Tag: weekend

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OTW – nature, family, scrapbooks & cake

We met friends of ours at Springbrook Nature Center on Friday morning.  There is a visitor center with live and formerly live animals that the kids enjoyed looking at.  I’m not much for snakes, but they had some pretty cool ones that were native to MN.  Maybe I didn’t mind them so much because they were contained in their aquariums.  Once we were done with the inside part of the visit, we ventured outside to walk one of the trails.  The older boys had fun running ahead of us while my friend Brooke & I pushed the little ones in strollers.  It was a beautiful morning to be outside.  We ended up finding a grassy clearing and hung out there for a while so the kids could explore, play & eat a snack.  They had so many animal crackers I don’t think any of them needed lunch.

Side note…Nolan has a book called Help’s on the Way! It’s about rescue vehicles.

Firehouse Tales

In one part of the book, Red, the firetruck helps rescue Milky, the ice cream truck.  Milky is a big, white, boxy, truck.  On our way to the nature center, Nolan said from the back seat, “Look at all those Milkys!”  I paused for a moment, wondering what in the world he was talking about.  When I looked in my mirrors, I noticed that we had just passed the RV sales lot with all of the big, white, boxy, RVs.  I couldn’t contain my laughter 🙂  To his credit, the RVs DID in fact resemble Milky.

Friday night & Saturday I was able to spend time with friends organizing pictures and putting together a scrapbook with pictures from our engagement & wedding.  This has been a project I have been meaning to start for quite a while, but just haven’t gotten to it.  (I wonder why.)  Now that I have things organized and also have a scrapbook to put the finished pages into, I’m hoping to be able to complete the book some time in the next year.  We’ll see…

While I was doing my thing on Saturday, Jake took the boys to Hastings to see Auntie Kari (who was in town for the weekend), Grandma & Grandpa.  From the looks of the pictures, they had a good time playing outside!  They also helped wrap my birthday presents, which was pretty cute to see.  I made sure not to look closely at those pictures until after I opened the gifts.

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Sunday evening, Jake’s parents came over so Jake and I could go out to dinner (a day in advance) for my birthday.  We went to Biaggi’s and had a fantastic meal!  Our server was a friend of my brother’s, so it was fun to catch up with him a little, too.  We ended the evening with pumpkin pie and funfetti cake (made by Larissa).  It was a great birthday-eve!

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OTW – full of fun

Friday night was summersault practice in the living room.  They are one of Nolan’s favorite things to do and little brother Lincoln (who loves to do everything his big brother does) is getting close to figuring it out too.   Check it out the form the kids have!  This clip makes me laugh every time I watch it!

Saturday was a busy day.  We had a little visitor in the morning; she came to play for a few hours before we headed to an Eagle Scout ceremony for a young man we know from church.  After a celebratory lunch (with cake,) Nolan and I headed downtown.  A friend of mine invited us to join her, her son and another friend & her two daughters at a Baby Loves Disco pj birthday party complete with lots of music, bubbles, fresh fruit treats,  juice boxes and of course birthday cake.  It was a fun afternoon with my favorite 3 ½ year old.  We came home and had pizza & chocolate cake (Nolan & I ended up having 3 pieces throughout the day 🙂  I consider it a tasty way to practice again for my upcoming birthday – I’ll gladly take one (or three) for the team.

Nolan wanted to wear a tie to church this morning.  Lincoln of course wanted to wear one too.  We put one on him for the 7 minute drive to church, but I took it off  when he went to the nursery, just to be safe, since it clips around his little neck.  When we got home, he insisted on wearing Jake’s tie and posing for a picture with Nolan.  Then he attempted to share a hug or a take-down.  From the picture Jake took, it looks like it could have gone either way.

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OTW – Halloween

Halloween was a blast this year!  The boys were both pretty excited about it going into the big day.  In the end, we actually had to cut Lincoln off.  I think he would have tried another block’s worth of houses if we had let him.  The kid has the candy grab down pat – thanks for the practice, Uncle Tony!  Good thing most houses put the candy into his bucket instead.  Here’s a rundown of the day, in pictures.

We visited Nana & Papa’s house in the morning.  Since Nana recently had shoulder surgery, it was easier to go to her.

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The next doorbell we rang was Uncle Tony’s.  He put on his Halloween costume too – he was The Karate Kid this year.

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Later in the day we carved our lone pumpkin.  This baby came straight from our garden.  It’s the only thing (aside from the celery) that did well this summer.  I think it sucked the life out of every other pumpkin that attempted to grow on the same vine.

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Finally, we gathered the munchkins together (ours plus two others) and headed out on a quest for candy.

