Lots to be Thankful For

I actually started this post over a week ago but due to many interruptions and half the post not being saved before the computer restarted... well, let's just say it's been a rocky road getting it done!

After having a cold October, November was a much welcomed if not unexpected treat weather-wise. We were able to take advantage of some really nice sunny days and get out to play. Brendan has been perfecting his technique on the monkey bars at his school playground and wanted to show off his new skills so off we went for some play there on a sunny Saturday.












We participated in Operation Christmas Child this year for our first time. The boys each filled up a shoe box with small toys and school supplies to send to another little boy in need. The cool thing is our boxes have tracking labels on them so after they are on their way we'll be able to track their progress to the intended country. It was so much fun to fill the boxes - they would have filled many more if they could have ;)

Also new this year, we've adopted a family for Christmas through the Salvation Army. We will go shopping for them and then meet with them to give them their gifts. The kids are pretty excited about it and I think it will be better than Toys For Tots at this point since putting toys in a box at a store or filling a bus with them doesn't really let them see where the toys are going. Our family has two boys the same age as ours as well as a ten year old girl. I'm nervous about shopping for a girl that age since I've never done that before!

Our Thanksgiving was spent here in the cities this year. Wellyn doesn't have any extra vacation time left after we take the days at Christmas and given the distance to get home it's hard to make the trip for just a couple days (after subtracting the days for traveling!). The boys had a good time playing with friends, using their endless imagination and going out for some fun family activities. One of the best was going to a theater grill - very cool. We ordered our dinner and ate while watching Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs. The kids thought it was really cool and Brendan scored us some free popcorn by having the same birthdate as our server! Wellyn built a rolling storage shelf for our basement so some of our time was spent organizing and reorganizing the space.

Here they are with their imaginations running full throttle:





And playing in the garage while Wellyn was working on the shelf:


This just cracks me up - we've had the iPod for a couple years now, but over the holiday everyone kind of 'rediscovered' it. It was a huge deal whose turn it was to play with it: Wellyn, Aiden or Brendan. I think the biggest contributor to it was time; Wellyn doesn't seem to have a lot of just downtime here to do stuff for fun so a few laid back days here and he was able to download a bunch of new aps for it and it became the hot toy of the weekend.


Earlier this week we put up the tree much to the boys delight! They've been asking since Halloween when we're going to put it up ;)




I have just about all of our decorations up now; the Christmas village is up as of last night, all the decor is out and the outside of the house is lighted. I need to run out and throw some lights on a couple of bushes and the kids are going to decorate two little trees in the basement and then we're done.

This week will be busy wrapping up gifts and trying to finish up our shopping. The kids are anxious to go shopping for each other although it is so hard for them to wait to give the gifts they buy ;)

Meeting Emmit!

The first weekend of the month we packed up the family and hit the road for Wisconsin. It was our first time visiting our newest nephew Emmit. The boys were super excited for the trip - even more so when we arrived to find a tent in the basement at our disposal. It was the greatest 'camp out' ever ;) I do believe the boys will be extremely disappointed if they ever finish the basement.

The game of choice for the weekend was Sorry!

Saturday morning arrived bright and early and we were able to hold and cuddle Emmit. A truly adorable, easy-going baby with an abundance of smiles to give. We had so much fun getting to know him and catching up with big sister Ellie. The boys were on Cloud 9 to meet Emmit, play with Ellie (and all her toys ;) and all the other fun grown ups around for the weekend.

After breakfast and lunch with the gang, we took a road trip up to see my sister in Peshtigo. They have an absolutely adorable new kitten - one they were lucky to keep ;) Both Brendan and I were in kitty love. Both boys were there for the weekend giving us a chance to catch up with them. Preston just finished out his soccer season with the honor of being named All-State! Brendan would have stayed all day between the kitten and being able to play Preston's guitar, but we eventually headed back to see some more of Emmit.

I'm sure someday when the kids are older they will NOT appreciate these pictures, but for now they are just cute! Why give one a bath when two need to get in?? Especially when they could care less about differences ;)


This is certainly one way to make sure your ear gets clean.

He was totally loving the hooded towel... maybe Santa needs to round one of those up!
Showing off at the campsite.

