Family pics

Waiting to prepare for christmas

Have been begging Gus to let me start christmas decorating but he insists we wait until thanksgiving. Little does he know that since he will be home the day before turkey day with Griffin I will be having them do much of the preparations. HE HE, he will learn next time I guess. Did our family pics today for christmas cards and pleasantly surprised that we got more than one to chose from. We are always relieved when pics are done as it is not a favorite activity of the boys. Will be spending the afternoon with Gus' parents and brother for thanksgiving this year so no travel for us which makes life a whole lot easier. We are keeping christmas much more simple this year also with us hosting Gus' and my parents so that should be fun.

Had Ian's conferences last week and Griffin's this week. Ian's teachers absolutely adore him and had many funny stories to tell us. Said he is the best classroom cleaner and is very concerned with the other children when they are sad as he rubs their backs and makes sure the teachers give them a little extra TLC. Griffin's should go well also as he continues to be strong willed and a leader.

Work for Gus is busy as ever and little stressful but keeps him going. My work is also very stressful right now as we are looking for additional staff as I prepare to move to the new location. Ready for a change and think with it will bring many challenges but much happiness.

Guess that is our life in a nutshell lately. Hope all of you are surviving as we enter the holiday season. Anxious to see those cards and pics start coming in the mail of all your lovely families.

OK, OK back by popular demand

So I am sure you won't be begging for more posts when you see how lame I am. For some reason things seem busy lately but we appear to be quite boring. School is going well for Griffin. We continue to be amazed at how quick they seem to be learning how to spell and sound out words. Soon he will be reading and we couldn't be more excited. He is a great big brother to Ian and is always there to make you laugh. Ian is growing like a weed. Runs, dances, sings nonstop. Such a easy going guy and full of hugs and kisses. Work for me is good but starting to get stressful. In a couple months I am going to be at the new Bethany but we have lots of staffing to work on until then. Calling all PTs and PTAs---please come work with me! We are preparing for a very busy caseload and are in much need for more help. Work for Gus seems to be going ok. For any of you who know him, you know how Mr. Secret he is about work. No big winter plans for us. Griffin will start gymnastics soon and thinking about Ian as well. Gus is spending lots of time following his Vikes and Bison. I have been able to spend quite a bit of time with friends lately which has been fun. Have seen more of the grandparents the past couple months than usual and they boys are loving that! They adore Grammas Kathy and Mary and Grandpas Don and Ed. Guess that sums it up. Sorry about the slacking on here but everything goes to facebook so check us out there.

anyone out there?

So no one is noticing how bad I have been about posting on here right?

New camera #2

Here are some sweet ones of Ian with the new camera.

New camera

So I am loving the new camera. I had been researching for many, many, many months and when I would go to the store it was like I was looking at diamonds or something. I would ask the clerk if I could just hold it and try it. Well, I finally got it and am thrilled. Still totally learning how to use it but here are just a few fun pics of Griffin.

Happy Birtirement!

Mom celebrated her birthday and retirement last friday. I got to go a couple days early to prepare for the party and festivities and then Gus and boys joined me on Sat. The party was absolutely perfect with tasty beverages, lots of amazing company, and good eats! Weather couldn't have been better for all the yard games and kids to play at the park. Already missing mom and wishing her lots of relaxation on her first week being unemployed. ENJOY!!!

Just a few pics

Another gorgeous weekend sticking around home with lots of biking, trips to park, swimming, playing in the backyard.....are you getting the picture? Lots of outside time!

Video fun

MASTERED IT!

So I think it is official. Griffin can ride without training wheels. He and Gus have been going around the block and he is LOVING it! He asked all night at baseball how long it would be until we would be home to ride the bike and talked about it all night with his friends. He is now requesting we skip using the car and ride to work and the mall and school....what did we get him started with? It is so cute because he is SO proud and can talk of nothing else.

Riding bike

So Griffin has been less than interested in learning to ride a bike without training wheels this summer. None of the neighbor kids ride bikes which doesn't help. How could they be riding bikes when all they do is run backyard to backyard playing bad guys? Anyway, we have tried for a few minutes here and there and when Mr. Perfectionist Griffin can't do it right away he gives us. Well, for the past few days I have heard him whispering in the backseat to God that he wants to learn how to ride a bike when he is 5 and not 6. Tonight he was really interested in trying again so we agreed to put ourselves through it once again. Well, he did quite well I have to say. Not near doing it all on his own but tonight we saw the glimmer of hope and he was so proud of himself. Will keep working on it and hoping this is one more thing we can check off our to do list for the summer.

