Parker turned 11!

When you have a December birthday at our house,

your birthday celebration lasts about 2 weeks because mama feels bad about her lack of planning

{ya know, the day you find out your pregnant and think 9 months from now is Christmas}

Parker's actual due date was December 29th but was born December 17th

It's not the best picture but this is how we start birthday mornings at our house

We  had Grandma and Grandpa over for supper, gifts and
 of course, turtle cheese cake which he requested

Parker, you light up our life!
You are always thinking of others and truly have a heart of gold
We love that dimple in your right cheek and your gorgeous eyes that change color day to day
We love that you love food and are always wondering what we are having for the next meal
{I truly believe this is your Great Grandpa John in you}
You are handsome, caring, athletic, smart and funny
You are everything we could have ever asked for
How did we get so lucky?
We LOVE you more than you'll ever know!

Christmas and all that hoop la

We're in our last week of January and I'm finally posting about Christmas

 I wish for just one year, 

we didn't have to work or go to school through the month of December

We could sit home, admire the decorations, bake Christmas cookies

 and celebrate without all the hustle and bustle

I was a little ba humbug going into December

If it hadn't been for the hubby, I'm not sure the tree and village would've been put up
but it was and I'm forever thankful he got me out of that rut

I think I've posted about our village before
We've been working on painting this village for 17 years

Our tree gets decorated in the traditional red and green with Robert Stanley ornaments
Every year I buy the boys an ornament and try to pick one that's personal

Spencer got a robot - He is loving his robotics class
Parker got a Santa with a fish - The boys have taken up a serious hobby of fishing

The first Friday in December is always the Holiday Stroll downtown

Parker sang at the church with the Colorado Jammers

and the weather was beautiful so we decided to go enjoy the stroll

I'm pretty sure they had a record turn out this year

We started out the month with a critter in the attic 

We've had everything from mice to a raccoon up there and we were pretty sure it was a squirrel

When the live trap didn't work, we resorted to rat traps

We ended up with a BIG mouse and were relieved when we finally caught it

There's nothing like laying in bed and hearing it scratch in the attic above you {Eeeek} 

During one of our ventures up into the attic to check traps,

we discovered we have a mold issue

The people that added the addition on to the house didn't vent the bathroom vent out of the roof

They vented it into the attic so all of the moisture has been trapped up there causing mold

We got more bad news the middle of December

We found out that Parker failed his eye exam at school in October

I scheduled an eye exam and sure enough, the boy needed glasses

A little more bad news news
This boy grew - Like over night!

He is officially taller than me, not that it takes much
It's a sad day when your kids can look you in the eyes

My baby turned 11!
We are careful about keeping his birthday totally separate from Christmas
so I'll be writing a special post about how we celebrated at a later date

The week school got out for Christmas break we had 3 concerts

I love Christmas concerts and the fact that our schools still let the kids sing CHRISTMAS songs

Many schools have winter programs in fear of offending someone
Not ours and I'm forever grateful!

The week of Christmas was WILD

We weaned Spencer off of his migraine medicine by doctors orders

As of right now he's doing great without it and we pray things continue to go well

Spencer chipped 2 teeth that we had to have fixed at the University of Iowa Dental College

If you ever need a tooth fixed, Dr. Vargas is your guy!

My brother and his family came home and I took some pictures of the kids for my mom and dad

This was one of the fun pictures I took
They were such troopers wearing pea coats when it was 60 degrees

We celebrated Christmas with my mother in-law on Christmas Eve, 

Christmas day was spent with my immediate family 

and the day after Christmas was spent with my aunts, uncles and cousins

Spencer told me the only thing he wanted for Christmas was an iphone
He didn't want ANYTHING else!
Thankfully the boy was due for an upgrade so that's what he got
Plus a few other things
He has become quite picky in his teenage years
Just about everything needs to be Nike or Under Armour
He got a Nike sweatshirt, Nike belts, Nike long underwear...
You get the idea!

Parker still has that little boy left in him and I LOVE that
He also got an iphone but also got legos, a huge art set, a game and some other fun stuff


We were truly blessed in 2015
Happy New Year a little late!

