Happy Birthday, John!

Wow, I have not been doing a very good job keeping up with my blogging. In my defense, we have been super busy over here, both on the weekend and weekdays, but I will try to keep up a little better.

So, two weekends ago, the kids and I traveled to Minnesota while John stayed behind to get some stuff done around the house. The kids got a lo of grandma and grandpa time, while I went to the cities with some girlfriends and had a girls night. Samantha had a couple free night at a hotel in the Twin Cities, and we got a bunch of girls together from high school and had a good night of drinking and socializing. We all had a lot of fun, and it was so nice to hang out with them all.

The kids handled the trip really well, and did not want to go back home again. They were officially worn out, and slept most of the way back home. They keep asking me when we can go back to Grandma and Grandpa's house, it's pretty cute.

Our week was pretty steady between work, meetings, and buying a new car. Yep, that's right, we traded in my Regal and we got ourselves a 2012 Chevy Equinox. We really like. We needed the extra room and space, and we are much more comfortable in this vehicle. We hope to spend quite a few years driving this one around. The kids also enjoy not getting their legs squished in our little car.

This past weekend was pretty busy yet again. Yesterday, we ran some errands in the morning, and then we met Marie and Abby at the Midco Aquatic Center and went swimming for 3 hours. The kids absolutely loved it, and did not want to leave. We had some pretty tired kiddos after all that. We finished the evening at the Market Grille, and then went home and put the kids to bed. We were all pretty beat.

Today was John's birthday! We started it off with our typical church routine, and then came home for some naps. After that we headed out to Grandma and Grandpa's house to help in the Greenhouse and celebrate John's birthday.

Jim and Barb recently got new baby chicks, and the kids really enjoyed holding them and petting them. They were a big highlight. Also, Emma planted some carrots last time we were out on the their farm, and they are starting to come up already. Emma was super excited to go and see them. Other than that, the kids pretty much just ran around and played, and had a really good time.

For supper, we headed into Pancheros and enjoyed some supper with the birthday boy. Everyone had a good time, and we finished things up with a birthday cookie. It was a good day.

Happy 31st Birthday to a great husband and an awesome daddy!!!

Ranger rides with Uncle Ryan

Kite Flying 

The Girls Night Crew

Class of 2005 

Daycare Treats

Baby Chicks

Trying on Grandma's glasses

Birthday Supper!!

March Snow Storms

Like always, time keeps flying by and we are almost to the middle of March already. Nothing too exciting has been happening around here, we've pretty much just been dealing with the typical day to day stuff around here, and hoping for nicer weather.

We did enjoy some nice weather last weekend, and ended up taking Emma "fishing" last Sunday. Most of the lakes still had a bunch of ice on them, so we found a stream, and just let her practice her casting with just a bobber on. She thought it was great, and she actually did a really good job with the casting and reeling.

Last week seemed like we were busy just about every night with some grocery trips, a daycare visit, and some other odds and ends. I was so ready for the weekend once it got here.

We had a pretty low-key weekend since the weather was pretty yucky. It was cold and snowy all weekend. On Saturday, we got out of the house for a little while and took the kids to the Kirby Science Center. They had an absolute blast, and we all enjoyed being out of the house.

John's parents watched the kids for a couple hours so we could go out on a date by ourselves, which was amazing. We went to the Pour House and then we had a peaceful Costco trip. It wasn't the most exciting thing ever, but it was nice to have an adults-only outing.

Today was kind of a marathon of a day. John had a wedding he shot all day (yes, on a Sunday!). So, I was cooped up all day with the kids. It wouldn't have been so bad if the weather had been nice, but with the snow, wind, and the cold, we just stayed home all day. We played games, played with Legos, painted, crafted, colored, played with Pom Poms, ran, jumped, danced, and watched Trolls. And I think I cleaned up with living room 59 times. They were pretty well-behaved though, and only had a few screaming fits. But, they wore me out. I am happy to say they are both resting peacefully, and I cannot wait to go to sleep, I am not looking forward to this Monday thing though.

This next week should be a little quieter. On Friday, the kids and I are heading to Minnesota, and both kids are super excited about it. I am going to the cities with some of my friends, and the kids are going to have some Grandma and Grandpa time. And John is staying home to work on pictures. It should be a good weekend for everyone.

Checking out Lake Vermillion 

Emma enjoying some fishing 

My loves

Daycare Yoga

Painting projects

Time "Marches" On.

See what I did there? Haha. March is here! Hard to believe that we are finally nearing toward spring time, and we are all so ready.

We have been pretty spoiled with some nice weather lately. Today, for example, it is supposed to be sunny and get up to around 65 degrees. I will take it.

