Christmas Party

For daycare we had a party with Santa. The kids enjoyed it so much. They all even sat on his lap...not all of them thrilled but most of them were. Avery had been shy with him before when we saw him at the mall (creepy one) and at C&S with the live reindeer (bad costume) but was pretty comfortable when he came here!

Santa told a very inappropriate breastfeeding story and said that it was his most embarassing moment. I think all the adults were flabbergasted but the kids didn't seem to even notice!

This weekend Avery wanted to call Santa because his new Twins hat didn't fit. We told him to call but he said he didn't know his number. It was so cute.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

So I have been really bad lately at keeping up with this blog...I have been so busy it seems and I forget by the time I sit down at the computer. So here is an update on things around here (I have so many stories I can't think of them all right now).

Blake continues to do well with hockey. They had their 2nd game of the season. They don't keep score so it is basically just for fun. He is doing better listening this week than last week but it seems that he isn't the only one with a short attention span. He loves every minute of it though so that is what is important. They have been asking to go to the outdoor rink every day!

Avery started skating lessons yesterday. He got to skate on Christmas Eve with the whole family so he got a little practice in then. He did better outside than in but I think the ice wasn't so slippery outside.

As for Mike and I we have been off work. He has 2 weeks off and I have 12 days off so it could be tense around our house by the 5th when we go back to work! So far we are still working on putting our house back in order. I will be taking down everything Christmas today. We just really need some order back!

I will post some pictures in a little while.

Cute Blake Story

I was watching TV with Blake yesterday and there was a commercial for some weight loss pill. Blake says to me 'mom, that stuff is for losing weight' and I told him that yes they were. Then he says 'but you don't need them'. I asked him why he said that and he told me 'because you don't need to lose weight'. That sure made my day! Never even stopped to think that he thought about that stuff. Kids are so cute!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving. We did have a good one and we have so much to be thankful for. We have two healthy kids and a great home and family.

I went shopping on Friday and it was a whole lot of crazy. I wasn't a witness to any of the fights but rumor was that someone got a broken nose at Walmart. Probably over some dumb toy or TV!

Now we are into the Christmas season. Our tree is up and there are presents wrapped under the tree. The boys enjoy being the tape boys and giving me pieces as I wrap. It is helpful for the most part but sometimes they just get a little too crazy. They are awfully crazy anyway since all the excitement of Christmas is here!

Well, I better get them to bed! They are wild and need to settle down.

GREAT NEWS!

We got fabulous news today at the cardiologist appointment! Avery doesn't need to go back to see him for a YEAR! He said all his function looks good and it appears that the hole has closed in the patch. Dr Burton said he couldn't find a hole on the echo! He also said that he doesn't think that we will need to have surgery for another 3-4 years. He won't need another heart cath either for a while. He is going back next November! YEAH!

November

Well, we are already half way through November and again I haven't posted in a while. We seem to have so much going on that I never get to it. I started taking a cake decorating class to get some more skills for decorating our cookies. So far it is going well. It is a nice little break and fun to learn something new. I need to get working on our Christmas cookies for an open house we are having.

Mike has been able to get a little hunting in...a lot in my mind but I am sure not in his! He is getting out pretty much every weekend. He is out by himself today. Blake is still enjoying his hockey time. He has been begging us to get him breezers for hockey so I guess Christmas will be good to him. He is improving every week when he skates and it is fun to watch. Next Saturday is their first game day so he is excited! Avery has been getting pumped up for his 3rd birthday. He is so excited for his birthday be we have all been at a loss as to what to buy him! He has come up with a couple ideas for us so that helps.

Here are some of our recent pictures. The one of the two in the old time clothes was taken for a fundraiser. Grandma Sue got them done. They are so cute!