I'm not sure how it happened, but we were all able to get ready for church at 8:30am with time to spare! It was relaxing and not the way our Sundays at home seem to go for 11am mass... Needless to say, I had plenty of time to take pictures. Brendan holding Emmit for the first time:
Ellie just being adorable.
Brendan hanging with buddy Andy while playing the Leapster.
Gorgeous new mommy Stacey ready with the bottle for chubby little Emmit.Ellie told me 'no smile'...
So handsome in the clothes he picked out on his own.
Even enough extra time for a story!
Aiden holding Emmit for the first time with a little assistance from Daddy.
Too cute!
Moving on to hanging with Ellie and Shannon...
Me and my boys!
The proud family...
With Donna and Herb afterwards - Emmit is looking at Wellyn since he was making him laugh right before I took the picture.
Working his baby magic ;)
My newest nephew - such a chubby laid back little guy! Wellyn 'pretending' to help with the brunch... Emmit very content to have his bottle and call it a day!
Ellie and Colin all worn out!

Happy Halloween!

Once again I'm running just a 'little' behind on my posts... I'll skip to the photos - it's what you came to see anyway, right? ;)

Our visit to the local fire department open house early in October was a huge hit with the boys. There was lots to see and do!


Sitting in the back of an ambulance - someplace I hope they never end up!

Putting out a 'house on fire'...

Aiden having a turn.

Practicing putting out a fire with an extinguisher...


The backseat of a police car - another place I hope they don't end up!

A few weekends ago I took off for the weekend with friends for our annual spa weekend. We headed up to Brainerd, MN, for some relaxation and shopping. It's always so fun to get away and shop at the outlets - we even fit in a movie, without animated characters!

Coming home was back to the reality of life though. Brendan's sore throat and cough from the previous week got worse bringing us once again to the doctor to find out he had bronchitis and an ear infection. He missed a few days of school and was miserable, but was healthy enough to go on his class field trip to the Hugo Animal Farm that he had been so looking forward to.

For those of you who don't know, I love fall and Halloween decorations - not the scary ones, but the cute pumpkins, etc. I indulged in a hot knife this year to better 'carve' my craft pumpkins. Here is my first attempt with the new knife:
And then the next two I did...
The ones from last year that have been mauled by the cat (bad kitty!)...

The one from last year Brendan and I did together...

A random picture of Aiden and I hanging out in the office.

Aiden came down with the same cold/cough Brendan had earlier so he spent a day home from preschool and daycare this week. It has been a long-lasting cold with the first week bringing sniffles, sore throats and a cough; the second week bringing fevers and a really bad cough... lots of sleep lost for everyone and some sad little boys :(

And I'm so proud of my little Aiden, look he wrote his name for the first time all by himself this week!



About six weeks ago I emailed a few of the other moms in the neighborhood to see if they were interested in doing a Halloween party for the kids - seems like every year we miss seeing some of the kids during trick-or-treating and the kids sometimes don't see their friends at all depending on what time everyone goes out. Everyone was one board so we hosted it at our house! The planning for it went really well and we had a huge turnout for the event - 26 kids (plus 3 babies!); three kids were over age 6 and the rest were between 2yrs and 6yrs old. Along with the kids, parents were here as well. We had some game stations for them to rotate through, treats (of course!) and then we just let them play. Amazingly, with that many kids here it went pretty smooth. Only a couple minor injuries and no spills!

I'm sure I'll have more photos as time goes on from some of the other cameras going off during the party. It was a huge hit with kids and adults alike. Brendan gave us both a hug at night and thanked us for the best Halloween party ever - made all the work and stress leading up to it worth it ;)

Here are some of the decorations we put up for the party:
I found these online and it was something easy the kids and I could do. We used empty milk jugs to make the faces on and then put Christmas lights in them. The boys had so much fun; and yes, we drink a lot of milk.
The horrible spider web stuff over the shot glass collection. That stuff is so hard to put up - it truly clings to everything!
One of my favorites - the pumpkin in the aquarium! The kids thought it was so funny.

Somehow, we seem to plan our parties just right - right when Wellyn's parents come to town! Some extra hands to help get things ready for the party are always needed. Not to mention during the party to find drinks, napkins, etc for all the kids.

Party night! My biker dude hubby and reggae father-in-law ;)

Me with my little ninja... he was oblivious to the fact we were having our photo taken.

Our sick little Power Ranger... looking a little tired.
The kids waiting for their turn at the Eyeball Bounce game. Brendan kept getting hot with his costume on so it went off and on all night!
Pin the Nose on the Pumpkin was a huge hit.
Brendan with his friend Martina - one of the cutest, sweetest little girls around.

Halloween brought continued fevers and terrible coughing for Aiden sending us to urgent care once again. An antibiotic for bronchitis and we were on our way! Hopefully he'll feel better soon. Here the kids are all dressed up (and bundled up) to go trick or treating.

Our little Ninja ;)
And Power Ranger...
Such good brothers!
With biker dude daddy ;)
Kicking back after getting candy to do some coloring with Grandma Donna.

