Tis the Season......

Where do I even begin....what a crazy week it's been. Here's my summary of my past 7 days:

1. Night before I'm leaving to go up north - car makes weird noises. Bring car in - needs new back breaks - can't fix tonight as they close in 30 minutes. Crap. Make appointment for early morning - attempt to entertain kids for 1 hour in a car repair shop. I think I should get a trophy. Thank goodness there were no other customers in there.

2. Make it up north. Play in snow. Brett doesn't like it - at all. Colton wants to make snow fort. Talk him into a snowman. Snowman falls over the next day due to the rain.

3. Have first of 3 Christmases. Lots of nice gifts. Boys love it.

4. Class reunion (see previous post for details)

5. Get snowed in and have to stay up north one extra day.

6. Head out nice and early and fly home (just kidding mom, I drove the speed limit or less the whole way). Only have to stop to clean my windshield and adjust my wipers twice. Listen to 17 month old scream for 3 1/2 hours. Man that was a fun trip home.

7. Get home in time to shower and get ready for Christmas #2. Ate way too much. More nice gifts. Boys love it.

8. Rise and shine to see what Santa brought the boys. Open every present - remove those dang twist ties - seriously why does a Power Ranger need 36 of those things to keep it intact to it's box? Play play play. Get ready to go to Christmas #3.

9. Drive to Dad's. Eat lots more. Pants getting tight. MORE nice gifts. Boys still love it. Brett hacking up a lung. Colton stays up until midnight. Get up and drive home at 6:40am due to child still hacking up a lung and afraid he'll wake everybody up. Come home - take short nap. Get ready to go spend some time with great grandpa and grandma while their in town. Go grocery shopping. Stop at Target to buy meds for little one. Go home, put boys to bed and groceries away. Crash. Hard. Wake up to alarm at 5a.m. Back to reality.

This holiday season was great. Spending quality time with all my families is priceless. Seeing Christmas through the eyes of my children is indescribable. I am blessed to have a wonderful life and wonderful people in it. I'm looking forward to see what 2008 has in store for us!

In the meantime, here are a few random pictures from the past 7 days:

10 years and counting......

The big 10 year class reunion was this past weekend. When you come from a small town you pretty much hear where everybody lives,who married who, who has kids, etc. So, the graduating class of 1997 met again after 10 years. Well, at least 23 out of 37 of us. Yes, you read that correctly. After 10 years, most people look the same, just a little older....some of us a little wider and some look better than they did at 18. When you live in a small Midwestern town, most want to get out of town after they graduate...as far out of town as possible. We have classmates living in New York, Montana, Arizona, many in California....some are still in college, some never went, one has his own company (surprise, surprise) some have kids, and so on and so on. So here are some snap shots of the evening.
Clearly, we weren't all looking at the same camera in this picture....I think we were all looking forward to our next cocktail.

Some classmates and their significant others (for those that brought them)
Leah, Leah and Leah. Can you believe in a class of 37 that there would be 3 of us?
More classmates....
More classmates and their significant others....
Class of '97 - it was a good time.....I'll see most of you in 10 more years!

Happy Holidays!

I think I'm finally ready for the 'big' day. All the gifts are purchased and wrapped...let the celebrations begin. The boys and I are heading up north tomorrow morning. Mike isn't able to join us as it's his turn to work the holidays at the hospital. So, the boys and I will have an early Christmas on Saturday with my mom's side of the family.
I also have my class reunion.....I'll be sure to fill you in on that.
We'll be back on Sunday and then will be spending Christmas Eve with Mike's side of the family and Christmas Day with my dad's side of the family. Yes, my children think that having 3-4 Christmas's is what everybody does.
Oh, and did I mention that I have a week off from work?! LOVE IT!
With that, I wish you all a wonderful holiday season!

Busy Weekend

We had a wonderful, busy weekend:

1. I got to see the new baby Bree and

2. the almost new baby Lucy with whom I share a birthday with.