Avery posing so cute

Blake's version of Stomper

Old Time Baseball Players

Welcome November

We made it through another October and Halloween. Blake started hockey practice on the 25th. His first practice he decided to fight with the biggest kid on the ice...and I mean the biggest. I missed that practice but Mike pointed out the kid on Saturday...holy cow! We had to explain to him that he an' tfiHe is having so much fun. He is really excited for his upcoming game days. We had to give him a calendar to keep track of his hockey practices and highlighted the game days in green so he knows when they are coming up. It should be really cute to watch them play!

Blake with our jack-o-lanterns

Halloween was fun for the kids. They are both old enough now to understand what Halloween is all about so they were very excited for it. Avery was an apple tree for Halloween. He decided quite a while ago that was what he wanted to be. It worked out pretty well and was easier. Blake was a hockey player (big surprise there).

Blake the Hockey Player & Avery the Apple Tree

Blake & Avery with Great Grandma Mary Como

Now here we are in November and we started it out with a bang! I took the kids on a walk last night right at the end of the day before the daycare kids left. It was supposed to be short walk just to get a little exercise. Well Avery somehow fell off his bike 3 times and the 3rd time he fell he hit his face on the curb and was bleeding all over! I thought he severed the cord on his top lip but it doesn't really look severed today...we shall see. It is still really swollen. I am very thankful that our friend Joe Grabianowski drove by in his city truck and turned around to see if we needed help. He ended up giving us a ride home. A kind daycare provider came out with kleenex and wipes as well. Thank you to both of them!

Avery with his latest injury!

Let's hope the rest of November is a little kinder to Avery. He does have a birthday coming up on the 28th so let's hope it is a good month. Hard to believe he will be 3!

Busy Month

Wow has this month been busy. Since Blake started skating we have been doing that every Saturday and next week he starts practicing. We went to the Scarecrow Festival at Emma Krumbee's in Belle Plaine and the kids had a blast. It is expensive for everyone to get in and then do any of the extras like ride the ponies or pick out a pumpkin but they enjoyed it. From there we went to pick out some pumpkins at a greenhouse down the road. I posted some pictures below:







The following weekend we had a birthday to celebrate...Blake turned 5! I can hardly believe that he is 5 years old already. Next year he will be going to kindergarten...what a change that will be for us (mostly me)! Friday of that weekend mommy got to go to a concert. It was very fun but also very late. It was a busy weekend to start out that way but it was fine. Saturday morning we had a 'friends' birthday party for Blake. He invited 4 friends and we went to the local craft store to decorate pumpkins. I think the kids really enjoyed it!

Pumpkins decorated by the kids

Then that afternoon we all had time to take a nap and get ready for the family birthday party. Blake got lots of clothes so he is decked out for fall. He only got a couple toys which was a relief for mom and dad as the house continues to be packed with toys. He did however get his one and only request for his birthday...a new John Deere bike! He was so excited. He is having some trouble getting on it by himself and starting but he LOVES it. That also gave Avery a chance to get a bigger bike. He gets to ride the original John Deere bike with the training wheels. Last night I took him for a walk and he did great. They are growing up so fast.

This past weekend was also a busy one. Blake got to go duck hunting in the boat for the first time ever. He was so excited. He wasn't feeling well all weekend but didn't want to miss his chance to go do that with his dad. He had a lot of fun and never asked to go home once according to dad. Then on Sunday mom had a wedding show to do for her dessert business. It was a long day but hopefully worth it in the end.

So that is our month in a nutshell so far and we still have Halloween to get to yet. Avery has decided to be an apple tree for Halloween and Blake a hockey player. Can't wait to see them out there in their costumes!

First Time on the Ice

Blake got out there on the ice this morning bright and early. He was a little slow at first but by the time the hour was up he was gaining speed. He really enjoys skating and being out there with the other kids. I am glad he isn't afraid. His first practice is on October 25th. I will be interested to see how it goes with drills and skating with sticks and a puck..although that will probably be more like practice #2 or 3.

I also took the boys to the scarecrow festival at Emma Krumbee's in Belle Plaine along with Grandma Sue. They liked looking at all the scarecrows but really enjoyed the train ride and pony rides. Then we drove down the road a ways to the apple stand. They had lots of different apples to try and buy. I never knew there were so many different kinds of apples. All taste a little different too. The boys enjoyed it. On the way home we stopped and bought pumpkins. It was a fun-filled day that wore them out. And me for that matter!