A fall recap

Here's a Fall recap

I'm so far behind I can't even remember what went on
I had to resort back to my phone and check the picture gallery for a reminder
Isn't it sad that we use our phones instead of cameras these days?

Spencer and Chip went to Wartburg College in September
  Spencer and some of his friends from school sang at the Real Men Sing event
It was a fun guys day out but Chip said it was middle school overload

We celebrated homecoming with a WIN for the Muskies
We walked in the homecoming parade and even went to the game
The weather was wonderful and since we're close to becoming a Muskie family,
we decided to go and cheer them on

Spencer isn't really a cheerleader but they were willing to let him try their poms out

Finishing up the parade with a beautiful sunset

Game time

Spencer and Chip went to a corn field maze with the youth group so
mama was left in charge of pumpkin carving this year
Parker and I picked out a design, he scooped it out and I got to carve it while he watched tv
I think the hubs would have done a better job but Parker LOVED it and that's ALL that matters

We celebrated Halloween
Grandma made Parker's vest and hat {Such talent} and such a cute little fisherman

The boys say they'll never be too old to trick or treat

We support the teal pumpkin project
{Food Allergy Awareness}
Read more about it here

We worked hard last fall to get some projects done around the house:
Stained the monstrous deck we rebuilt last year
Stained the front deck
Painted the bathroom
Stained and put a towel cabinet in the bathroom

and
painted the kitchen

We had Fall parent teacher conferences
The boys are doing GREAT and we're so proud of them

I did the Lagomarcino 5k with a friend
The location was BEAUTIFUL {downtown Davenport}
It wasn't one of our favorite 5k's but we enjoyed the hot chocolate and turtles at the end

We were going to do the Turkey Trot in town but we got our first snow and it was canceled
We were pretty bummed but are looking forward to a new year and many more 5k's


We celebrated Thanksgiving with family and LOTS of food

There you have it,
Our Fall recap

Vacations 2015

Our vacation plans this summer didn't work out quite as grand as we hoped

but that's okay because a sweet little one was brought into the world

Our plan was to go to Virginia this summer to visit some dear friends

I didn't get any vacation until after July 28th so we were going to have to wait until August

Not our ideal plan but we would make it work

THEN their daughter announced she was due to have a baby August 12th

Yikes.... She lives in North Carolina and her parents would be traveling there when baby arrived

Baby could come a week early, a week late or right on time

Babies are not predictable so we decided to delay our Virginia plans
Little Charlotte came a few days late while we were on vacation to our other destination

Our "other" destination wasn't nearly as grand but we made the most of it

Everyone needs to attend the Iowa State Fair once in their life time, right?
I remember being drug to the fair when I was little and HATED it
It was hot, I was certain I would die from all the walking and I just wasn't a farm girl

Now that the boys are a little older, I thought it would be the perfect time to take them
They are young enough to still have fun and old enough to remember it

We saw the butter cow, ate fair food, let the kids ride some rides but their favorite part was:
Drum roll......
The cow judging
They loved the cows

We watched one boy get thrown by his cow
My heart broke for that young man
He worked all year with that cow and unfortunately that cow showed the judges who was boss

My best friend and her family camp the entire 2 weeks at the fair
Their 3 girls show cattle and hogs and perform in the Bill Riley talent show every year
Seeing them was the high light of my day at the fair


A few pictures of our day at the fair:

The FAMOUS butter cow

The Monopoly guy was new this year

Fair food is a must

Pricey but so yummy

The boys got to rock climb and zip line


While we were in Des Moines we went to Sky Zone





The boys
 mentioned that they wanted to go to Sky Zone
This place is AMAZING for non stop boys
Give them an hour of time and I guarantee they'll be wore out when you leave

We ate at Zombie Burger

People definitely hype this place up

The food was good, we can say we've been there but we probably won't ever go back

Who orders a salad at a burger joint?