Pics

More outdoor pics you say? Guess we are getting plenty of fresh air.

Hot chics

Kerri and I had a great day this weekend. Started with early coffee then to the hair salon for cut and color. Then to the Street Fair for good eats and shopping. We did make it home for a couple hrs to see our families then off for drinks and musical at Fargo Theater. Thanks for a great day Kerri!

Neighbor kids

This is a typical day in our neighborhood. All boys age 6 and under running around in costumes. I must say when you look out the window and see 5-10 little boys dressed as power rangers/transformers/super heroes it does make you laugh.

Ewww...

So gross. Being treated for Lyme's Disease and have this lovely marking on my arm. When 3 people stopped me at work to comment I thought it was time to go in. My first weekend out at the lake and lucky me. Oh well, from what I hear from the doc, good thing I got it taken care of quickly.

SURPRISE!

Do you hear that? Nope? Me either. No more stinky washer and noisy dryer with the buzzer! This was my surprise today when coming home from work. Mr. Consumer Reports was busy shopping and researching and buying this weekend while I was in Bis for the weekend. Quite the surprise as we didn't talk about this large purchase but I think this might just be better than diamonds.

Griffin+Golf+Gus=FUN

Gus left work early after being on the clock for 16 hrs yesterday and picked Griffin up for a fun afternoon. He took him to Oxbow to hit a bucket of balls and I hear it went very well. He golfed on a "real" course after that and had tons of fun. Guess it is just a 3 hole course but it was his first experience. We may have a left handed Tiger on our hands!

Heading to the lake tomorrow to spend a quiet weekend out there with Ed and Mary. Will do the usual 4th events---Pelican Lake Boat Parade, pontoon rides, fishing, going on adventures through the woods looking for treasures, and fireworks. Pictures to follow hopefully.

Random pics

Our day started early so please excuse the self portrait with Ian. Griffin was up late last night and skipped a nap yesterday so we were greeted by his presence at 5:20 this am. He snuck into Ian's room and climbed into his crib so now we (I mean I was blessed) are blessed with 2 very tired boys up before the sun. Don't worry ladies, I will be sleeping in tomorrow. Kinda a rough day with the crankies but still had a nice time with them. Griffin's favorite thing this week is jumping on his bed and drags Ian into it which almost always means someone, usually the smaller of the 2, ends up bonking heads with eachother or the wall or being catapaulted off the bed. Ian takes it like a trooper; anything to copy his brother and be with him as much as possible. Hoping for better weather tomorrow so we can be outside to burn some steam.

Boys and their new summer haircuts

The boys look so old with their new do's.

Little All-Star

Dunked!

Today was Bethany's Annual Summer Carnival and I was nominated to get in the dunk tank. I wasn't too sure how I felt about it but my excitement increased when I saw how much fun the residents had talking about getting to dunk me. All week they have been working with OT on their throwing arms; some even used a bullseye drawn on a board with my name in the middle to throw beanbags at to more accurately practice. The other therapists were awesome and brought lots of them out to get me. I reminded them that I would be seeing them tomorrow morning for therapy but they didn't seem to ease up on me. The tank was refreshing considering the 90 degree heat so that was a treat. I stopped counting after about 40 dunks so think I made a little money during the fundraiser! Lots of fun!

Enjoying the summer

Have been busy with Griffin's soccer and tball this past month. Soccer comes to a close and we keep up with tball another few weeks so maybe little more free time in the near future. The weather has been great and we spend much of our time outdoors. No plans for 4th of July yet but anxious for mom's big birtirement party (birthday retirement) at the end of July. I am hoping to go a day early to help make 100 pounds of meat for sandwiches. Gus is planning some boys weekends at the lake and we are trying to find a gramma Mary camp weekend for Gus and I to get away for a couple days while the boys go on adventures with gramma and grandpa at the lake. Guess we are pretty boring but maybe if you are lucky I will get a sweet camera shot of me in the Bethany Dunk Tank tomorrow and I will post it.

More outside time

More pics from an amazing weekend outdoors.

Beautiful weekend

For once, we had gorgeous weather on the weekend which meant being outside with the boys and day. Ian loves the neighbor's swings and slides. Griffin loves swimming and running around with the neighbor boys. Gus and I got a dinner out for our anniversary while Auntie Tucca watched the boys so it was quite honestly a perfect weekend!