We piled into my parents’ “giant marshmallow” as Nolan has started calling it (thanks, in part, to my mom :)) and pointed north to the Iron Range. Our “normal” family gathering was pushed a week later due to the Christmas snowstorm. It actually worked great for us, since we usually can only make my dad’s family’s celebration every other year. Once again, my Aunt Ann, Uncle Gene & cousin Amy were exceptional hosts. They always have an amazing spread!
My cousin Cory and his wife Renee brought their 3 kiddos from ND so Nolan and Lincoln had a few playmates. I think the kids had a good time with one another. We should try to get them together more often!
Christmas Eve was a snowy one. We woke up to a driveway full of light, fluffy flakes. After breakfast, Jake and I traded our “normal” jobs – I went out to snow blow the driveway and he stayed in and watched the kids and cleaned up the kitchen. After he was done, he dressed the kids in their snowpants, etc. and brought them outside. We dug out the sled and tried to make a path down the hill in the front yard. Several attempts were made to blaze a trail, some successful, some not so much. But fun was definitely had by all – except for the one time that Lincoln got white-washed. He called it quits after that episode. But Nolan, our neighbor D, and I continued to play for a while. If lunch time hadn’t closed in on us, we would have stayed out longer.
After lunch & naps, we went to 4pm Christmas Eve mass. Thankfully, my parents beat us to church and reserved half of a pew – they saved us from standing. From church, we headed to my parents’ house for dinner, presents and a birthday cake for Jesus. (This is one of the kids’ favorite things about Christmas. Ok, and mine too :)) Part of dinner consisted of turkey drummers for the boys to eat. Nolan first had one when he was about 9 months old. This go-around he made much more progress. Lincoln did quite well with his first drummer. Actually, he looked like a natural.
The following conversation took place this morning while Nolan was drawing on his Magnadoodle:
“Tell me about your picture, Nolan.”
“I drew a rocket!”
“Where is the rocket blasting off to?”
“It’s going to Planet Bass!”
What makes his response so funny to those of us in my family is that Planet Bass isn’t a place he made up. It’s actually the name of his Uncle Tony’s company. I called my brother after this short exchange and I think it’s safe to say Nolan made his day 🙂
Sunday afternoon, after the kids took much needed naps, we headed to Jake’s parents’ house to celebrate Christmas. Unfortunately, Stacie wasn’t able to join in the fun – she was studying for finals. We played a little Mexican Train, watched football, had a great ham dinner complete with cheesy potatoes & orange jello salad, and of course, opened presents. The boys were very excited to help pass out the wrapped surprises and open them 🙂 I think they assisted everyone in opening at least one gift. After the wrapping paper was picked up, we snacked on all sorts of sweets – ice cream, fudge, chocolate crinkles and dipped pretzels just to name a few. The boys were more than happy to sample just about everything they could talk someone into giving them (or sneak!)
When I went to pick the boys up from childcare at the gym this morning, the department head was holding a little boy as she scanned my membership card to check my kids out. She told me the little guy in her arms had just been pushed down by his older brother in the gym. My sweet Lincoln apparently went over to him, kissed his own hand and then patted the little boy’s back with that hand. What a sweet gesture from my little guy! It makes me smile just thinking about it.
Tonight was Nolan’s 1st preschool Christmas program. Each class stood in the front of the church and sang two songs. I think standing in front of the audience of parents, siblings, grandparents & friends was a bit overwhelming for a handful of the kids, including Nolan. He stood quite nicely and looked out at everyone while most of his classmates sang. At the end, when the audience applauded, he clapped excitedly too. It was really cute! Tonight, as Jake and I were getting the boys ready for bed, Nolan started singing one of the songs his class performed. Maybe we’ll get a front row seat to a personal performance in the coming days.
Wednesday night we had to scrounge up some pj’s for Nolan. I was a tad behind on laundry, so his “normal” pajamas were still in the dirty laundry pile. We made due with sport pants and a Twins shirt. Not to be left out, Lincoln “requested” a t-shirt of his own. Actually, he requested one of Nolan’s and we put it over his sleeper. He was SO proud of the fact that he was wearing the Corn Dog shirt. It’s a Sheck boy favorite.
Thursday was Thanksgiving Day. Nolan and I worked on a special project Wednesday afternoon & Thursday morning. We made turkeys using an outline of his hand and finger paint prints of his fingers. He had a lot of fun gluing on the beaks, “gobblers,” googly-eyes, and feathers. After the glue dried, I had him decorate the place settings at the table. He was pretty proud!
