My Baby Is Turning 2!!!!!

T minus 4 days until my baby turns 2! You think time goes by fast with one kid? Try throwing another in the mix. I just cannot believe it....
From womb... to birth....
to six months....
to one year...
to almost two....
You've learned so much over these two years. From crawling to walking/running, from nuk to recently no nuk, from crying when you are hungry to walking to the pantry and grabbing (insert snack name here) and getting yourself a bowl from the cabinet to dump your snacks into....
You melt my heart with those clear blue eyes and the way you look at me and say "mama" just when I need to hear it.
You are so much fun and so so busy learning about everything. You adore your brother and want to do everything he does.
You get excited whenever you see a puppy, a "big big truck" or a "mo" (otherwise known as a motorcycle).
Your laugh is infectious and your kisses are plentiful.
Thank you for coming into our lives. I love you B!

What's The Deal?

We went to the neighboring town's parade today. We just happened to be standing by the two state patrol officers that were "monitoring" things. At the beginning of the parade, a Hummer with some National Guard men and women rolled on through. There was one guy standing up through the sunroof type thing throwing balls to all the kids. One of the officers went and told him that he couldn't do that. I had mixed feelings about it. I understand that getting hit in the side of the head with a rubber ball wouldn't feel all that good. On the other hand, it's not like they were chucking them into the crowds....they were tossing them to the kids about 4 feet from them.
Then, the next few floats were a whole slew of fire trucks. Kids were in the cab and up on top throwing candy. The same officer went to each and everyone of those fire trucks and told them that they can't throw candy from the trucks.
What!??? Isn't that one of the main points of a parade - to throw candy? Is this something new? Did I miss an article on msn.com about some kid that lost a limb by getting hit with a flying pack of smarties? Sheesh.

A Little Get-Away......

This past Thursday, my mom and I loaded up the boys and took off on a road trip to Michigan. We went to visit my great-grandmother. Colton has met her once for her 95th birthday and Brett (who's middle name his her last name) has never met her. The boys did fantastic in the car. We only made a couple of stops as we cruised through 4 states in one day.
Here's the boys with their great-great grandmother who will be 98 in September.
It was fascinating listening to all her story's and trying to capture as much history as I possibly could. Now that my grandmother has passed away, she's basically the only one who answer all my questions.

The boys stayed busy feeding the fish, playing croquet, blowing bubbles and taking walks. Oh and don't worry - the boat was docked right on shore in about 1 foot of water....that's why the kids don't have life jackets on.
On the way home, we stopped at Lake Michigan. When we got there, Colton made the comment "this is what I thought Michigan would look like."
We spent the night at Wisconsin Dells so the boys could swim and burn off some energy. We avoided both the huge storms that rolled through - luckily!!

Check And Done.....

#21 on THE LIST is complete! On Saturday the plants went in and the mulch went on. Only moments later the tornado sirens started and the black clouds rolled in. Luckily we were on the very edge of the storm so there was no damage to the little plants.
Here are some before, during and after photos for your viewing pleasure:

Here's before. Pretty boring huh?

Here's from the other angle. You can see the old gray bricks that the previous home owners had in place.
Making some progress! The new bricks are in. I stacked them 2 high to add a little dimension to the front of our house. I learned that on HGTV.
I kept only one of the previous bushes. No idea what it is, but it gets these hot pink flowers on it and it's beautiful.
There she is! The completed look. Keep in mind that things now need to grow. It doesn't look real full now, but give it a year or two and I'm sure it will be featured in a magazine - or my scrapbook. Either is just fine.
Oh, and we couldn't just let our trees in the front feel left out!See that little bush on the left hand side? That little guy is suppose to get 5-6 feet tall and 4-5 feet wide. Oh, and the 2 to the right of it will grow quite a bit and get white and purple flowers if all goes well. Man, I hope I can keep them alive!

I'm glad that this project is done. It was way more work than I thought it would be. LOTS of trips to Menards, 12 yards of dirt being dropped off in our front yard (we didn't use all of it for this project) and lots of learning from the nice people at the greenhouse.

Keeping Busy.....

It's been a busy couple of weeks around our house. Our biggest project has been our front yard landscaping. It's not quite done, but if the weather cooperates with us, it will be done by Sunday evening! I'm so excited to cross that off of my list. I'll be sure to post before and after pictures.
In the meantime, here's what has been occupying our family:

Baseball Games

Brother Bonding
Hanging With Cousin William
Eating Birthday Cake & Ice Cream With Grandpa Jon
Hanging With Cousin Jack
Planting His Tree With Grandpa
Eating Dinner With "The Boys"

Class Field Trip To The Zoo

Shout Out........

My cousin is in a band. A good band. A very good band. A very very good band.
I highly encourage you to check out this link that my mom sent me over the weekend. Cory is my cousin.
Here's a shout out to Cory Chisel & The Wandering Sons!

101 in 1001......