Hope you all have had a wonderful October and a Happy Halloween!

So Much to SEE and DO!

We had a very productive weekend in the garage last week - counter tops were cut and glued, pegboard was installed and then came the best part; putting away the tools! The boys were very involved in the project and each had their own area of interest. Aiden was very focused on using the shop vac to get all the dirt, dust, leaves, etc. that were on the counters and under the boxes we unpacked. Brendan really liked putting the hooks in the pegboard and hanging up the tools. He is meticulous and likes to have things organized so it was right up his alley. He did tend to use a lot of hooks for each item and some items probably don't need to be hung, but in the end he had a fabulous time and that was all that mattered!

Fall has definitely arrived in Minnesota. The temperature has dropped and we had several days of rainy weather before having a couple dry days mixed in. Unfortunately, Brendan played soccer last weekend in one of those cold and rainy days. He did pretty good considering the weather and still getting over his cold. Needless to say, it was way too cold to be taking pictures! We did get his official soccer photos though:

Thankfully, the following Sunday was a little nicer; in the 50s with brief sprinkles of rain. A good enough day to head to the apple orchard! This was our first family trip to pick apples at an orchard. We generally go to the pumpkin patches in the fall, but with both boys going on field trips with school to get pumpkins we decided to mix it up a little! We bought a 1/4 peck bag to fill, not realizing just how quickly that would fill up with two excited apple pickers. There was enough to do though that they were ready to move on anyways.





After we filled up the bag with apples it was off to eat some apple brats (hot dogs for the kids) and apple slices with caramel before doing all the rest of the activities offered. A very popular one was the tricycles! They had a blast racing around together. Aiden found that when he crashed into a hay bale it tipped him over - so he kept doing it!


What could be more fun than a pony ride? Definitely not the long line of kids waiting to ride the ponies - goodness it was a popular attraction.

Then on to a little hay ride behind the tractor.
The kids raced through the hay maze and had the most fun on the huge pile of hay for them to play on and jump off.

Our trip out would not have been complete without feeding the animals ;)


Aiden had a big week at preschool; no tears at drop offs AND his first bus ride! Wellyn took the morning off to go with him and his class to their annual pumpkin patch trip. Aiden had so much fun hanging out with his dad and vice versa. Getting ready for the big ride:
Hanging with his friend Ryan. He and Ryan both go to the same daycare part-time so it was perfect for them to be in the same preschool class.







Last Friday night we all had eye doctor appointments. Wellyn (aka Mr. Lasik) and Brendan checked out just fine. Me on the other hand, needed glasses - yeah, big shock there! A little more shocking was that Aiden needed some glasses too. We picked them up this morning so here's our little cutie with his new look... and mommy too.

Eleven Years Gone By in a Flash!

Life is certainly keeping us on the move these days. Brendan has a soccer game every weekend, Aiden is in preschool two mornings a week, I'm babysitting four days a week, Wellyn is busy at work and finishing up on the garage in the evenings, Brendan is in school everyday... All good things!

Last week was soccer team photos - right after the game! Not sure how that was planned, but our hot and tired boys went straight from the game in 85 degree weather to pictures. We get the 'official' photos next week.



With teammate and best buddy Mason.


On the 16th Aiden had his first 'real' day of preschool. He was there with half of his class since they stagger the first week to give the teachers a lower ratio. He was fine until it was time for us to go... and some of the other kids were crying... and then his tears started. I was pretty confident he would be fine once the class got going and when I picked him up two hours later the first thing he said was, "You were right mom - I had fun!" (Always nice words for a mommy to hear ;)

Our traditional first morning pictures:






Last Saturday, Wellyn and I celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary. This year one of our good friends came to watch the boys for us and we headed to St. Paul for a night out. We had a great dinner downtown at a grown-up restaurant followed by the sold out Darius Rucker and Rascal Flatts concert. It has been a long time since we've been to a concert - boy are they loud! Thinking back, the last one we we've been to at an indoor arena might have been Bon Jovi - also very loud. And, no, this isn't my actual photo, but one from the same night - I wasn't quite this close!


Brendan is doing very well in first grade - it's been a long few weeks for him adjusting to going everyday, but he's been bringing home 'Golden Tickets' several days a week for being a good example to the other kids. He has also been selected to participate in a Talent Development interest unit with a focus on literature. He and the other chosen kids will be working on writing their own book. The nightly homework also started this week... an adjustment for all of us, finding the right time to get it done. We've been doing it after dinner so he has some free time when he gets home to just relax and play.