3. The Auxiliary at work put on a children's holiday party on Saturday. We took the kids and they had a great time. They made reindeer food, a snowman necklace, got tattoos and Colton transformed himself into Rudolph:

Brett wasn't into the crafts as he preferred the sugar cookies and a quick visit to see The Grinch and CindyLou Who: (Colton wouldn't go anywhere near the green guy - can't say I blame him - he does look quite creepy)

4. Sunday was Colton's Sunday School Christmas program. He did a fabulous job signing. He just looks so handsome if I do say so myself

Christmas Letter Part 2

For those that have been patiently waiting by your mailbox to receive the highly anticipated Christmas letter from us (ok, so I know none of you are doing this, but it was a nice intro to my story) - it's not gonna happen. I made the executive decision on Monday night. No Christmas letter from us this year. I'm not even half way done with my Christmas shopping, didn't have my letter written, didn't have paper to print it on, my to do list isn't getting any shorter, so I just decided that somethings gotta give and the letter is it. Whew. I feel so much better.

My Sweet Boys

Last night I received an early Christmas present from my boys. A one hour full body massage! Let me just tell you that it was FABULOUS! Once I got over the awkwardness of somebody I didn't know rubbing my limbs (and the fact that I hadn't shaved my legs that morning), I did just fine. He worked out some knots in my back from lugging around a 24 pound child and when it was all said and done, I walked out of there with a smile on my face and another appointment!
If you live around me and want location info, shoot me an email. I highly recommend him.

White Elephant

For the past 6 years, a group of us, most from SCSU, have been getting together for Christmas and have done White Elephant gifts. After we stuff ourselves with delicious food and wine and conversation, the gift tradition begins. The dice come out, the gifts are grabbed and then we laugh till our stomachs hurt at what we came up with. There are a few gifts that have been passed around for about 4 years and you always hope you don't end up with those. Sorry Jayme that you ended up with the fiber optic bunny, but it does make a lovely Easter decoration! Here's Amanda with her new reading material.....
And Kristen with her new game. How convenient that she just so happened to leave it at my house. Don't worry, I'll bring it to you.

Cookies

Typically, I get together with my sister-in-law and mother-in-law every year and make a bunch of Christmas cookies. Our schedules didn't match up this year so we just did our own and then we'll share. Anyhow, one of the many kinds I made were sugar cookies per Colton's request. So, on Friday evening, we spent an hour frosting and decorating. I was the froster and he handled all the decorations. He took his job very seriously making comments along the way such as "a dash of this, a nab of that...." Absolutely hilarious.

The Christmas Letter

I've started to panic. Christmas photos have already started arriving in my mailbox! By December 1, I usually have my family photo (that was cropped and displayed in one of those pre-designed photo cards from one of the many online stores) addressed and waiting for me to go and buy stamps at the post office. This year, well this year it's been different. I had my neighbor come over today to snap a few poses of us in front of our decorated by a 5 year old tree. I think we got one where all four of us have our eyes open and looking towards the same direction! ;)
But my question to all of you out there.....do you write a Christmas letter to go with your photos? I started this tradition about 5 years ago after Colton was born. I try to avoid the whole brag letter, but sometimes that's harder than you think.
I love love love when I get letters from others (hint hint). I started the 2007 letter, but am stuck. I can't really even remember what happened this year. I think it's time to bring in my husband's creativity. I'd love to something a little more creative than just a paragraph of what each of us have done over the year, so any of you with fabulous ideas; do share. Please. Seriously, I need some help.

Ahhhh.....the annual family photo.

Recap

A week off....it was wonderful! I feel like I got a lot accomplished. I did a little shopping, I picked out our new entryway flooring (that my now handy husband did before Thanksgiving), I visited a college girlfriend, I hosted Thanksgiving, I went bowling, I was able to shampoo my stairs and I made a batch of Christmas cookies!

Here's the entryway - the white stuff is the before: Here;s the finished product - the picture is a little dark, but you get the idea.
Thanksgiving dinner:
It went well. We ended up with 12 people and tons of delicious food. Mike's parents, my dad and step-mom, the 4 of us, Bruce, Susan and Maison (our neighbors) and Bruce's dad. Our neighbors were on their way to Michigan Wednesday afternoon. They made it about 2 1/2 hours into their trip when the hit black ice and rolled their Trailblazer four times into oncoming traffic. Luckily there was some helpful travelers on the road with them. They think about 5 people helped the 3 of them get out as the car started on fire. Even more luckily, they all had their seat belts on and nobody ended up in the hospital! Lots of stiffness and bruises though. On Saturday we headed down to Steph's house where my mom and step-dad were for a fish fry and family Christmas pictures!
Hopefully you all had a great Thanksgiving and that your pants fit as tight as mine now!

