MN Visit

Fun with cousin Kacey and daddy...
at the Children's Museum...
and Como Zoo.

Gavin's Wedding

Gavin was in my friend Karmen's wedding, though he thinks it was his wedding. He was adorable and did a great job, though he did run to the platform and tell the best man that it was his pillow when the best man tried to remove the rings.


Karmen's dress was over Gavin's tape (to mark where he should stand), so he just stood on her dress!

Jamaica

Chris and I spent 5 wonderful, peaceful, childless days in Jamaica right after he graduated.

Another Beach

After seeing our Jamaica pictures, Gavin asked if he could go there. So, we took the kids to a local lake. It doesn't even compare to Jamaica, but when you're 2 or 3, I guess it's good enough!

Graduations

Chris' graduation from nursing school. I had to pin him for some reason. He started his new job yesterday!

Gavin's preschool from 3 year old preschool.

Easter

Chris' 30th Birthday

Chris got Rock Band for the Wii for his birthday. He had fun showing the boys how to use it.

Lasagna and Carrot Cake--Chris' favorites.

Puddle Splashing with Roth

Roth spent an entire weekend with us in March (it was wonderful to have him here). The weather was decent, so we all went for a puddle splashing walk.

Random February Pictures

Rock Star

Snuggle Puppy

I bought a book for Reily called "Snuggle Puppy". Both boys love when anyone reads/sings it to them. They both have it memorized and Gavin will even read it to Reily once in a while. There is a part that you whisper--that's why you can't hear Gavin, but you can see his lips moving, towards the end.

Preston's Locked Out!

While we were in the hotel room, Preston went out in to the hallway for some reason. Gavin acted very quickly and locked the door on him. Preston was in the hallway in his pjs as everyone was walking by to get to the water park. Gavin absolutely refused to unlock the door for him and we all thought it was quite funny. One person asked Preston if the little boy inside knew how to unlock the door. We just laughed even harder as Preston explained that the little boy was not alone, but that his wife and two good friends were also in the room!

The Dells

So, our camera was dead, but Preston and Aimee's worked fine. Here are some pictures from our trip to the Dells in January.
Gavin is in this guy's mouth.Gav's favorite part of the water park was going in the hot tub that was 1/2 inside and 1/2 outside. He especially loved throwing snow on all of us.

Molly

Molly came for a visit. The boys had lots of fun playing with her and showing her all their stuff. While Molly was here, Gavin and Reily decided to teach her a new trick...jumping on the bed. At first, she resisted, just playing with her cute little cupcakes, but she gave in at the end and joined the fun. Sorry, Brad and Georgie, if she brought this trick home with her!

New Pictures

I figured it was time for some new pictures.We recently took Gavin to an indoor waterpark. I took out the camera to get some great pictures and got exactly one before the battery died. Oh well...
Reily thought he could fit in this box for some reason.
He even tried to shut it with the lid while he was "in" it.
Gavin and his doggie. He just loves Maggie.

Friends and Family

Auntie played lots of games with the little ones to entertain them.
Daxton and Molly watching Thomas the Tank Engine.
Daxton, Molly & Georgie.
Reily, too!

Chris and Aislynn, who now has the cutest curly hair!

Monkey

Winter Fun

No, I didn't buy the dog a pink coat...it came with her and Gavin insisted she wear it.

Christmas Morning

At Grammy and Papa's house

Christmas Eve

My brother's wife and I both played in a string quartet at our Christmas Eve service. The "star" in the middle is just another player in the group--don't know her, wasn't sure she'd want her picture posted.

Gavin found the pickle ornament on the tree this year. That means he got to open a special gift Christmas Eve.
Opening our Christmas Eve pjs.


Dinner at our house, prepared by my mom while the rest of us were at church! (She came to the early service.)

Iluvooo

We got a new camera for Christmas that allows us to capture short videos, so I thought I'd try posting one here. Apparently, Reily hears "I love you!" a lot. When you look at him and say, "Hey, Reily...", this is his immediate response at least 1/2 of the time.

Christmas at Grandpa Rick's

Minneapolis

Macy's 8th floor exhibit. The kids loved it and I enjoy keeping up this tradition.



Lunch at the Oak Grill, also a tradition.

More Maggie

Not Maggie, obviously. Both boys like the kennel a lot!