That would be me because it looked better than a greasy burger on a hot day

After we finished up at Zombie Burger, we drove up the road to the pappajohn sculpture park

It was HOT and the kids weren't really interested in the sculptures as much as climbing on the wall

No, we didn't break the rules

It may look like Parker is sitting on the horse but he's really sitting on the wall behind it

One of the highlights of our trip was cooling off at Orange Leaf
I pulled out my phone and googled ice cream shops near us
{Isn't technology great? What did we do before we had phones?}
I saw Orange Leaf frozen yogurt was minutes away
 I hadn't heard of one of these
 but the minute we walked in the door I knew I found my new favorite indulgence

It was worth every penny of the $27 we spent
Some of our favorite flavors were -
Strawberry Lemonade
Peanut butter cup
Wedding cake
and
Peach mango


So Des Moines wasn't nearly as awesome as Virginia would have been
but we did some firsts and made memories and that's whats important

Summer? What Summer?

We had back to school nights this past week

Tuesday night for Spencer and Thursday night for Parker

I didn't take pictures because "we're to cool for that"

I decided that it would be best to have the boys one on one

I posted before about my love for having theses boys one on one

I love having them together but there's something about having them one on one

Having them one on one lets us focus on THAT ONE

When they are separated, their personalities come out more

We talk about stuff we might not talk about when the other one is there (they like different things)

They are different and it makes me more aware of how different and grown up they're becoming

It's sad but at the same time, it's absolutely amazing

On Tuesday night we went to Spencer's school

He ran up and down the steps and left us in the dust

He found his locker, his classrooms and introduced himself to all his teachers

At one point, I had tears in my eyes

This boy is something else!

Spencer can talk to anyone, this boy will have NO problem finding a job

He's outgoing and can have a conversation with ANYONE

I love that about him!

I'm not sure where it came from because his dad and I are both a little quiet

especially when it comes to people we don't know

I watched other students steer clear of teachers or their parents introduced them

I'm glad Spencer can talk to them and can make a great first impression

After back to school night, Spencer wanted Cheri Top so that's what we had

Parker's back to school night was Thursday
As we walked into the school, he said Summer sure went fast
YES, YES it did!

We were certain he would have Mrs. Truitt because he has had all the teacher's Spencer had

Boy were we surprised to find out he has Mrs. Hartman

He was beaming ear to ear

He loves Mrs. Truitt but Mrs. Hartman is pretty darn cool

Her classroom is filled with animals

Snakes, lizards, fish, frogs, ferrets, hissing cockroaches.....

I can't handle the smell but the kids absolutely LOVE it

Parker put all of his supplies where they were supposed to go and he was out of there

That day he found a Subway coupon for a free sandwich with the purchase of a sandwich

Needless to say he was a super cheap date and was pretty proud of it

After we got our sandwiches, we drove to Weed Park to eat and check out the new lion sculpture

They will be off to school tomorrow morning
Ready or not

You have got to be kidding me!

You have got to be kidding me!

It's August 7th ALREADY?

We aren't wasting any time getting into August and we're fitting in as much as we can

Last Saturday was the Halo 5k in Bettendorf

You can read more about it here

Post race sweaty picture but we'll treasure the memories while supporting a great cause

The kiddos have some NASTY poison ivy

I think I taught them to believe in karma

They were told not to go down by the creek

Guess where they got into the poison ivy
The truth came out
Life's no fun when you have poison ivy, especially on your eye

On Sunday my brother and his family got back from South Dakota

They stopped in Iowa before heading back to Wisconsin

My mom did her annual Grandma Camp while they were here

Sadly, it only lasted 3 days but my oh my were those days fun filled
I'll be doing a separate post on Camp at a later date since my mom took most of the pictures

On Monday Spencer got his braces off

On Tuesday the boys had dentist appointments for cleanings
Dr Peterson couldn't believe how great Spencer's teeth look
{I'd have to agree!}
He said he sees a lot of the white railroad tracks from kids not brushing well
{I think Spencer was just lucky!}
I was a bit nervous to see how his restoration looked once the braces were off
Dr. Peterson did a heck of a job fixing the chipped tooth
 because he doesn't need to make any adjustments now that the teeth are straight


On Wednesday I had my follow up with the surgeon to check the lump in my breast
Everything looks good but he wants me to have a mammogram every year from now on
I can finally breathe again

The kids are signed up for school

This was the first year they tried to get everyone to sign up online

Let me just say, I was about ready to jump off a bridge by the time I was done

Technology is great for some things but there are still kinks to be worked out

We have about half of the school supplies bought 

I'm still trying to figure out why each 5th grader needs 10 glue sticks

Does one classroom really use 200 glue sticks in a year?