Life has been pretty good lately. The kids have been staying relatively healthy, and we have just mostly been staying in our typical routine. Last weekend was snowy and chilly again, so Emma and I went to a movie (Trolls, again!) and had a mommy and Emma outing that was pretty fun. We also went to the camper show last weekend, which the kids had a blast at. They had inflatables, face painting, and balloon animals, which the kids really enjoyed. They also really liked running through campers and exploring.

We ended the evening with some supper at Outback Steakhouse, which was interesting with some tired children, but overall it went very well.

Last Sunday, we had just enough snow to let the kids do some sledding in our front yard. They had so much fun being pushed down the hill. It was pretty cute. Otherwise we pretty much just laid low at home, and had a quiet rest of the weekend.

This week moved along pretty quickly. We went to Ash Wednesday service on Wednesday evening, which was sort of a disaster. Our kids are just so restless and start getting cranky at around 7:30pm. But we survived, and it was ok. Don't know it we will go again this Wednesday though.

This weekend has flown by pretty quickly yet again. Friday night we had a movie night and watched the new movie Pete's Dragon, the kids thought it was pretty great.

Yesterday was spent at Jim and Barb's helping with some greenhouse work. The kids actually did really well, and stayed entertained "helping" Grandma and Grandpa in the greenhouse. We were out there pretty much most of the day, and the kids loved it. They didn't want to leave. Emma also made a fairy garden with Grandma, and she planted some carrots for the Easter Bunny. So adorable.

Today has pretty much been just church, and then we headed home and the boys are napping. Emma did some crafting, and now she is driving me crazy as I am trying to blog. Holy cow that girl cannot sit still for more than 2 minutes. Restless kids. We plan to get outside and enjoy the weather today, and we may even do some fishing out at Lake Vermillion. I think Emma would really enjoy that.

Anyway, I will leave you with some photos from the past couple weeks.

Church shennanigans

Donuts!!

Picking eggs at Grandma and Grandpas

Greenhouse workers

Emma's adorable little garden

So cute!

A "poopy" weekend.

The title of this post pretty much says it all. Elliott started pooping Friday night, and hasn't stopped since. Poor kid has had explosive diarrhea for the last 3 days, and it has not been very fun. His butt is so raw and sore, that he just screams when we change him and clean him up. He has like an anxiety attack, and gets worked up for a good 15-20 minutes. I feel so bad for him, but we are literally doing everything we can for him. Needless to say, it's been a long couple of days.

Other than Elliott's sickness, we had a wonderful weekend. The nice weather has continued to hang on around here, so we have been busy little beavers, trying to soak up the nice weather all weekend.

Friday night, we brought the kids to a park, and then we ate supper at Ruby Tuesdays (courtesy of a gift card that has been in my wallet for 2 years). It was ok. The kids behaved really well, which was nice.

Saturday was a busy day. We started off with a trip to Walmart for a few things, and we ran into a couple that gave us free Stampede Tickets for the game that night. We just can't seem to get away from those Stampede Games lately. It was very nice to get some free tickets though, especially for Wiener Dog Races night.

After Walmart, we went home for some naps, and then headed to the zoo. Both kids walked most of the zoo, and loved seeing all the animals. Elliott was especially entertained by the animals. He loved it. After seeing all the animals, we went and played inside the zoo museum for a while. We were there for about 3 hours, and successfully wore out our children.

We decided that since Elliott was having blowout diarrheas about every 1-2 hours, that I would stay home with him and just Emma and John would go to the game. They had a blast at the game, and had a very nice daughter/daddy date.

They didn't get home until almost 10pm, and then it was time for everyone to head to bed. We were all completely wore out.

We skipped church on Sunday because Saturday was sort of a rough night and Elliott was difficult to deal with, so we just said forget it. After everyone settled down a little, we took the kids to another park, and they had a really good time. We grabbed lunch at Pancheros, which was delicious, and then we headed home so the boys could nap.

Emma and I decided to head to the Midco Aquatic Center to check it out. Emma had a really, really good time. I think she jumped into the pool to me about 100 times, and she keeps getting braver and braver in the water. We spent a solid 2.5 hours there, and then we had a Cherry Berry Date. After all the excitement, we headed home. Elliott was kind of a hot mess again, so we kept the rest of the evening quiet, and got the kids to bed at a decent time.

Today was a typical Monday, except for the weather. It was down-pouring when I went to work this morning. It was raining so hard that my socks, pants, and coat were soaked by the time I got inside. It was the weirdest thing to see in February. Other than that, it was a Monday. Both kids made it the full day at daycare, which was a miracle. Elliott is still pooping, and still has a super sore butt, and Emma is coughing her brains out now too. Such fun times.

