24 June 2010

1.  Rach and Brad both turned 30 in May.  Friday they threw themselves a birthday bash...but not just any bash.  It was a creepy denim party.  All guests were to dress head to toe in denim, the creepier the better.  Eric decided to go redneck cowboy and I went 90s school teacher.  Likey??

There was plenty of creepy to go around.  Especially because E and Kasey's boyfriend Brady decided to coerce every girl at the party into a picture with them. If I had time to make a good collage it would be good.  Fortunately for them I don't, so this will have to give you an idea...

It was the first time my sisters and I had all been together since Kara's return from Europe.  Always so fun yet a little dangerous.  =)

2.  Saturday we went to Hector to spend time with Rog for Father's Day.  We spent the afternoon with them and went to supper that night.

Sunday we headed to the lake to spend Father's day with my Dad.

3.  Aside from Father's Day, we were also celebrating Kara's graduation and return from Europe, which means we have a new roommate for the next 7 months!  Yippee!

4.  Thursday was our 10th wedding anniversary. We credit God, humor, and vacations for still being happily married with children.  More on our anniversary next week!

5.  LOVE this.  No explanation needed.

17 June 2011

1.  I have officially blogged a year of our life.  My first post last year was June 18th.  Now obviously I'm not saying that all of those posts have been on time....ahem....but its a year I will be able to show the kids when they're older and I didn't quit.   Don't worry, even when my posts are three weeks late it doesn't mean I quit.  =)  So back to this post that I started three weeks ago...

2.  Eric spent last weekend at Winstock with all his high school buddies.  They always have such a good time.

The next picture seems to sum up Thayne and Eric's 30 year friendship.  Eric is always trying to get under Thayne's skin and Thayne is always acting super annoyed by his antics.  Makes me giggle just looking at it.

Eric had Newman's Neighborhood shirts made for their whole group.  It made it easier to keep Deaner from straying from the group...or at least easier for people to return him when he wandered off.  =) =) =)

They all keep asking me when I am going to go...and although I DO think it would so fun, I think it is good to let Eric hang with his friends without me, too.  Its not that he couldn't whoop it up when I'm there...I surely wouldn't care...but he tends not to think as much about his responsibilities if I'm not.  I have zero pictures of him ever looking like this...

3.  E has another reason he might look that way in the above picture.  On the way to Winstock (a few hours before this picture was taken) he found out that his real estate office in Shakopee was officially closing.  While we have secretly known for months that it would happen, it didn't quite go down the way he was expecting it to, which left him worrying about his agents and his own job.  Rest assured after a week of working to get people to the best placement for them, everyone found a new home...except for E, that is.  Thankfully he has worked hard and done whatever they asked...not to mention his go-getter sunny attitude that drives us all nuts some days, but that serves him well in life...so they invented a job for him at Coldwell Banker Corporate for now until another manager job comes up.

4.  While Eric was away, I was busy teaching the kids the really important things in life.  Like, well, you know...

I love how Tate adds the crazy eyes for effect.

5. Monday I was officially out of school for the summer.  I am going to try really hard this summer to keep a routine and still make the summer fun.  I was talking to my friend Sue at work about how my kids lose interest in cleaning so quickly.  She said she makes a list for her kids and they LOVE it.  Um....duh!  I sometimes make a list just to cross things off.  I will even add something I've already done that day just to cross it off!  I tried it and it worked like a charm.

The first day they cleaned for 3 hours straight with almost no whining. As you can see, my three year old even vacuum and dusts his own room!  Since then I've added academic things to keep busy as well.  We'll have to see if we can all keep it up this summer, but so far Aves has learned to tie her shoes, Beckett can write his name, and Tate is so into the library reading program that I have to ask him to stop reading so we can go do something else...not to mention my house has rarely looked this good since Tate was a baby!

10 June 2011

1.  Friday night Avery finally had her dance recital.  She has been waiting for it for so long.  A few weeks ago at dress rehearsal she got some majorly cold feet getting onto the stage...tears and all.  But once she got up there she smiled and danced her tush off.  Friday night she said she was nervous but was nothing but smiles from the beginning of the night to the end. 

The recital lasted a little longer than I thought it would and the boys were home with a babysitter.  I guess Rae was snapping pics while I frantically called the babysitter to reassure her that we were in fact on our way.  Grandma Becky and Grandpa Rog were there, too, but I honestly didn't take one pic after the recital...these last few all are courtesy of Aunt Rae...thanks for being my picture wingman as always!