On to better things

We will be vacationing again soon

We're not going far but we'll be doing a few things we've been wanting to do so it's exciting

I'll be posting more on that soon

This weekend my mama is taking me away to celebrate my birthday a little early

We don't get enough time to spend together, just the two of us
She's also going to help me paint my kitchen
My goodness I LOVE that woman!


It's Friday and I couldn't be happier

It's Flying

This summer is flying by

I'm not taking the time to blog so I'll recap
 and will hopefully find time to go in a little more detail later

I've been reminded that school registration online is already open
I'm putting if off until the very last minute because I'm not ready to go bankrupt

I'm also not ready to have my baby start his last year at elementary school

and my oldest start his last year in middle school
Say what!?!?
I'm just not ready for all that stuff
When I became a mom, people told me time would fly but as Junie B. Jones would say,
woweee wow wow
Can't they just stay little so I can read them Junie B. Jones books again?

I saw this picture last week and got teary
This was taken a year ago

This was taken last week

Not the best picture but someone please put a brick on that boys head

I know there will come a day when he won't take a selfie with me so I'm treasuring every picture I get
My heart bursts with love for this boy


TRIP

We took a trip!
I'd like to call it a vacation but I read this and decided it wasn't a vacation, it was a trip
Yes, I finally took a day off work so we could go away over the 4th of July
We went to Wisconsin to spend some time with my brother and his family
My parents were also there at the same time
Great memories made in a few short days

Lake Michigan was COLD but it didn't stop these kids

Our trip wouldn't be complete with out this
Ice cream from Cedar Crest Dairy

Fire works on the 4th

Bro and Sis Coke cans
Oh and I love the seagull photo bombing us 

The Belmont cow
We stop at the cow every time we go to Wisconsin

BASEBALL
The summer ball season is over and it was an exciting year

 Parker's team took 1st place in the championship
This kid struggled to hit all year, he was the youngest and smallest on the team and just didn't have it
Then tournaments started and the switch flipped; the boy hit an in the park homeroom
Where was that all season?
Dad got to help coach the Bridgestone team
I was so proud of him for building the kids back up after the other coach would tear them down
Yes, it was one of those years and we're glad it's behind us

Spencer's team took 2nd place in the championship for their age bracket
Spencer's coach (back left) was fa-nominal and so positive
He wasn't all about winning like a lot of the coaches
Spencer did some catching and pitching and has decided to play fall ball this year

AMELIA

Our princess turned 4 and I forgot her birthday

Oh my goodness, we love this girl and she knows it


WORK
Work has been weird
 I'm so ready for normal what ever that might be
My coworker took a job in a different department July 1st
I've been working extra hours and spent the last week and a half training my new coworker
Later this week I start my new hours of 8-2
Life will be grand!


BIG NEWS
I started making time for ME
Yep, that's the BIG NEWS
My kids are in a million activities,
the hubby bowls
and
I do nothing
So I got frustrated, basically blew a fuse and told them that it was time I took some time out for ME
I signed up for 4, 5k's and 1, 10k
Yes, this is what I consider fun!
The night before a race, we pick up our race packets, have supper and shop for cute race clothing
How much more fun does life get?
We walk/run the race and then treat ourselves to Starbucks or a donut
I have some pretty amazing friends who are weird like me and love doing 5k's so it's great
When mama gets some "me" time, I'm much more enjoyable to be around


Well, that's a recap
We're planning one more trip before school starts
and the boys have a summer bucket list we haven't even got to
I hope the month of August creeps by