Anyway, I'm pooped. It's been a long weekend, it's been a long Monday, I'm going to bed.

Fun at the zoo 

Matching in their red coats

How adorable is that?

Elliott checking out the baby Rhino

Being silly

Cherry berry date

Happy Valentine's Day, a little late...

This past week and a half kind of flew by again. Nothing too crazy has been going on, just the usual grind of work and evening activities with the kids, but time sure finds a way to keep chugging on by.

This past weekend was packed full of activities. On Saturday, Emma and I had a girls date where we went to the zoo to play, and then we had a lunch date at McDonalds per Emma's request. We also did a little shopping, and then ended the day with a little crafting. It was a fun mommy and Emma day. Elliott had two naps during the day, so he didn't get to come along, but him and daddy hit the town and did their own thing.

On Sunday, we took Jim and Barb to a Stampede Hockey game with the kids. Everyone had a really good time, and we got to see the game go to overtime, and then a shoot-out, so it was a pretty good game.

The highlight of this week was Valentine's Day. On Monday evening, Emma and I worked on her Valentines as well as her Valentine's box. She was so excited to help work on it, and then show it to all of her friends. She loves holidays, and gets so excited for them! It was pretty cute to watch her enthusiasm. She came up with her Valentine's Box all by herself, and called it a "silly, robot monkey" box. It was adorable.

Elliott helped me with his Valentine's a little, but mostly he just enjoyed sampling the goods, and scribbling with markers. Pretty typical.

Tuesday was Valentine's Day, and the kids had a blast at daycare. Emma came home with a bucket full of Valentines and candy, and she got to wear her PJs to daycare, so it was a great day, and she loved telling us all about it.

Elliott's room had a Valentine's Day Party as well, but I'm not sure he knew what was going on at all. But he enjoyed digging into some of his candy this week.

The rest of the week has been pretty quiet. The weather has been absolutely amazing though. It's about 54 degrees outside right now, and tomorrow is supposed to get into the 60s. I am really enjoying the warm weather. I am thinking about bringing the kids to the park for a little while this afternoon to help them burn of a little energy, it should be fun!

Elliott helping feed baby Reese (awe)

Emma and her Valentine's Box. So cute!

My Valentine's Flowers

The kids with their Valentine's Gifts

Daycare Fun

A Super Bowl Weekend.

This past weekend was insane! We were so busy, and sleep deprived, it was incredible. It all started on Friday, when I took the kids to Brain Play at the zoo after work. We spent a solid hour and a half playing with all the toys and activities. They had a blast. Elliott was devastated to have to leave. I told him it was closed, and he repeated that phrase the whole way home, driving Emma crazy in the process. It was pretty cute.

After the zoo, we went home for supper, and then headed to a stampede game. John got some free tickets from a co-worker, so all four of us headed to the game. The kids actually did very well. They were pretty wiggly, which is expected, but they really were interested in the game, which surprised us. They both loved all the lights, music, and of course the players skating around. They both did very well, and we lasted the entire game, so it was a great outing.

On Saturday, the kids went out to Jim and Barb's to spend the night while John and I headed to Brookings for some basketball with our college friends. It was a double header with both the boys and girls playing, and they both won. We watched some good basketball games. After the games, we stayed for the wresting match. I have never been to a wrestling match before, and I was sort of lost through the whole thing, but it was kind of fun to see.

We headed to Buffalo Wild Wings after the match, and then visited with some drinks back at the hotel. It was very nice to hang out with everyone, and we had a really good time, but we didn't get back home until 3:30 am. It's been a long time since I have been up that late, and it kind of kicked my butt.

Luckily, we got to sleep in on Sunday, but we were still pretty tired most of the day. John went and got the kids at about lunch time, and then we all took some well-deserved naps. Once we were rested up, we headed to Polzin's for a Superbowl Party. The kids had an absolute blast playing with all the toys and the other kids. They played so hard. The adults enjoyed some good food and beverages, and a good football game.

The Patriots ended up coming back from a 3-28 point deficit, and winning the game in overtime. I'm not really a Patriots fan, I wanted the Falcons to win, but it was a pretty incredible game. Lady Gaga performed at halftime, which was an okay show, and there were some good commercials. But, it ended up being a late night because of the overtime, and both kids were up until about 10:00 pm. Yikes! It made for kind of a rough Monday for all of us.

Right now, both kids are sleeping, and this momma isn't too far away either. It's been a LONG day, and I am ready to snooze away!!

Wonder Woman at daycare 

"Cheese" at the zoo. 

Emma and Wonder Woman 

Playing at the zoo

Stampede Game 

The kiddos enjoying their food at the Super Bowl Party 

Ice Cream

Cupcakes at daycare