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We had a special guest come along with us.  Auntie Stacie was home for the weekend and helped us keep track of the kids as we walked around the block.

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OTW – toasty days (inside)

We’ve been using the fireplace in our porch quite a bit lately.  It’s been warmer out there than most of the days in MN this past summer – 80, close to 90 degrees.  It was the perfect temp for a coloring marathon.  We spent several hours working on the oversized coloring pages.  I even broke out my old box of 96 crayons.  The kids loved the selection.

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Nolan’s imagination continues to brighten my day.  I gave the boys wooden spoons to play with while I was working in the kitchen.  Nolan called for me to join them in the living room.  They “roasted marshmallows” using their spoons as skewers over a pretend fire on the carpet.  Nolan brought me an imaginary graham cracker, so Lincoln had to do the same.  Then I received chocolate and another cracker from both of them.  It was pretty cute.

We had game night at our house on Friday night.  Larissa & Michelle joined us for Scrabble Slam, Buzzword & Mexican Train.  Add the chicken, black bean & spinach dip I love to make (and the fireplace) and we had a fun time.  🙂

Saturday night we joined a few other members of Jake’s extended family to celebrate his cousin Sara’s birthday.  On our way to the party, I mentioned I wanted a beverage from SA.  Nolan then said from the backseat, “Mom, I’m going to get you a medium mocoa…And a Diet Coke for me.”  Sounds like our kid has heard us order from the McDonald’s drive-thru a few times.  Are we that predictable???

The boys had a lot of fun helping Sara open her gifts.  At one point they were both jockeying for the prime seat next to her so they could see what she was opening.  While we were there, Aunt Kristin came through for me in a big way.  Nolan wants to be a pumpkin for Halloween and I’ve been trying to figure out the best way to dress him for the cold (and potentially wet) Halloween we will likely have.  Kristin had a pumpkin costume in her basement that she made for one of her own kids.  It’s great!  And Nolan is so excited to wear it.  He gets to wear his costume to school on Wednesday, so he’ll get to take it on a trial run before Saturday.

We’ve been working on what the kids need to say when they ring the doorbell on Halloween.  The last time I asked Nolan what he should say he told me, “Can I have some candy, please?” What nice manners, huh?  I’m guessing if he uses that, he could end up with extra candy pieces for being polite!

I went to visit my mom today.  She had shoulder surgery on Friday morning.  She’s recovering well, resting up, and doing her best to let her family take care of her.  It’s nice to be able to return just a little bit of the kindness she has shown all of us over the years.  While I was gone, Jake watched the boys plus our friends’ son.  They boys always have such a great time with their friend.  Breakfast for dinner was on tonight’s menu.  Lincoln apparently wanted to eat like the big boys and use his fork tonight.

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OTW – Long post, busy weekend

I gave myself more than 5 minutes on this one because of all I attempted to cover.

Friday night we had a Rody rodeo at the house.  Jake gave Rody a little extra bounce and the boys loved it!

Our 7th anniversary was yesterday (10/18.)  It’s hard to believe how fast the years have passed.  I recently realized how close Jake and I are to having been together for 10 years – we started dating in 2000 when we were at the U.  I can’t think of anyone else I’d rather be spending this crazy, fantastic life of marriage & kids with than my husband.  For all of the ups and downs that life brings our way, he has been (and continues to be) a source of calm, strength, and consistency for me.

Saturday morning we were planning on bringing the boys to Jake’s parents’ house for the day so we could go on our anniversary date – a day early.  Jason, (Jake’s brother) called and offered us his Ford Mustang for the day, so we altered our plans a bit and exchanged cars and transferred kids at his house instead.  I didn’t know where we were going until we left our house.  All I knew was the attire for our date.  It was great to be surprised!

Short side story.  My mom and I had the most successful 10 minute shopping trip on Friday night.  I didn’t have anything fall-ish to wear on Saturday, so my mom agreed to meet me to do a little shopping.  On my way to Maple Grove, she called and suggested we try Nordstrom Rack.  When we arrived, it was 10 minutes until they closed.  We hustled in, found a couple of dresses to try on, found one, scooted over to the shoes, and successfully found a great pair of red heels.  Love them!  Not too bad for a “let’s just see what they have” stop.

Back to Saturday.  Once we picked up the Mustang, we headed east on 94 and traveled various small highways up through Wisconsin to St. Croix Falls.  We had lunch at a fantastic restaurant called Grecco’s on the St. Croix.  The place is quaint and has an intimate feel.  We sat near the fireplace, which was great because if you know me, I’m always a bit cold.  We ordered an appetizer and each chose the herb crusted walleye for our main dish.  To our surprise, the host came over a short time later with a different appetizer, Ahi Tuna, “compliments of the chef.”  I had never eaten pan seared tuna until Saturday.  It was delicious!  In fact, every part of our dining experience was amazing.  We plan on returning and would highly recommend Grecco’s – it’s worth the drive to St. Croix Falls!

