweet results!

 Sorry if you were sitting directly next to me... you didn't make it into a photo :)

A Day in the City

After all thier visits out to the midwest, we finally took Mom and Dad for a day trip to the city.  We saw the bean and various other forms of "art", shopped a wee bit and walked a whole lot.   We even had  a nice lunch down by the river :)

 Our reflection in the Bean.

 Who's that good looking couple?

 Jerry and Lucas.

 James... he conquered the stone wall :)

 Hey!  There's that good looking couple again!

Oh... and their visit wasn't all fun and games, we did put Dad to work for a bit ;)  Now our garbage can slides in and out like a charm!!

The Train Restaurant

To complete James' birthday celebration, we went out to eat at The All Aboard Diner. They had big screen TVs playing Thomas the Train, a train set chugging through a village behind glass, a train chugging around the perimeter of the room up by the ceiling, and a train around the center bar that would bring you your food. If you know someone who loves trains... here is the place to go!

The train is coming with our dessert as Happy Birthday to You rings out.

 James blows out his candle.  We all got train whistles :)

Grandpa gave the boys a ride on the train.  WhooHoo!!

The Children's Museum

To celebrate James' birthday we went to the DuPage Children's Museum.  I usually take the boys to a much smaller one closer to home, so this one was great!

Who's surprised that Jerry goes up to show his boy how to work the air guns :)  This was one of James' favourite exhibits.

 Then there was the bubble area.  Lucas had fun taking the bubble making wand out and putting it over his head... we had to take him to the wind section after this to dry off :)

James was starting to get the whole bubble making process, but the soap did not always cooperate :)  He still had fun!

 Lucas found this air hose and was having a ball when no one was looking.

Mom helping James to spin he wheel and make the train above (which you can't see) go.

 They also had big water troughs that the boys could play in and make a big wet mess.

And then there was the car... are we surprised that this was another of their favourite exhibits?  They even had wheels to change and James managed that job well:)

James Turns 3!!

James' birthday was September 24th, but we didn't tell him...so we could celebrate it proper with Mom and Dad Haveman (who flew into Chicago that evening) the next day on the 25th.  He had been asking for trucks and race cars for his birthday ever since he realized that his birthday was coming, and he was certainly spoiled in this area as you can tell by the look on his face.

 I asked James what kind of cake he wanted for his birthday and let him look through my cake decorating magazines.  He saw Thomas and his choice was made.  He continued to look at cars and bears etc. and would say "Look! That's cool.  But I don't want that cake, I want Thomas cake"  So Thomas it was :)

And I think he liked it ;)