Maggie!

Maggie is our new addition! She's a nearly two-year-old terrier mix. We're very excited to have her. As you can see, the boys are very in to her. Reily just keeps asking, "Maggie go? Maggie go?" She's off exploring the house...
I'll post better pictures of her once she's a bit more familiar with us.

Brotherly Love

Preschool Christmas Program

Gavin had his preschool Christmas program this past week. He did a great job!

Christmas Tree

The boys love the decorated trees, but we find many ornaments scattered throughout the house every day.
Can you tell who is going to be bigger the older these two get? Hint: it won't be the older one! Reily has started attempting to defend himself against his big brother's antics. We've been waiting for this day...

We got our Christmas tree yesterday. Gavin wanted the one next to it (pictured below). I may never understand what goes through the mind of a three year old.

Gavin sat on Santa's lap this year, but absolutely would not talk to him. Oh well, I guess he'll be happy with whatever he gets!

The Boys

Playing outside
Helping daddy with leaves
Reily got these blocks for his birthday. One of Gavin's favorite things to do is build a wall so that daddy can't join him on the porch. The wall usually lasts 30 seconds before someone comes crashing through and then demanding that we rebuild it.Here's Reily talking on the phone to his papa. My boys love to call grammy and papa to talk on the phone. They're getting better at it--well, Gavin is anyway.

Ben's Birthday

My little brother turned 25 earlier this month. We celebrated by eating dinner at Texas Roadhouse. It was a good, meat-filled evening.

Typically, they ask the birthday person to get on a saddle and they sing a really loud, obnoxious song at them before they give them a free sundae. Ben absolutely refused so my mother, yes, Linda, got on the saddle (sort of) for the whole restaurant to see. This is one sight I never thought I would see.

Party Day!

Reily's whole birthday was spent celebrating. He had a great, and messy, breakfast of peanut butter toast where he got to wear his hat at the table. Within 30 seconds he had it covered in peanut butter. Oh well, you only turn 2 once.
For lunch, we took the birthday boy to "Donald's", nearly his favorite place on earth thanks to Grammy and Papa. Before he could get in the car, he had to drive himself there. He didn't get too far."More, daddy, more!"
Dinner was a toddler friendly meal, which neither of my toddlers touched, but the adults all ate plenty.
Opening presents...Gavin did really well handing them to Reily and not tearing into them himself. Reily was enthralled with each gift he opened, so much so that he refused to open a new gift until we removed the old one from his hands. Next year, we're thinking about just getting him one gift (yeah, right).
Papa had to help a bit to peak Reily's interest. He's a goofy one (Reily that is, though Papa is too, sometimes).
Reily loved his raincoat and the "hammer" (hanger) that it came with.
Grammy got some bricks for Reily that had to be assembled. All the adults took their share and put them together. Then, towers were built and happily knocked over.
The big gift from mommy and daddy was a train table which, of course, we had to set up for play before we presented it. Can you say: spoiled kids?
Car cakes racing around the track.

My favorite moment of the evening was Gavin spontaneously belting out the "Happy Birthday" song to Reily. It was quite cute and definitely caught on video camera. Wish I knew how to share that here...The cake was delicious!

Halloween

Trick-or-treating was quite an experience this year. The boys were great. Gavin was a Pooh Bear and Reily was his pot of honey.

Kacey was a cute little lion--no ferociousness here.
While we were out, we encountered lots of cute puppies. This beagle was dressed like a bee--which went perfectly with Reily's pot of honey costume.
The "experience" part came in with our mode of transportation. We actually rode this golf cart throughout Chris' dad's neighborhood to trick-or-treat. Katie chauffeured and Chris, Kelly and me all held a kid between houses. Like I said, it was an experience.

Here they are enjoying the spoils. You might not be able to tell, but they all have treats in their mouths and they thoroughly enjoyed eating their treats.

Halloween Preschool Program

Gavin's preschool class got to trick-or-treat in the church offices where all the staff (myself included) passed out candy.
They also sang a few songs for the parents. Gavin actually participated a little bit and was quite adorable.

Snack time after the program was great, of course.

Early Birthday

Reily just turned 2! We were able to, once again, celebrate Reily's and Kacey's birthday together at Chris' dad's house a couple of days early. It's so fun that these cousins have the same birthday, we figure we might was well try to celebrate them together each year that we can.