The Saga Continues

We've been dealing with Brett's cold for about 2 months now. What started out as a 15 month well-child visit turned into a double ear infection which turned into a follow up visit that turned into one ear infection that turned into a continued ear infection as of this morning!! Ugh. Poor kid. We've got a third kind of medicine for a 10 day period. I really hope this one works. If not, we're off to an ENT for possible tubes. Oh and on top of it, he's got some bronchial thing going on so we're back to the neb like last year. Bummer. We're lucky that he's still in good spirits - other than the coughing, you'd never know he had anything wrong.
Oh - and day one of my five days off was wonderful (other than the doctor visit)!

BEFORE: DURING:
AFTER:
We took Brett up to get his first haircut on Thursday evening. It was a challenging start, but we worked through it! Colton came over to Brett's chair after he got his hair cut, he looked at Brett then looked at me and said, "Mom, he looks so handsome!" Indeed he does.

Proud Parent

Disclaimer: This post will be filled with me bragging about my child......

Tonight was my first experience at Parent/Teacher conferences. Mike had already met Colton's teacher during orientation, however this was my first encounter. I really wasn't nervous. It was more of a surreal feeling....I couldn't believe that I was attending a meeting with my child's teacher.
So, we walk in and there was she was - the teacher who Colton thinks is pretty cool. She is just the cute, young stereo-typical kindergarten teacher. I could probably fit her in my pocket. She was just adorable. Okay, back to the bragging part. She raved about Colton (now keep in mind this is my perception and the adjectives may be a little exaggerated, but you get the picture). She said he is very mature and seems older than he really is.
They do these tests throughout the year to measure their growth. Come to find out, his reading skills are above average, she had to cut him off at 30 during counting as she had other kids to 'test.' He can look at a picture, sound it out and tell you what letter it starts with. She also said that he is very popular in class and all the kids really like him. Not that being popular is important, but it is better than being picked on right? She ended our meeting by saying, that we have nothing to worry about and that he is doing just great.
Mike and I walked out of the room with big smiles on our faces, high-fived each other and said, now, if we could only get him to listen to us!

On-line Shopping

I came across this site the other day when I was doing a little research on what to get people for Christmas. For those of you that shop on-line check it out. Who knows, this could be the oldest trick in the book and I'm now entering the 21st century.
Oh, and don't let the name throw you off....it's not X rated.



http://www.naughtycodes.com/

Picture Time

Every year around this time, I like to get a family photo taken. I know my kids pretty well and know that they can't survive a photo session where we do family, individual and then the two boys together. That's pushing it to say the least. Therefore, I brought Brett in to have his solo pictures done today. As they were showing me the shots, I saw it more clearly than I ever have. Brett needs a haircut. He has a baby comb-over look going on. There are some really long strands and then there are some short strands. It looks hilarious!! Colton and I were just giggling. So, before our family pictures on Saturday, hopefully I'll be posting some baby's first haircut pictures.

Dealing with Difficult People

I'm sneaking in an early post. Mike is gone hunting, Colton stayed at Uncle E's last night and Brett is down for a morning nap.

I was at an Employment Law seminar all day on Friday (by choice believe it or not). There is a law firm that puts this on every year and it's fabulous. Anyhow, they brought in a guest speaker, Dr. Michael Johnson, to talk about dealing with difficult people. He was absolutely hilarious. I could have listened to him for hours, but unfortunately, he only had forty-five minutes. This was focused more towards HR professionals, but like he said, the family holidays are coming up and this could be used in the same way. ;)

There are six 'types' of difficult people with characteristics that could cross types. I've listed them below with some of their characteristics and the best ways to deal with these types of people. Dr. Johnson said, "keep in mind, these types of people act on the facts of the moment, what they perceive is happening."
1. The Hostile Aggressive

• Sherman Tanks - these are the bulldozers; they come at you strong and in full force. Do not take them on in front of a group - that's what they love. Be assertive, but polite. They are interrupters - be sure to call them on it when the do it. Don't argue with them about who is right. Never tell them that you understand why they are unhappy - instead tell them you respect that they are unhappy about the situation......
• Snipers - these are the people that take pot shots at you behind your back. They feel in control when they are undercutting others. When they make their rude remarks, as them, "(insert name here), do you really mean what you said?" Chances are they will back pedal or say, can't you take a joke? Smoke them out - don't let social conversations stop you from dealing with the problem at hand.
• Exploders - these people throw adult temper tantrums. They launch fearsome attacks filled with rage that appear out of control. They make you feel both threatened and bewildered at the abrupt and horrifying change in their behavior. Maintain eye contact with them. Attempt to isolate them from others. Give them time to 'run down' and regain their composure. Don't argue or fight back.