Tomorrow we are going to try and head down to visit our friend Amy who is now out of ICU but still in Rochester St Mary's Hospital. Things sound like they are getting better but she will continue to be there. We are dropping the boys off at Grandpa Bruce's house to play for the afternoon. Should be fun for them!

I will post some pictures soon from the trip to Emma Krumbee's today!

Growing Up too Fast!

Lately it seems that every time we turn around our boys are hitting a new milestone. Blake learned how to tie his shoes over the weekend. He has needed new shoes for a while but it was hard to find his size without laces. So we took him shopping with us and told him that if he could try really hard to learn how to tie he could get the shoes he liked. We expected it would take him a week or so to learn...NOPE, one night! They are just so smart and quick with things! We are very proud of him for learning so fast.

Also, our thoughts continue to be with our friend Amy Reid and her family as she pushes through to recover after a terrible fall down a flight of stairs. She is currently in a coma in Rochester - St Mary's Hospital. We are praying for her to make a full recovery in a short time because she has two little ones of her own that need her...Kenna, 10 & Luke 7.

It seems that our life is constantly touched by tragedy and illness. It shows a person how precious family and friends really are. So here is a big hug to all of you that we love to say how much we care! We don't say it enough.

Kiss your loved ones and your babies!

Misty

Our lives are about to change!

We just signed Blake up for hockey last night. Our lives are about to be changed forever! There will be no more winter weekends of just sitting around the house...we will be constantly busy with practice and games. I am excited about it but nervous too. He is my little boy and I don't want him to be injured but I am sure he will be just fine. He is so excited. He will start in the "Learn To Skate" program to refresh his skills in October and the practice starts November 1st. I have lots to learn about this sport and thank goodness they are giving some classes for parents on what to expect. I know the cost is going to continually be an issue but we will just have to save (or get second jobs)!

Here are some recent pictures of the boys.

These are from Labor Day weekend. My brother decided to stop by and give the boys a ride on his horse and a friends. They rode around the neighborhood...I am sure they got some funny looks. He had a 'saddle' that straps on behind the saddle so it is easier for kids to ride along. Avery was entertained with it on the ground! Then when they were getting ready to leave Avery decided that he had to go potty...in the middle of the church lawn! '

We also went to Westwood that weekend to celebrate Mike & Jamie's birthdays. We had to get some pictures while we were at the lake. Avery is the ham wanting in EVERY picture...until you want him in it! I painted our kitchen too...it is burnt orange and looks awesome! I will post pictures when I take a couple.

Happy Birthday Mike!

Well, today is Mike's 36th birthday. Hopefully he is having a good day. He told me this morning that his company might be making 12 hour days mandatory for a while because they have to much work to do...what a GREAT birthday present!

Just an update on us:

Avery - has had another heart cath and things are looking good right now. He isn't going to need surgery this year but he did have some stents put into his pulmonary arteries in order to get them to grow and relieve some pressure in his heart. He has grown an inch and three quarters since March and continues to be as active as any 2 1/2 year old. Not much keeps him down.

Avery Mini Golfing

Avery ready to go into his heart cath

Dr Burton examining Avery after his heart cath


Avery & Mommy ready to go home

Blake - is doing great riding his bike and is looking forward to his birthday in another 6 weeks or so. He already has his Christmas list going. He is ready to do some hunting with his daddy this year hopefully. Both boys got to go scouting in the boat yesterday and they loved it.

Blake Mini-golfing

Blake singing in the shower

Fun with our friends (Braeden & Emma)

Mike- is looking forward to doing lots of uninterrupted hunting this year. He hasn't had a fall without surgeries or babies being born for 3 years so hopefully this year is the year.

Misty- is still doing daycare and continues to work on the desserts too. I just finished one wedding and have two more coming up at the end of September. It is busy but fun!

