Taj the Hamster

This is Taj the hamster. He also is known as Erik and Goofy. The kids couldn't decide on a name so he has 3! He was a gift at Christmas and has made it to March! We love him. He doesn't bite but needs to work on pooping on people.

It's been a while

So, I have neglected my blogging due to my unorganized amount of photos. So, to keep people updated here are our latest events!

1. Ryan started 2nd grade. Yeah! However, the homework is absurd. Classroom reading assignments, spelling words, math homework, frequently used words to review and 20 minutes of reading. All of this-every night! Plus after school activities. He also got braces:(

2. Colin can finally poop of the toilet. He really struggles with somethings and just needs to take his own time to get there. Yeah! He is very proud and not sure why he waited so long to try this. Preschool is Tues/Thur. which is going well. He is practicing writing letter and enjoys school.

3. Natalie has got rid of the NUK!!!! 1 month before her birthday and she was ready. SHe has started dance and got her first figure skates. My kids are really growing up! They are now 3,4, and 7!

4. I am trying to purge stuff on ebay to clean house. GOing well, but time consuming. Josh stiff continues to play hockey. He is on a 5000 calorie "diet"! Don't I wish!

Here are pictures from Natalies little dance class and some first day of school stuff.

Up North in Crosslake, MN

This past weekend I took the kids to my grandparents cabin for 3 days. Josh had to work-he's quite buys there these days, so I decided to head up there since my parents would also be there. Dad flew my mom and their dog, Olive up to Brainard and were picked up by my grandparents. I drove the 4 hours up but it wasn't bad with the DVD player. It was an exhausting few days but worth it, I think:)

Highlights from trip:

-Nat fell off the dock

-Colin hit 3 cars in one stroke playing minigolf

-Ryan caught 4 sunnies, Colin got 1 northern

-We had ice cream cones with surprise jellybeans at the bottom

Ryan Update

With summer comes outdoor activites-right? Well, Ryan, having the luck he has, ended up falling off the pool later and breaking his wrist! Another July with a cast. Last year was his ankle. Luckily neither break was bad. He was only in a cast this time for 2 weeks. However, two days earlier, he got his full set of braces on! Can you imagine a 6 year old with braces?! He had a bad underbite that was compromising his permanent teeth so we really had no choice but to see the orthodontist. Thankfully the pain was only about 2 days and now he doesn't even notice them. (And he likes to pick the color rubberbands!) He choose red, green and blue this time. Now with summer school over and the cast off he can really enjoy the last month of summer vacation!

Beach Time!

This month I got the chance to bring the kids to the Lake Elmo Park Reserve and meet my friend Karen there with her 3 little boys. It was such a fun time! All the kids were so good and haveing so much fun. Even us mommies got to relax a bit! This is a man made lake only about 4 ft deep at the most, with lots of lifegaurds and big umbrellas.

The Farley's

Yeah! The Farley's came for a visit from North Carolina! It was so nice to see Jen, Joel, Tyler and Maddie. It was like they never left us.

Banana Split

With summer well underway, I asked Ryan what he wanted to accomplish this year. He said he'd like to get a banana split from the DQ. So, the next day after swimming lessons, we all went and got our favorite treats and brought our neighbor, Brooke. Ryan was so full he could not finish his banana split but he really enjoyed it. At least I could make this small dream come true!

Train Travel

I took the boys on a 16 hour train trip to visit our dear friends, the Linders, in MONTANA! What a destination spot you are probably thinking?! It was so relaxing and wonderful to see them. And, we got an extra day to spend with them because I made reservations to come home on the wrong day. Josh was a bit upset but it worked out in the end. He and Natalie got some quality time.

Mr. Hockey

Ryan has just completed his third year of hockey! We get so many compliments on what a good little skater he is but we don't let it go to his head. A good friend has an awesome camera and caught this shot of Ryan. I've got to get that camera. Maybe for Mother's Day??????

Bye Bye Mustang

So, Josh has finally realized that his mustang is not a practical car for a family of five. He has decided to sell it and buy a 4 door sedan. Either an Honda Accord or a Ford Fusion. We'll see with the way the economy is if he can actually sell it. It sure will be nice to just have 2 cars, like a normal family, to store. He is selling is old Honda Civic too. Yey!

Feed Me!

Well-Who knew I'd have too picky eaters??? Natalie is refusing to eat much these days. So, Colin offered to feed her! She really enjoyed it and ate up all her spagehetti!!! Now I have a new trick to use when she hasn't had a good meal for a while! This made mommy really happy to see her baby eating.

Sick

What a week! In just one week, we found out our little pug dog has stage 2 cancer, Colin had a MRSA infection in his ear, Ryan had influenza B and I had pnuemonia! Cleo had to have surgery just 3 days after having 4 teeth removed to have a mass cell tumor removed from her belly. The rest of us got medicine and after 7 days in bed Ryan and I are finally able to function. Josh has been so supportive and took 4 days off work to care for the kids and didn't complain once. So we are in the disinfecting stage of the house and Josh is back at work today (Friday). I really think this is the worst I have ever felt, even worse than mono as teen. I am really looking forward to maybe going to Target!

Colin's Preschool Program

Colin had a blast doing the Christmas program called "Happy Birthday Jesus" for his school. He is in the back with the tallest birthday hat. He sang, did the actions and had cookies after the program. Even Dad made it to watch this time.

Xmas 2007

Hi everyone-Christmas was such a success this year. No meltdowns, not even over what they had to wear! We had 4 days in a row of visiting others and they held on like troopers. The boys got bikes, remote control mustangs, and a zillion other things. Natalie's theme was "babies" and got her first American Girl babies. Santa again snacked on his traditional Oreos and Coke and even made an appearance one night during dinner.

Miss Natalie

I just realized I need to take more pictures of my daughter. She is just so hard to get to sit still! Natalie is seen here on her sit-n-spin and coloring with her brothers. Notice her tiny pigtails?

Colin says GOODBYE to his NUKS!

This was a huge deal! These pics are from the last night with his nuks. The next day he is turning 4 and is way to old to have these. As you can see, he loves them. He was so good. This went so smooth. Last time we tried he cried for an entire month and didn't nap or go to bed before 11 p.m. Now he takes naps still and goes to bed on time! What a blessing! (yes, he can make the nuks stick to his cheeks with no glue, what a talent!)

Halloween

Yeah! Halloween was a blast! Nat and Ryan were Skeletons and Colin was Superman. (He was too scarded of the skeleton costumes.) Grandma Sue came to hand out candy to the 100+ trick or treaters so Josh and I could accompany the kids.


The boys dumped out their candy and started to compare treats. Natalie loved jumping in the leaves earlier that week.

The Pumpkin Patch

Saturday we visit the McDougals Apple Junction and Pumpkin Patch. The weather was terrific and warm. It was so much fun. The kids chased around the chickens and goats. The boys raced each other on all-terrain trikes and loved it. We also did a maze through a corn field and took a ride on a trailor out to pick our pumpkins. It was a great afternoon!