2. The Complainer - pretty self explanatory. They manage to find fault with everything and don't see themselves as whiners, but as powerless, prescriptive and perfect. They see themselves as warning others about things, situations or other people that need fixing. As them specific, information seeking questions and what their plan is to solve the problems.

3. The Clam - They are silent and unresponsive who won't or can't interact. Maintain positive eye contact. Don't fill in their silence with your conversation. Ask them a question, smile and wait for a response.

4. The Negativist - Again, pretty self explanatory.They are very infectious. They want everybody to be as miserable as they are. Don't let them bring you down. Keep your sense of humor, your confidence and your perspective. Don't take their behavior personally - it's not directed specifically at you.

5. Know-it-all Experts - They want you to recognize that he/she knows everything there is to know about anything worth knowing. They can be condescending and see the ideas of others are irrelevant. Don't confront them - twist things around and tell them that you appreciate their advice however, you would like their help with x approach.

6. The Indecisive Staller - They consider themselves very helpful. They don't want to cause conflict. Refuses to let go of anything until it's perfect - which means never. Be sure to listen attentively and help them surface their reasons for stalling.

So all in all, remember that:

1. Difficult people act on facts of the moment, what they perceive is happening.

2. They are driven by an abnormal need to control the behavior of others.

3. They feel righteous anger toward those who do not act as they 'should'. The 'should' being how they (the difficult person) thinks others should act.

4. They value confidence and problem solving.

Good luck.

It's a boy thing

My second child is a boy of few words. Very few words to be exact. However, he can make "car sounds" with the best of them. I wonder if that's a boy thing?

The Hair Picture

Ok, here it is. I like being in front of the camera just as much as I like cliff diving (see previous post about being afraid of heights). Colton snapped a couple of pictures of Brett and I tonight and this is what we ended up with.....

101 Things.....

I saw this on Jenny's site and thought it would be fun. If you don't want to know this much about me, go ahead and close your browser. I totally understand.

1. I was born in MN
2. I am a mom to two boys
3. I am addicted to diet soda
4. I don't drink coffee
5. My high school graduating class had a total of 37 students
6. I couldn't even tell you how many hundreds of people I graduated college with
7. I've been married for 5 years
8. I've walked 60 miles in 3 days to raise awareness to breast cancer
9. I love the summer
10. I have discovered some gray hair on my head
11. I am not allergic to anything
12. I love shoes
13. I may have tried every diet that has ever existed
14. I love the smell of my children after they have a bath
15. I prefer white wine over red
16. I can't stand mashed potatoes
17. I don't know what my natural hair color is
18. I went to the second edition of Woodstock in NY
19. I love all my boys - my husband and my kids
20. I work full time
21. I like to scrapbook
22. I don't care for politics
23. I didn't realize how hard it would be to come up with 101 things
24. I like to play my son's Mario Bros game boy game
25. I avoid having to play playdoh
26. I have the best intentions of going to church on a regular basis
27. I have one brother, 2 step brothers and 3 step sisters
28. I have been told that I'm easy-going
29. I wished I liked to clean more
30. I know how to drive a stick shift
31. I am afraid of heights
32. I would eat ice cream every day for all 3 meals if I could
33. I prefer white Christmas lights over any other color
34. At my house, Santa doesn't wrap his gifts, but he does assemble
35. 2007 will be my first time hosting Thanksgiving dinner
36. Maui is my favorite vacation spot
37. I am right handed
38. I love to watch Desperate Housewives
39. I love my Beezatch get togethers
40. I do not have any pets and am very okay with that
41. I've gotten a flu shot every year for the past 5 years
42. I don't take a daily vitamin
43. I like to be barefoot
44. I don't know how to do my hair
45. I don't really like to watch movies
46. I love to go out to eat
47. I really like Mexican food
48. I've toilet-papered houses before
49. I worked at the school store in high school
50. My first car was a Chevette
51. I have delivered two babies - one with drugs and one without. There are pros and cons to each way
52. I think Valentine's Day is overrated
53. I have a pet peeve of slow drives in cruising in the left hand lane
54. I don't like to grocery shop
55. I love the smell of fresh cut grass
56. I have a best friend who has the same name as me
57. I played basketball and volleyball in high school and was a football cheerleader
58. I can still remember some of the cheers
59. I like my job
60. I haven't gotten a speeding ticket since I was 18
61. I would like to live on a lake one day
62. I get annoyed with people that don't set down their blackberry
63. I like to dance with my kids
64. I think sleeping babies are one of life's most precious sight
65. I wish all people would be nice
66. I never received a minor consumption ticket
67. I'm a freak about making sure my checkbook balances
68. I'm a list maker
69. I love to plan parties
70. I got married in the fall
71. I do not have a green thumb
72. I dislike going to the dentist
73. I wish I had a fourth bedroom in my house
74. I have swam in Lake Superior
75. I have been to Mexico and Canada
76. I have been a patient in an ambulance
77. I was a waitress all through college - great gig!
78. I think Dog the Bounty Hunter is a freak
79. I wish I had more time to read
80. I love the sound of rain on the windows
81. I will be attending my 10 year class reunion in December
82. I love love love email
83. I wear a size 6 1/2 shoe
84. I can barely stand to be in a car for more than 2 hours
85. I listen to girl talk radio on the way home from work
86. I want to get my teeth whitened
87. I can remember a lot of what I did in Kindergarten
88. I am going to my first parent/teacher conferences next week
89. My kid thinks I am a good singer (I have to get his ears checked)
90. I have never been a nail biter
91. I wish I had better posture
92. I am addicted to the blog world
93. I have a husband who handles most of the dishes duties
94. My kid loves to dust and vacuum (hmmm it must skip a generation)
95. I love flannel sheets
96. I usually drive over the speed limit
97. I don't like conflict
98. I love taking pictures
99. I consider myself well organized
100. I love to go to happy hour with my work crew - too bad it rarely happens
101. I'm extremely happy that I'm done trying to think of things about myself!