Today was yet another busy Saturday with Aiden having his preschool Sports-A-Thon followed by Brendan's soccer game. The weather truly cooperated, the rain held off, the sun came out and it was beautiful - much nicer than expected. For the Sports-A-Thon there were different 'stations' set up around the track for the kids to try out activities and get their participation cards checked off. Brendan was terribly disappointed after we arrived as he wanted to see his pre-K teachers, but they were at a training workshop. He was able to see the preschool director and a mom of one of his friends from his pre-K days so the disappointment didn't last too long.

Aiden and Wellyn showing off their hula hoop moves ;)



Good practice for both of them before heading to the soccer game.


A family long jump!

Yeah, we know, he with the longest legs wins!


He shoots! He scores! (with an assist from Daddy)


Brendan working on his moves.


Aiden very proud of his medal for completing all the activities and thrilled to have gotten a snack to go with it.


Brendan showing off this new tattoo and painted arm.


Brendans soccer team won their game again... not a big surprise since the other kids on his team are so competitive and physical. I actually feel bad for the other teams we play and for the parents because I understand their frustration at having their kids slide tackled by ours. Brendan had a good personal game and best of all, he had fun! We played against a team with two other friends on it so it was fun to see the other parents and the boys liked seeing their friends out on the field. This photo cracks me up:

Labor Day and First Days

It has been a big week around our house! First off we celebrated Labor Day weekend in the Twin Cities - one of only two times we haven't traveled to MI for the holiday. With the amount of work we've been (and still are) putting into the duplex, Brendan starting soccer again, and both boys having school and preschool open houses during that week, we decided to stay put.

I started a new 'job' last Tuesday as well. Three to four days a week I'm watching a 2 1/2 year old little boy from 10:30am-8:30pm. He fits in really well with my boys and they seem to enjoy each others company.

Last Wednesday was Brendan's open house at school. He, Wellyn and Aiden got to go meet his new teacher, see his desk and see some of the other kids in his class. Last year we missed the open house and it was very stressful for him to not really know what to expect. We had arranged a tour, but it was a few weeks before school started so I think there was too much of a time lapse between the tour and the start of school.

Thursday night was Brendan's second soccer practice for the fall. He is on a very experienced and competitive team this year. I'm so glad his best buddy Mason is on the team with him so he has someone he knows. It should be an interesting season... games start next Saturday.

Friday was one of the best days we've had in a while. Wellyn took the day off from work and we took the kids to the Minnesota State Fair. It's been five years since we were last there! The kids had a great time and so did we. The weather was sunny and hot, the food was great and there was plenty of things to see and do. Of course the highlight for the kids was all the carnival rides. What amazed me and Wellyn the most was how serious they were - absorbing every detail and making big choices about which ride to go on.

The race cars were about the first thing we saw when we entered the fair grounds and they couldn't wait to go for a spin! Poor Aiden, still just a little too short to do some of the things his brother could do. He had to be shotgun with his dad... maybe next year he'll be tall enough.



From there it was a trip down the Wild River. They ended up with wet butts and shoes ;)


Then on to one of mom's favorite stops - Sweet Martha's Cookies! Aiden enjoyed them too.


After some proto pups it was off to the Kidway!



Brendan really wanted to do this ride, and I must say, I was really worried he would get up there and freak out. Going up!

His 'scared' face.

The 'it's not so bad after all' face.


Aiden ended up on this whale ride since he was too small to do an airplane-type on - thankfully the tears didn't last too long.


A little ice cream break to cool off.


Then back to some more rides!




Some of the over 155,000 people who attended the same day we did.


A long holiday weekend spent here wouldn't be the same without us doing some type of project! This time it was continuing to work on the garage... previously started and put on hold in order to rehab the duplex. With the wires all ran, it was time to put up the insulation.


Aiden getting chance to help his dad!



This was picture-worthy since it never happens, all that is left of the insulation! Usually we end up going out to get more of something because we ran out or having a ton left over. Not so this time!


While we were working in the garage the boys played out in the sand with one of the neighbor kids. They worked/played for four hours straight out there and were bummed when I said they had to call it a day and head in.



Sunday afternoon we put up some of the drywall in the garage. Hope to have the rest up after this weekend. Monday we had a babysitter over for the morning so Wellyn and I could head to the duplex to finish some things up. We've been showing it consistently and are waiting on background checks for a few people. I painted some windows I'd previously scraped and primed while Wellyn worked on fixing some screens and patching the wall where we ran wires for a doorbell. A very productive time!