I try to keep up with the latest in the blog world. I realize I'm a little behind on the "newness" of this concept, but none the less, here's my list of 101 things to do in 1001 days.
I created the list on Monday, May 19th, so 1001 days from then will be: February 14, 2011

1. go camping
2. scrapbook Brett's first year (DONE)
3. give up soda for 30 days (0/30)
4. print and organize photos
5. buy bedroom furniture (DONE)
6. get a pedicure (DONE 7/24/08 - 30th b-day gift from Angie)
7. drink 3 glasses of water every day for 30 days (30/30) (DONE)
8. take the boys to see their great-great grandmother (DONE 6/5/08)
9. have a party for no reason
10. go sliding (DONE 12/26/08 +)
11. reach and maintain my goal weight (Done? still working on the maintain piece '09)
12. take the boys to the beach (Done July 2010)
13. replace kitchen counter tops
14. participate in a cookie exchange
15. surprise husband with something he'd love (DONE 12/31/09)
16. perform a random act of kindness (DONE)
17. update bathroom flooring
18. install garbage disposal
19. read one book per month for four consecutive months (4/4) (DONE Aug '08)
20. try a new recipe once a month for 8/12 months (DONE)
21. complete front landscape project (DONE 5/31/08)
22. pay off Mike's student loan (DONE 11/09)
23. visit a winery (DONE 10/6/08 - Door County)
24. buy a bike and use it
25. paint my bedroom (DONE)
26. get a massage (DONE 11/18/08)
27. vote (DONE 11/4/08 - Obama!)
28. buy a new computer (DONE 10/24/08)
29. do at least one load of laundry every day for 2 weeks (0/14)
30. visit a state park (DONE 7/24/08 - Tettegouche)
31. make a gingerbread house
32. have a girls weekend (DONE 8/1- 8/3/08 - Di's Cabin)
33. start a salsa garden (DONE 6/09)
34. potty train Brett (DONE 7/09)
35. clean the inside of my car once a month for six months (DONE 6/6)
36. watch a movie in a theater (DONE - Alice in Wonderland 3/10)
37. take a class through community education (DONE 3/09)
38. compile family tree
39. do not eat out for one month
40. buy myself flowers
41. download 15 new songs on my ipod (DONE)
42. don't eat after 7:30 for 2 weeks (0/14)
43. give up tv for one week/7 days (0/7)
44. visit 3 states with the boys (2/3)
45. find the perfect bra (DONE - 7/23/08 - actually found 2!)
46. have a pro teach me what make-up to wear and how to apply it
47. volunteer for 3 school activities (3/3) (DONE)
48. arrange a progressive dinner
49. visit the Children's museum (Done 2/22/09)
50. look into hiring a maid (Done - too expensive)
51. update work wardrobe
52. send a hand written letter to somebody (DONE July '08 to G.Gram)
53. update family photo
54. make cookies with the boys (DONE Halloween cookies 10/11/08)
55. get a manicure
56. jump in the leaves
57. plant a lilac bush
58. buy a watch
59. take a day off of work for no reason
60. have a garage sale (DONE 6/09)
61. visit a farmer's market
62. plan 1 week's worth of dinners ahead of time once per month for 1 year (5/12)
63. go fishing
64. swim in the ocean (DONE January 2011)
65. take a photography class (DONE 11/20/08)
66. blog 20/30 days in one month (30/30) (DONE 11/09)
67. go to a concert (DONE 11/19/08 Jason Mraz)
68. listen to a book on tape/CD
69. deliver baked goods to the neighbors (DONE 9/15/08)
70. go to a nice restaurant with my husband (DONE 9/10)
71. go 30 days buying only the bare necessities
72. have a squirt gun fight with the boys
73. watch a parade (DONE 6/15/08)
74. make sushi rolls
75. ride on a roller coaster (DONE)
76. beat Mike at rummy
77. attend a wine tasting event (DONE 3/08)
78. fly a kite
79. go ice skating
80. buy a set of good knives (Done - however I got them as a gift 12/08)
81. go to a Twins game (DONE 5/09 vs Red Sox)
82. organize recipes (DONE 10/10)
83. make campfire smores (DONE 7/4/09)
84. take the stairs at work every morning for 60 days (60/60) DONE
85. buy new bedding (DONE 10/25/08)
86. organize family room closet (DONE 8/29-30/08)
87. get Brett into "big boy" bed (DONE January 2009)
88. stain the deck
89. take the kids to the zoo (DONE 7/21/08, 8/17/08 - Como Zoo)
90. skip rocks (DONE)
91. make my bed in the a.m. 50 times (25/50)
92. eat breakfast everyday for one week (DONE)
93. experience the day after thanksgiving shopping (DONE 11/28/08)
94. organize Brett's closet (DONE 8/31/08)
95. organize Colton's closet (DONE 9/1/08)
96. buy a pair of shoes that I love
97. help plan a family reunion (DONE July 18 09)
98. call a friend just to chat once a month for a year (6/12)
99. volunteer to help with VBS (DONE August 2008, 2009 & 2010)
100. go to an amusement park (DONE)
101. visit another country (DONE January 2011)