Best Intentions

Okay, okay....I forgot to take a picture of my new hair color. I have a perfect explanation as to why. Picture it - all 4 of us are down in the family room playing football. Next thing I see; Brett crawling over to his blanket, grabbing it and heading for the stairs as if he was trying to tell us he'd had enough and now it's time for bed. So, I bring him up and come back downstairs. The remaining family members snuggled up on the couch to catch a little SpongeBob. Well, Mike and I fell asleep - woke up when my brother called around 7:30 - talked to him for a bit and then fell back asleep. Woke up when Colton was ready for bed at 8:00. Mike brought him up - we both fell back to sleep and woke up when the 10:00 news came on. Yikes. Nothing like a 2 1/2 hour nap before bed. Oops.

The Verdict

I had my hair appointment last night. Oh, I just love getting my hair done. I've been going to Ashley now for almost a year. I've never been one to find a stylist and stick with them...I usually go wherever they can get me in on my schedule. Anyhow, Ashley is great. She's young, doesn't talk too much and does a GREAT scalp massage while she's washing your hair.
I chatted with her about my poll on my blog and asked what her recommendation was. Oh, by the way, she knows all about my lack of skill when it comes to hairstyles, colors, cuts, etc. and she still takes my appointments....gotta love that. Maybe it's just the amount of money I pay her. Oh well. Whatever. Back to last night. She informed me that I still have a lot of blond in my ends and that "we should just do a partial highlight pulling through the darker color and a little of the red that we have underneath your top layers." Wow. OK, you're the expert - sounds good to me. I think it looks darker than it did before I walked into the salon, but there's more red in it which is kind of fun. I wasn't going to get my hair cut as I'm trying to grow it out, but she said that we really needed to get rid of about 1 1/2 inches to freshen it up. She also put in rounded layers so that when I leave my hair down (opposed to the only other style I know - the ponytail) it will lay nicer. Oh, she's good.
I'll have to post a picture soon.

That time again

It's that time of year again. While my hubby is playing his role as hunter and gathering sitting hours upon hours in a tree stand waiting for that trophy buck, I get an itch to do some home improvement projects. Last year I painted the entire family room. For those of you that have seen this room, it's no small feat. To boot, I had a 4 year old and a 4 month old that required some attention as well. This year I decided I shouldn't be so ambitious.

I opted for updating our hardware in the kitchen and painting the downstairs bathroom. I'm a little embarrassed that I waited over 5 years to change the hardware.....all I have to say is that there must have been some sort of discount on these 1980's gold brushed things when the previous owners built. They are EVERYWHERE in my house - the kitchen, the hallway, the upstairs bathroom and the laundry room. Ugh. I chose to just update the kitchen and the hallway to start with. That alone was 29 knobs! See the update:

I tried to take before and after pictures of the bathroom, but they didn't really turn out. ....guess you'll just have to stop over to see for yourself.