They didn't quite get how to blow out the candle. I'm sure they'll be fighting over it in years to come.
The cake, made my Auntie Kelly and Auntie Mary, was delicious.
Presents...
Reily got a new "ho-pane" (airplane) that is cute, but mostly just makes a lot of noise. It was a perfect boy toy!
Kacey got a couple of strollers, which prevented fighting over them. My boys liked them just as much as, if not more than, Kacey did.

Twin Cities

Recently, we visited Chris' family in the Twin Cities. We also had the opportunity to visit the Como Zoo and Conservatory and the MN Sculpture Garden and Walker Art Museum.

We asked Gavin what he wanted to see at the zoo and he said, "Jaf". So, we saw the giraffes, real and fake.
We also saw some monkeys. This one was playing with Gavin through the window, but I didn't catch the greatest shot--he was kind of playing "hide and seek".
The Conservatory was lots of fun and smelled wonderful. Gavin kept telling us how "neat" all the plants were.

Throwing money into the fountain.

While we were visiting the MN Sculpture Garden I happened to see a flier that talked about the 1st Saturday of every month being free and kid focused at the Walker. So, we walked across the street and took part in a few of their free, kid-friendly activities.
These are some cool glasses the boys (well, with LOTS of help) made.

The Photo Shoot

When Gavin turned two, my mom insisted on getting professional photos taken of him. They were a great idea! Now that Reily is almost two, we did the same thing with him. His pictures will be a nice addition to the living room as it currently looks like we only like Gavin! Here are a couple shots I took myself once the professional shoot was over. It was tough getting a good one with two toddlers together, but we got several great ones of Reily and at least one decent one of the boys together.

Illinois

My friend, Aimee, and I recently ventured down to Illinois for my sister's wedding. We stayed with my paternal grandparents in Sprinfield and got to spend some time downtown with my cousin (and Abe Lincoln, as you can see). Then, we headed to the wedding. I was so glad that I was able to be there.Unfortunately, I didn't get any great shots from the wedding. It was a late evening wedding and my camera just doesn't do night shots--or I don't know how to work it. I'll post some when I can. For now, this will have to do.

Typical Friday

Our typical Friday evening includes a pizza from Little Caesar's and a trip to the park to eat and play (when the weather is nice).

More Fall Fun

First Field Trip

Gavin had his first preschool field trip this week. Gavin is the one in the white hood. He had a great time and I got to tag along.Gavin picked his very own pumpkin from the patch. It took FOREVER, but he picked a great one.

Fall Fun

Pumpkin Patch

We've decided that we'll head to Rice Lake at least once per year--in Sept/Oct to visit the pumpkin patch. It was quite an adventure this year--"boots" on Gavin and all.

Walking through the corn maze--Gavin didn't make it too far, but had fun initially.



The "boots" haven't slowed Gavin down one bit. He climbed up and down these stairs all by himself at least twice.
Wagon ride
There is a petting zoo at the pumpkin patch.
Feeding the goats was lots of fun.

Bunny rabbits! Reily calls all animals bunnies, so it was nice that he got it right this time!

Idiopathic Toe Walker

Well, Gavin refused to quit walking on his toes. This afternoon he got a cast on each leg. It is an attempt to correct the constant toe walking. We'll see how it goes. He'll be wearing these lovely blue boots for three weeks.
As you can see, it hasn't slowed him down one bit. He climbed up on the counter all by himself!

MOPS

We had our first MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) meeting of the year today. I am the coordinator of our area MOPS group. This is only our second year and we had 38 moms at our first meeting. It was a very exciting morning.

Karena helped out in the nursery. There were more kids than moms. It was a busy morning.

First Day of School

Gavin had a VERY big day today. He had his first day at preschool (at the church where I work) AND he pooped on the potty (hopefully he keeps that up--cross your fingers for us).
Breakfast out before school. Of course, he also got lunch at McDonald's for the toilet accomplishment. It's been a good day in Gavin's world. Right now, he's sucking down a huge lollipop that was promised to him for pooping on the potty many months ago...
Gavin's cubby.
Playing with new friends and the teacher. He did great!

Gavin's Artwork

Gavin's still into taking photos. I didn't think this one was too bad.