We drove back to Jake’s parents’ place through Minnesota.  It was such a beautiful day and the leaves still had some color.  We stopped in Afton and got an ice cream cone (my 2nd dessert of the day) and then finally arrived back in Hastings.  We spent the rest of the afternoon watching football (poor Gophers :(), letting the boys and dogs run off energy (and ride) outside, and finally having dinner with Grandma, Grandpa, the boys, Larissa, Jason & his girlfriend B.  It was a nice way to end the fun day Jake and I shared together.

Our actual anniversary was pretty laid back, which was ok with us.  We went to mass in the morning, came home and had donuts – Nolan’s favorite 🙂 and then watched the Vikings game.  Jake also worked on a few things around the outside of the house since the weather was so beautiful!  Later in the evening, my mom came over and watched the boys so we could go to a movie.  Neither of us would recommend seeing Where the Wild Things Are.  Unfortunately, it was a depressing movie with no real plot.  I’m glad I know the book is good because had I not read it before, I don’t think I’d even pick it up.  It seems we’re 0 for 2 lately with picking movies to watch at the theater.  We seem to do better with our picks from RedBox.  Plus, in my opinion, it’s way more comfortable to watch a movie at home.  I’m guessing we won’t be hitting the theater again for a while – unless someone can recommend a really good flick for us to see.

Today was business as usual.  Nolan went to school and Lincoln and I headed to the gym.  I feel so much better when I get a workout in in the morning.  After school, we came home for lunch and then everyone took a much needed nap.  We spent the afternoon outside – took a walk, played with chalk, and took “cheesy” pictures with the bale of hay we received from the local volleyball boosters we supported.

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OTW (Over the weekend)

Jake and I had a rare opportunity to go downtown on Friday night to celebrate with a friend of mine who just passed the bar exam.  The 4 people I knew who recently took the bar all passed.  Anyone need a lawyer?  While we were at The Local, the boys went with their grandparents to Auntie Larissa’s place to go swimming.  I think we have a couple of little fish on our hands.  They really do love the water.

Saturday morning instead of waking up to frost on the pumpkin, we woke up to SNOW on the pumpkin!  The kids were ecstatic!  Nolan immediately started talking about skiing, snowballs, and sledding.  He’s just a little bit more excited than I am about the white stuff, but I do enjoy seeing the twinkle in his eye as he thinks about the upcoming winter months.

It’s been nice getting back out with the rest of the world after living in seclusion last week.  I feel like we had a week full of Saturdays – wearing pj’s all day and napping in the afternoon.  Starting tomorrow, it’s back to preschool and workouts at the gym.  Oh, and apparently more snow.

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Sunday Funday

We started the day off with mass at St. John’s.  Nana & Papa (my parents) showed up and surprised us.  I love seeing the boys’ expressions when they see any of their grandparents.  It’s always pure joy.  Since we had more adults than kids, we kept Shecklet #2 with us instead of having him play in the nursery.  The boys did really well.  I wonder if they were on extra-good behavior for their grandparents…

Our house was full of lovely women and super cute kids this afternoon.  We figured out that today’s group was a mix of 1st, 2nd & 3rd cousins from my mom’s side of the family.  It was really nice to be able to spend time with all of them today.  Shecklet #1 and Shecklet #2 enjoyed showing off for the group.  It’s so funny what the two of them will do to entertain others when they’re in the spotlight.

While Shecklet #2 was napping this afternoon (after our guests departed,) Shecklet #1 helped me put together brownies for an impromptu dinner at our friends’ house.  He cracked the eggs (with just a little help :)), stirred the batter, and scooped it from the bowl to the pan.  He is really big into helping lately.  I wish I could bottle some of his enthusiasm and have it on hand for when he gets older.

The day ended the way it normally does, but with a small, sweet little twist.  We said bedtime prayers with the boys like we always do and I picked up Shecklet #2 and held him while Jake rocked a little while with Nolan.  Nolan asked me to sing a song for him.  (This has become part of the nighttime routine along with having his back scratched.)  So I sang “Jesus Loves Me,” and he joined me like he usually does.  Next, he asked me to sing the song he calls “Daisy” or “bicycle built for two.”  Well tonight, instead of waiting for me to start the song and join me, he sang the song himself – and remembered most of the lyrics, too!  It was so sweet to hear his little voice.  He sure loves music!