Good News For Me.....

I never talk about work on this blog, but this is innocent enough.......
We got "official" word from our President that managers and exempt staff that don't provide patient care need to take the week of Thanksgiving and the week of Christmas off (or some variation to be off for 5 days in a pay-period)! Sweeeeeeeet!
Oh, I can't stop thinking of all the things I can get accomplished over Thanksgiving.....cleaning my house, organizing the kids bedrooms, Christmas shopping. Oh, and I don't feel guilty about sending my kids to daycare while I stay home. Just think of what a happy mom they'll come home to!

Happy Halloween!

We went with our neighbors to the Halloween party at the elementry school. Kind of a let down, but the kids still had fun playing a few games and winning some tootsie rolls and pixie sticks. Seriously, we had to pay $5 for him to walk around and play maybe 8 games in a total of 20 minutes and none of the treats were chocolate! Anyhow, here's the kids in their costumes. Brett was not interested in the least about getting his picture taken, hence Mike holding him up like a doll for show!

Recipe

I'm always on the lookout for a good dinner recipe. My ideal recipe has 6 or less ingredients and can be made using minimal utensils and pots/pans. Oh, and if it can be ready by the time I get home from work, even better.
I'm a huge fan of the crock pot - especially during the fall and winter.
Here's what I made for dinner tonight and it was a big hit with all 3 of my boys.

Crock Pot Ham and Potatoes
1 ham - I used the big 'loaf' type ham that was pre-cooked
8-10 med sized potatoes peeled and sliced
salt and pepper
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
3 cans cream of celery or mushroom soup
Paprika

Cut ham in servings size portions. Put half of the sliced ham and potatoes in crock pot. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, then grated cheese. Repeat with remaining half of ingredients. Sprinkle with Paprika. Cover and cook on low 8-10 hours or on high for 4 hours.


Colton took a bite and his first words were, "Mom can we have this again tomorrow? This is so good." For those of you that know Colton, the only dinner foods he will eat without causing a stink are pizza and steak.

So there's my good dead for the day - sharing a dinner with 6 ingredients and it's ready for you when you get home from work. Does life get much better?!

The Party

Every year for the past 5 years, Mike's co-worker and her husband have thrown a huge Halloween bash at their house. Well, this year we attended and we had a great time. People go all out for their costumes, they have games and contests all night long, and the decorations were amazing!

According to the hostess, Mike was one vote away from winning the male costume contest......

Needless to say, when anybody spun my hat, the yellow circles were off limits! ;)

Redemption

We took Mike's parents out for dinner last night. Mike's dad taught Mike how to fix some big house "issues" and helped him winterize our boat. Plus they are watching our kids (and my niece and nephew) on Saturday while all of us go gallivanting to our Halloween parties.
Anyhow, this time we went prepared. My purse was loaded with a full sippy cup, cookies, a nuk, you name it, I had it. We also selected a more family-type restaurant to ease our nerves. Brett was hysterical for the full hour and a half we were there. There was music bumpin, he was jammin, and he ate from the time he sat down to the time we left. Cookies, popcorn, breadsticks, 1/2 a full size cheeseburger, beans, corn.......the list goes on. He was just laughing and having a good ol' time. Heavenly.
Oh, and Colton ate his whole kids pizza as Grandpa bribed him with a dollar to go play the shooting game if he ate all his food. I must mention that he's got a good shot. One moose and seven turkeys. He was jazzed!
A pleasent evening out. Halleluja!

That Family......

Last night we were that family. We attempted to go somewhere half-way decent for dinner as we had a little reason to celebrate. As a promise to myself, I don't talk about work on here, but the celebration had to do with work and we'll just leave it at that.
Anyhow, I met Mike and the boys after work. Brett was in a great mood to start. Then he took a turn. A sharp turn. One might call it a nose dive in the wrong direction. He wanted nothing to do with sitting in a high chair. Nothing to do with his sippy cup. Nothing to do with the crayons.
We tried to entertain him....anything we gave him, he chucked across the room. He didn't just drop it on the floor, it was an all out throw. Thankfully they had a pumpkin on a hay bale and some lights and some gourds by us. That kept him busy for all of 3 minutes.
Luckily our lovely waitress put a rush on the boys' food. Then, not so luckily for us, Brett had about 6 bites and was ready to move on. Loud squeels, thrown food, embarrassed parents. Ugh.
Mike and I ate in record time while Colton waited paitenly after telling us he was full after one chicken strip. We apologized to our waitress, left a good tip and commented that we were those parents doing what we said we'd never do.
I have a feeling life will be full of these types of moments.....us being parents doing what we said we'd never do when we have kids.