Outdoor Fun

Lately, we've been letting the boys play in the garage without us--mostly because we don't want to hear the screaming that happens when we force them inside. Yesterday, they got into the backyard and had all kinds of fun for the 30 seconds they went unmonitored.

Fun's over...kind of.

Big Boy Bed

Well, Reily has graduated to a big boy bed. He seemed ready and he certainly was. The first night went very well--he only got up once before falling asleep and then slept until 7 am. Last night was his second night and it went just as well. It's a little sad seeing my baby in that bed, but he loves the change and I'd love to get rid of that crib.

Anniversary in Bayfield

We spent our anniversary in Bayfield again this year. We decided that, since Chris had been gone for two weeks, we should take the boys. We've always wanted my parents to come with, so this seemed like the right year to bring everyone. It was a lot of work, but we all enjoyed the trip.

Ferry ride to Madeline Island.

Feeding ducks in Lake Superior.


Our typical gazebo picture. We tried to get one with the boys, they would NOT cooperate day 1.
Day 2 was a little better...1 out of 2 cooperated. It is what it is.Some Scandinavian shop always has an ugly troll outside. It's the hairy one with the red hat.
There's a nice park right on the lake. The boys had a great time running around.

Visiting Daddy

Chris had one day off in the middle of his two weeks away. We spent it at the cabin. The boys really enjoyed seeing their daddy and splashing in the water.
Reily was not so fond of the bridge, however. He refused to cross alone. He did not like the fact that he could see through the boards on the bottom to the flowing water below.

What we've been up to

Chris has been in Oshkosh for over a week now and won't be back for a few days yet. While he's been gone, we've been keeping busy. The boys sure do miss their daddy!
Gavin insisted on wearing his life jacket. ???

Gavin loves to pull Reily for rides in the wagon which works out great because Reily loves to ride!
Body chalk drawing. Boys!

Summer Fun

Summer is coming to an end...we decided to have one more fun day at the beach.
And an ice cream treat just to end the evening right. (Reily got new pajamas on before bed!)

Molly

Ben & Kirsten's Reception

The Project

Chris has spent the last two Saturdays putting this play set together for the boys. They finally got to play on it and really enjoyed it.
My sister, Karena, is living with us for the summer. We're all glad she's here, but Gavin seems to like "Auntie Kreena" the most.


Gavin has decided that he is a photographer now. He took both of these pictures of Reily, along with many others that were not worth saving!

The 4th

Molly, Gavin and Reily had a great time on the 4th. The party was small this year, so they were the center of attention.

Summer Fun

We took the boys to a nearby lake. They both LOVED it. Gavin did not want to go home at all. They were both so brave.

Gavin would love to go swimming everyday all day long. I went and got this little pool and he asks to swim in his froggie as soon as he wakes up most days. He doesn't even care if the water is freezing cold!Gavin has always loved climbing on the roof of his house. His little brother has decided it'd be fun to follow him.

Kamden

Kamden spent the evening with us recently. It was different having a little baby around again.
Gavin wasn't too sure about Kamden at first. He preferred to "spy" on him.
Reily was just very clingy at first. They both got over it!

Illinois

Gavin and I recently visited with my biological father's family in Illinois. It was a good trip and Gavin did great in the car. This picture is of Gavin and me with my grandmother.My cousin, Shauna, has a little boy, Zack. Zack and Gavin played together a lot and had a great time.

Just another photo to humiliate my son with one day...

Gavin is 3!!!

Gavin and his road full of car cakes.
He picked the biggest car on the road and didn't even finish 1/2 of it!
All of Gavin's birthday loot.

On the day of Gavin's birthday, we had lunch at McDonald's. He got to eat his second Happy Meal in three years.
We had a great little party for Gavin's birthday with friends and family. Gavin got this little table, which the boys have definitely enjoyed eating at together outside.

Father's Day

We celebrated Father's Day with Gavin's birthday. Papa and Gavin enjoyed some time at the park before dinner."Tip" made sure Reily enjoyed his time at the park, as well.
Poor Gavin had to wait to open presents until Papa and Daddy were all done. He was pretty patient, but had to help Papa and daddy, of course.