We went out that night for new school year haircuts. I know, nothing like waiting until the day before school starts (and a holiday, no less!) to get it done, but that is the way life has gone lately. Aiden charmed his way into this ladies heart - she thought he was just adorable!


Brendan was very serious about the whole thing, some before school nerves!


All done and ready to go out to dinner.



To keep in the spirit of the season, I searched the web high and low for a school-themed blog background, but couldn't seem to find what I was looking for. Except for one, and I couldn't make it work! So, I figured a fall theme was close enough ;)

And then the day that always seemed so far away came, the first day of First Grade. Brendan was pretty nervous and edgy in the morning, a result of the anticipation and stress, I'm sure. He did let us snap some photos of the big day!







We met up with one of the neighbors to walk to school and that really snapped Brendan out of his stress - it was just like old times! By the time we reached the school and lined up with his class out front he was ready to go - yeah! I always dread tears and not wanting to go. Really helped that one of his friends from kindergarten is in his class this year; also helps he's one of the nicer little boys!





This year Aiden starts preschool so it was a busy week of parent orientation one night for me and then of classroom orientation for all of us. Today half of his class of 16 kids went in with their parents to hang out, fill out papers, meet the teachers and other students and kind of get them ready for their first full morning next week. Aiden goes back and forth about wanting to go, most of the time he says he wants to stay home with me because: 1. What if there is something he wants to tell me while he's there 2. Because he will miss me 3. Because he never gets to spend time with me - okay, seriously????? Today was good since I was able to stay with him, a very good way to start if you ask me.

Walking up with his new backpack ;)



Aiden with one of his teachers... the other he's decided (before even meeting her!) he wasn't going to like... we'll see about that!

Baby Emmit and Other Updates

The past few months I'm getting slower and slower about updating - why is that??? Mostly because we're just busy; it's important to fit in as much summer fun as possible. Not to mention our camera has been acting up and not taking very good pictures. So, some of the photos may be on the dark side. There may be a new camera sometime in our future!

The best thing since the last post is we're an aunt and uncle again! Wellyns brother Colin and his wife, Stacey, welcomed a new baby boy into their family last Tuesday. Little Emmit John is just adorable and we're very excited to meet him soon. He is very close to the size Brendan was when he was born, weighing in at 8 lbs 2 oz and 20 1/2" long.


The boys have been enjoying summer - playing on the playset, riding bikes, running around crazy! Much of their time before dinner is spent with one of the neighbor boys from down the street. As soon as he's home from daycare, they are at his house or he is at our house. They get along so well and he's just as obsessed with legos so it a good fit!

The duplex is coming along. All the big stuff is done and we're down to just some little things and finding a renter. That has been a little harder this time, less people calling and coming to see it than usual. It looks good though, judge for yourself:




Fixing up the duplex is a family affair so me and the boys head over when we can. The boys have a good time and it always makes them feel involved in the endevor.




A few weeks ago we had our second tornado warning of the year - a nice, slow year, so we grabbed the boys out of bed and headed to the basement. Aiden never woke up and Brendan fell asleep shortly afterwards; neither remember it!


Brendan started soccer last week. He is on a different team, but still with his buddy Mason. The team is very competitive and for the most part, very good. I'm hoping Brendan doesn't get discouraged and has fun. I already miss his old team!

And, after months of failed attempts, it has finally happened - Aiden is pooping in the potty. May not seem like big deal to some, but a red-letter day here! It has been almost 3 weeks and it is just the best thing ever - for all of us ;) It took a Playmobil firetruck and a lego set for Brendan to make it happen. I bought the firetruck for him and the set for Brendan, but no one could open them until there was an actual deposit in the potty. Nothing like some added pressure from your brother to motivate you! Some extra little toys spread out over the next days and phone calls to people to tell them all about it - who doesn't like to get phone calls about poo??? ;)

Another very important outcome of taming the potty is that Aiden will be able to start preschool in two weeks. His feelings about preschool waver between being super excited and wanting to stay home with me... I think he'll be fine after the first few times. It will help that one of his good friends from daycare will be in the same class with him.

Brendan starts first grade on Sept 8th. So far, we know of one other boy from his kindergarten class that will be with him. I think there are three or four first grade classes this year. Like most other places, the schools are feeling the effects of the economy too. His school is on the list to be closed for next year along with several others in the district. A bummer since we are so close to it...

A couple weeks ago I took a day off from any type of housework and just played legos with Brendan... for hours! He built a jet to destroy some evil guy and I worked on the truck and trailer to pull it. Here he is with the finished product:


Here is Aiden reading with me last night (only my 3rd time yesterday reading that book!):


And enjoying a little cuddle-time with daddy before bed ;)