We hosted my family and our friends Teri & Nate for Thanksgiving dinner. My parents brought the main course (turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing & gravy,) I put together a couple of side dishes (the token green bean casserole and squash & apple dish I made a couple of weeks ago,) Tony brought fruit salad, and Teri made two delicious desserts. We dined with a couple of pilgrims who gobbled up the food on their plates like old Turkey Day pros. It was really nice to spend the day with family.
Can you tell they’re brothers? Lincoln has started smiling the way his big brother does. Both of them really know how to ham it up for the camera.
After Thanksgiving dinner I made the mistake of drinking two cups of coffee (with lots of flavored creamer.) The kids went to bed at 7 & 9. Jake did the same around midnight or so and I was up until 3AM! When I laid my head down at 3, I laid awake for another hour. It was ridiculous. I don’t know what I was thinking putting that much caffeine into my body so late in the day. Lesson learned…the hard way.
Friday we spent some time at Larissa’s apartment. She had a group of us over to swim in her pool. It was a tad on the chilly side, so we didn’t stay in the water long. We gave the boys a warm bath to raise their body temps and then had pizza for lunch followed by ice cream sundaes. Yum! Jake then took the kids home for a nap while I went in to the office for a few hours. When I got home, we put the kids to bed and went out in the porch for a while. Not much was on TV on Friday night; somehow we ended up on QVC. I ended up making my first purchase thanks to the TV pitchpeople. (I didn’t call in though – I made the purchase online.) I’ve been looking for sleeping bags for the boys’ Santa presents and found the perfect ones on QVC. Who would have thought? And not only are they sleeping bags, but they’re sleeping bags with cots! So as the boys get bigger and we’re able to bring the cots with when we travel, the kids won’t have to make camp on the hard (and nasty) hotel floor. Thanks QVC!
On Saturday we made the annual trip to Menards to pick up our Christmas tree. We thought about going to a tree farm to cut one down this year, but I think we’ll wait a bit longer before we go on that adventure. At this point, the kids are more excited about just getting the tree inside the house and decorating it. Down the road when they’re able to enjoy seeking out the “perfect” tree, we’ll head to the tree farm. Until then, Menards will bring the tree selection to us. We convinced the kids to take a nap after we got the tree home, telling them we’d decorate it if they napped. It worked perfectly. We all got some much needed sleep and then later in the evening, enjoyed hanging lights and decorations. We put the tree in the porch so little fingers can’t get to it unless they’re monitored. Thanks to the former owners of our house, some of the outlets in the porch are on a switch that is in the toy room. So even though they can’t get up close to the tree without mom or dad, the boys can turn the lights on and off by themselves – it’s perfect.
Having two little boys in the house means we build a lot of forts. Sunday afternoon was no different. The card table we used on Thursday was still in the living room, so we covered it with a sheet and then placed the kids’ hut next to it to extend the width of the fort. Jake crawled in to see if he would fit. 😉 His feet stuck out one end and his head peered out the other. Being the helpful toddler, Lincoln checked on his daddy and then proceeded to try to rescue him by pulling on Jake’s head.
Nolan had his first preschool conference this morning. From the sounds of it, he’s doing pretty well 🙂 I’m glad he is enjoying it as much as he is. I catch him singing things he learns in class from time to time. Those moments really make me smile.
After conferences, I took the boys to MG to swim. We picked up Nana and headed for the pool. Both boys had a blast going down the kid slide and playing in the zero depth area. I wish I had brought my camera to capture the excitement on their faces when the fountains and waterfalls came on.
Tonight we celebrated my birthday for the 3rd time. How’s that for a three day party? My parents and brother came over for cake (Angel Food this time) and ice cream. Afterward, we hung out in the porch with a nice warm fire and Nana read to the boys. I love that my kids have opportunities to spend time with their grandparents, aunts & uncles. They are loved by so many people. What a gift that is to me as their mom.
Today’s randoms from Nolan:
For some reason he wanted to attach balloons to his pockets. I don’t ask why anymore, I just roll with it. (See the last picture above)
While in the porch this evening, he told Nana & Papa the “mometer” (thermometer) on the wall “measures the number of colds outside.” Papa then asked if it measures the “number of hots” outside in the summer. Good question, Dad 🙂
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.
The next doorbell we rang was Uncle Tony’s. He put on his Halloween costume too – he was The Karate Kid this year.
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.
Finally, we gathered the munchkins together (ours plus two others) and headed out on a quest for candy.
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.
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.