Mike & I at my 10 year class reunion

Happy July

Wow I am bad at updating this again! We have had quite a month in June. We took our first camping trip of the year and Avery had his first ER visit that wasn't heart related. He took a digger off the landscaping by our house when he tipped over the big wheel. He ended up with 2 staples in his head. He was a tough little bugger too. He cried when he got the staples in but mostly because he was scared. Then going to get the taken out was scary and he got the big pouty lip and started to cry but once the dr got in and took them out he didn't cry a bit.

Blake is riding his bike all on his own - take off too. He is doing so well. We have promised him a new bike so we will have to work on that! They have been having fun taking swimming lessons from a friend of mine's sister. She does private lessons and they are so excited for them every week. They will be sad when they are done.

Well, here's to hoping that I can get better about updates and that everyone has a great 4th of July. I for one am looking forward to the long weekend!

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

After attending the Moondogs first game of the season the boys learned to sing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame". It is so cute...especially Avery. Here are videos of them both.

Until Next time...

BIG NEWS!

Well, we have been pretty boring since all the puppies left so I haven't posted anything. I have some pictures to add later but, we have some awesome news....Blake has learned to ride his bike. We are still in practice mode but he has only tried it 3 times and had already gotten it figured out! We need a little bit more use of the brakes but otherwise he is getting the hang of it!

Sorry this one is crooked!

Avery has also started to master the art of pedaling the trike. They are both getting so big it is just amazing!

5 Weeks

So we are 5 weeks in and they are getting more playful than ever. They went through a phase over the weekend when they were so LOUD I could barely stand it. They have since tamed down. They are getting used to not having mom around anymore. We have gotten them outside a few times in the last week too. They are really quick and get away easy so we have a baby play yard that we put them in. Things are going really well with them. Mom developed an infection but seems to be coming around now. Poor thing...she is back outside in her doghouse where she has wanted to be for a while now I think!

We have sold 4 of them...so 5 left. All black males. We have had 3 phone calls tonight from interested parties so hopefully we get some more! Here are some more pictures...

Little piggies at the water trough

Proud Puppy Holder


What is this thing?

All tuckered out...

Look at those faces!

Now for some pictures of my boys. We had fun taking some picture when we actually had a nice day last week. They like to pose for pictures...hope they like it as much for an actual photographer. We have a photographer coming tomorrow to take pictures of them with the puppies and also a family picture outside. Pray for good weather!

These couple pictures were taken by Blake when I had turned my back. They actually were some good pictures. From a child's point of view...

4 Weeks Old

They are 4 weeks old now. They are getting to be so much fun. They are very playful and boy are they MESSY! They have started on solid foods as their mother decided to cut them off last week. It is really cute to see them all crowd around a bowl and try to get something to eat. Usually there is at least one that lays right in the middle of the bowl! Yesterday was their first venture outside. They weren't quite sure what to think but were very curious!

We now have 4 puppies spoken for. Only 5 more to go...If anyone knows someone who wants a black male send them our way.

Anyway, here are some new pictures of them. They are just so darn cute. Next week I have a photographer coming to take pictures of the kids with them and then do a family picture. Hope they turn out well!

Trying to escape

Little Pigs Eating...can you even see the bowl?

Playing is hard work...

Look at those faces...

"Puppies in a Basket"

Pictures as promised...

Okay, here are the pictures that I promised on Monday. It has been a bit of a hectic week so far! So much for the light day...

The puppies are getting smarter about escaping now. Yesterday Mike checked on them before work and 8 of them were out of their pool! Sneaky little things! They are getting more playful all the time and are so cute to watch as they grab each others ears. They are getting their teeth too...boy are they sharp. Poor mom won't want to nurse much longer! They are also starting to growl which is SOOOO cute.

Any way here are the pictures/video...also some of the kids at the wedding on Saturday!

Avery's & his dancing buddy

GRRRRRRRRR

All lined up.

I'm outta here...

Look at that face!