She was just beaming...especially since I told her I didn't buy any flowers, but her aunties and grandparents came through for her!

2.  Saturday morning I got to join my friend Mel and Team Linc at the State Fair Grounds to participate in the Baby Steps 3K to support Children's Hospital NICU.  I took most of the pics for her, so am not in many, but I did have Mel's husband Derek snap this one of us after we were done with the walk.  I'm happy to report that Linc is doing really well right now.  The power of prayer, people, the power of prayer!

3.  I swear you are going to be SO SICK of lake pics by the end of the summer.  It was supposed to be an awesome weekend weather wise, so we headed out on the spur of the moment after the walk on Saturday.  The weather was in fact awesome and we enjoyed the newly finished deck {besides all the army worms that the kids collected in empty beer bottles}, the swing we gave mom and dad for Christmas, raked the seaweed that had blown in out of the swimming area {I was obsessed and could barely move my arms and shoulders the next day as proof!}, and swam a ton. Such a relaxing weekend!

We had to sneak this last picture.  E and I were enjoying the night on the deck before we left for home.  The kids were all washed up and ready for the ride, so they hid themselves around the corner of the new deck and made a book they didn't want us to see until they were finished.  It was too cute not to document so I snuck through the garage and got a pic without them knowing it.  =)

4.  The kids all just finished their first session at FOSS Swim School.  For the longest time we have said we wouldn't pay that much for swimming lessons, but we have learned the hard way that you get what you pay for.  With as much time as they will spend in the water this summer, it was time to bite the bullet and pay for serious lessons (this is really no offense to community ed...there is just no way a 16 year old with 10 kids in her class can produce quality results at the ages the kids are!).  They all three did great and loved every second of it!

5.  I found my kids in the garage while I was making supper on Wednesday making a "Frog House."  They were working so well together (for the first half hour at least!) and had every art supply and tool pulled off E's peg board. That is one big flag for that little frog's house!

3 June 2011

1.  Friday Aves graduated from Mount Olive Preschool. There was no lack of cute kids or songs during the program...

 

Here she is receiving her diploma, with her graduating class, and in the receiving line with best friend Olivia...

Each student had their own table to sit at for the reception decorated with their work.  It is amazing to see how much she's changed since orientation night last fall!  What a difference a year makes...

It made me laugh that the day they took the pictures (unbeknownst to me!) of her in her gown she was wearing the exact outfit that she was wearing the day they took those orientation pictures...see it peeking out from underneath the gown?

What a lucky girl to have so many people come to support her.  Grandpa Keith and Grandma Becky both were busy with planting season (what there was of one before all the rain. =(  so they had to miss.

2.  After graduation E and I ran to work and Beckett and Avery took off with Grandma for the lake.  When Tate was home from school and we were home from work, we took off, too.  It was a nice, relaxing, yet strange trip with only one kid in tow.  I think even Tate thought it was weird being alone with us, because when we stopped at Pizza Ranch and they said "Two adults and one child?"  Tate said, "Well, we usually have THREE kids, but my brother and sister aren't here." 

3.  The first Memorial Day weekend at the lake was as awesome as we thought it would be.  The best weather was on Saturday and we spent that whole day outside.  The boat made it in the water and onto the lift, Brad christened the dock with a cannon ball, the kids swam and fished, and E went skiing for the first time...all in all a great weekend!

4.  On Monday we went to our friend Aubrey's first birthday party.  I don't usually include pics from other kids birthdays because our friends are having so many kids it would take up half our blog, plus I don't always bring my camera.  This time I was assigned to taking pics for the day and this one of Avery, our neighbor Addie, and Aubrey's cousin Ariana was just too cute.  You can kind of see the red corvette in the corner coming up behind them...that is Tate and Beckett in hot pursuit of the girls.  =)

5.  Thursday was Tate's last day of first grade.  He had such a great year and it was amazing to watch my own kid become such a reader.  When he got home that day I said, "Tate, you're officially a second grader!"  In true Tate fashion, he said, "Mom, can we just not talk about it for the summer?  I'm not really IN second grade yet, but I'm done with first grade, so it just doesn't feel like I am in a grade. We'll talk about it in the fall."  Okay, Tater, whatever you say!  =)