PS - for any of you readers that dined at Maynards last night.....I'm sorry.

Lil' Pumpkins

I just had to share a couple of cute pictures of my little guys.

Yes, It's Lady's Night!

The beezatches.....front row: Jaci and Marilyn back row left to right: Leah, Leah, Lynn and JillAhhhh, girls night. I really look forward to these being that I'm surrounded by boys at my house. We always have way too much yummy food and not enough wine. ;)
My belly always hurts the next day from laughing so hard. These girls are hilarious!

• Thank you to Leah (not me) for hosting this last one! Your lasagna was a hit!
• Jill, my sliver of garlic bread was to die for!
• Jaci, thank you for reliving the dance move of the night at Marilyn and Neil's wedding - hope you didn't pull a muscle.
• Lynn - I can't wait to see your new hair cut...be sure to blog about it!
• Marilyn - Thank you for letting us feel your belly. I still think it's a girl!

If you want to see the other versions of the night, check out Jill's, Jaci's or Marilyn's blog.

Doctor Visit

Today was Brett's 15 month well child care visit.
Over the past 3 months he's gained 3 lbs and is now at a whoppin' 23lbs. (25th percentile)
He's grown 1 1/2 inches and is a striking 31 1/2 inches (55th percentile)
And his head circumference is almost off the charts 19 1/2 inches (96th percentile)

Oh, and he's got a double ear infection to boot. Dang.

Public Service Announcement

This is for any of you that may happen to drive the same detour that I do on a daily basis as of Oct 1.
Apparently, Lawndale road is 40 mph...the WHOLE way. At least that is what the lovely police officer informed me of today.
It was 6:43am.....I was driving on a road that I've only taken once before when a car was coming towards me in the other lane. The red and blue lights flashed on, the car turned around and I looked down at my speedometer and remember something to the effect of 55 mph. I immediately pulled over and shut the car off knowing that those lights were for me.
Mr. Office ever so politely asked me if I knew what the speed limit was. I politely responded back, actually, I'm sorry I do not. I've never been on this road before (white lie) and now with the detour......blah blah blah. I'm guessing it's 50mph?
Nope. Not so much. The conversation continued for a few more seconds, he asked about my history...no speeding ticket or other violations since I was 18.....he goes back to the car runs my license and comes back without a ticket.
Needless to say. I followed the speed limit all the way to work and on the way home this afternoon.
Thank you Mr. Police Officer.

The Photo Shoot

We took a trip up the Northshore this weekend. It pretty much rained the entire time. I was hoping to get some nice fall pictures of the boys. Not so much. Here's how the "photo session" unfolded.......
Me: Colton, can you please change your shirt and put your vest on so I can take some pictures of you and your brother outside?
Colton: Mom, I DON"T like that vest.
Me: Please?!
Colton: No.
Me: I'm not asking you. Put it on. You'll never have to wear it again. Ever.
Colton: Fine.
Me: Colton, you can't just button the top button and leave the rest unzipped. It looks a little goofy. (Now as I'm attempting to zip it up, the fabric gets stuck in the zipper and I can't get it fixed.)
Colton: Good. (At this time Grandma is trying to keep Brett entertained and trying to get Colton's mind off the vest that he hates oh so much.....Grandma points out a worm on the ground. Colton picks it up and it poops on him - do worms really poop? - anyway - Colton gets all bent out of shape because we are laughing at him. He goes into pout mode and we continue the "photo session" with Brett.)

Here's some proof of Mister Poutypants.....
After a while, Colton came around as did the rain. However, Brett had had enough pictures, so here's the only one with the two of them that turned out half way decent.......

Test Drive

Here we are....out for a test drive in our new boat. We had a beautiful Sunday afternoon....lots of sun and minimal wind. Everything worked great which is always a plus! The boys (all 3 of them) enjoyed themselves. Colton kept wanting to go faster. We had to explain that a 25 horse motor doesn't go as fast as grandpa's boat! Brett just wanted to eat and help steer. Mike had a smile from ear to ear the entire time and I was just happy to be spending a gorgeous day with my boys.