Two Cute Boys

We figure that Reily got tired of bumping into everything (he is definitely a bumble butt). He's designed his own protective head gear to wear around the house to protect him from those walls that just pop up out of no where and n
Reily has decided that he'll help himself to "cee-oo" (cereal) whenever he likes. Sometimes it turns out well, sometimes it ends up all over the floor.
Gavin wanted to feed Reily a carrot. Both boys burst out in laughter with every crunch/nibble that was taken.

Our church recently hosted the Amazing Family Race. Papa had to run a station and wanted his boys with him. There were goldfish in the pool for contestants to catch. The poor things were very traumatized by Gavin and Reily first.Gavin and Reily LOVE to swing.
Just a beautiful picture of my sweet Reily.
Gavin has always loved his puppy very much (though he lost the original). Reily has just started to love stuffed animals and has picked a puppy to love, too.
Gavin really likes to show off his hard core biking skills. He wants to be like "Tip" (a good friend of ours whose name Gavin couldn't quite say, so "Tip" it is). "Tip" is very into biking and always wears his helmet.

The Big 3-0

Since we celebrated my birthday with everyone else at my surprise party, we decided to do something alone on my birthday. We visited the garden where we had our wedding reception nearly 7 years ago and then had a great dinner with no children. It was a great evening.
Inside the tea house where our reception was held.
It is a beautiful garden that we didn't really get to enjoy the day of our reception.

Parade

Kelly and Kacey came to town for the weekend. We just happened to have a parade in town that we took the kids to. It rained off an on. Reily was more interested in the puddles than the candy, but Gavin and Kacey pulled in enough to share.

Torture

Yes, I do plan to keep this picture and completely torture my children with it for many years to come. I'm thinking poster size for the high school graduation parties!

My 30th

My 30th birthday is rapidly approaching. My husband decided to throw me a surprise party last night with friends and family. It definitely was a surprise and I enjoyed it. I'm still a little shocked that my husband pulled this off--I never had a clue.

Milwaukee Zoo

One of my jobs offered an employee appreciation day at the Milwaukee Zoo. Entry and everything else was free for the day, so we made the trip and enjoyed the day with our boys. It was very worth it.
There's a little train you can ride. The boys seemed to enjoy this the most. Gavin still talks about it.



Gavin and Reily got to feed some goats.

Reily found himself on the wrong side of the line gate. He got a bit antsy waiting.
Cotton candy was provided. Gavin and mommy enjoyed it. The stroller got a fair share, too.
Gavin was trying to hide from the camera. We got him, though, and the bear behind us.
The carousel was the last thing we took the boys on. They loved it.
Reily was very intrigued with the movement of the horse.

MP3 Player

Roth visited and brought his MP3 player along. He's getting so...old! Gavin loved seeing Roth AND listening to the music. Roth was nice enough to share with his shadow.

McKenya and kids

McKenya and her family were in town for a visit. We went to a small local zoo so the kids could see each other, or so we could see the kids together. It was fun.I think the kids liked the water and dirt more than anything.



Gavin loved pushing Aislynn.Since it was a zoo, we did get to see a few animals, too.


Ta-da! Reily loves to climb on things (everything) and then announces "ta-da" when he's standing on the coffee table, dresser, bed, counter, piano keys...you name it, he's climbed it proudly.

Finally

We've had some warmer weather, finally. We've been taking full advantage of it. The boys both ask to be outside at least 20 times a day.Gavin was pulling Reily in this one. He was quite proud of himself and Reily always enjoys a ride.
Gavin loves the park across the street. The swings and the slide are his favorites...of course, that's about all that's there, but he has fun.


Of course, along with the nicer weather comes the responsibility of mowing the lawn. The boys both love to ride with their daddy which makes the chore take longer, but Chris doesn't seem to mind.

Fwimmin' Water

Gavin watched an old family video recently of him swimming. After that, he woke up every single morning and from every nap asking to go "fwimmin' water". After about a week of that, we figured we'd better find a way to indulge him! A local hotel lets you swim for a fee, so we spent about 4 hours at the pool one day and Gavin didn't tire of it one bit, but his insistence to go "fwimmin'" has stopped, so it was worth it--not to mention the smile on his face the entire time we were there that also made it worth it.




Despite their facial expressions in these pictures, they really did have a great time. I guess they were just a little unsure of the slide!

Baseball Player?

Chris recently taught Gavin how to hit a baseball. Looks like he taught him well!

My Cute Boys