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Archive for May, 2008

It was a nice long weekend for us—hope everyone had a happy holiday. Saturday we were planning to go to the Farmer’s Market, but it was raining cats and dogs and was 50 degrees when I got up at 6:30am to feed Josiah, so we decided to sleep in and have a lazy day around the house instead.

Sunday was a completely different story—87 degrees and very humid. We went to church in the morning and then went to a BBQ with several other couples from our church. It was a nice opportunity to meet new people from our church and the kids had a great time. Anya ran crazy with the older kids and Josiah loved all the attention getting passed from one woman to the next! On our way home, the sky started to look pretty funky and the winds really picked up, so we knew we were in for a storm….and storm we got! I don’t know how much rain we got, but we lost quite a few branches in our backyard–one of them pretty good size and it landed right across our fire pit. But, we feel quite fortunate that we missed the brunt of the storm and our thoughts and prayers go out to all the families that have been affected by the tornadoes that touched down here in Iowa.

Today we spent the day working outside. The weather was perfect and we got quite a bit done. We continued our landscaping adventures and expanded the landscaping around the flagpole. Once again, Jason did 99.9% of the work, but Anya made a good supervisor and Josiah was pretty content hanging out in his stroller. While Jason was busy working on that, I continued our clean-up effort in the garage and got more stuff organized (or thrown away), so it is one step closer to being in order. Then we picked up the sticks that the storm left behind and Jason mowed the lawn. After all that work, Jason made us a delicious supper of grilled steak, baked potatos and salad. To finish the night out, we went on an hour long walk around the neighborhood and enjoyed the beautiful evening!

Here are the pictures we’ve taken lately–enjoy!

I have been having so much fun making these “scrapblog” pages on the computer. I thought I would share my latest creation. Have a good weekend!

What a fun and busy weekend we had here. With such nice weather outside, we just couldn’t sit still cooped up in the house! Our weekend started early when G’ma Barb arrived around noon on Friday. She came to spend the weekend with us because we had so many fun things planned and wanted to help out with the kids. When she got here, Anya & I took off to go get her very first haircut by the same girl who cuts my hair. She got 2 inches cut off the ends (mostly all her baby hair) and it looks SO much better now and is much easier to comb through! Robin (the girl who cuts our hair) couldn’t believe how long Anya’s hair was and how thick it was—but I guess she comes by that naturally. I got my hair cut also and then we headed to Maggie Moo’s to have some ice cream and celebrate her first haircut. Friday night G’ma Barb watched both of the kids while Jason and I went out to eat at our favorite restaurant, Chicago Speakeasy. It is was very slow there that night (which is unusual), so we got a table right away which was a nice change!

Saturday we were up bright and early to head downtown to the Farmer’s Market. It was an absolutely gorgeous morning–couldn’t have been any nicer. We spent a few hours strolling around and had some yummy treats along the way. Anya loves all the excitement at the market and Josiah was very content in the baby Bjorn that Jason carried him around in. After the market, we came home and had lunch and then Jason, Anya & I went to Sesame Street Live at the Wells Fargo Arena. Anya had a GREAT time–she didn’t stop smiling for the 2 hours we were there. We were in the very front row, so we had great seats, but Anya wasn’t too fond of the characters when they came down off the stage into the audience–she much preferred them safely up on the stage! By the end of the show, Anya was pooped out and fell asleep in the car on the way home. So, we let her sleep for about an hour and then we all headed out to by some plants and flowers for our landscaping. When we got home we spent the evening in the backyard grilling, swinging and picking up sticks. By 10pm we were all exhausted and in bed!

Sunday was another busy day around the house. G’ma Barb and Jason emptied out our storage shed, swept it out and completely organized it—and it looks so good now. We got both the snowblower and lawn mower in, all 3 bikes, the burley and a ton of lawn and gardening tools and misc. accessories and even have some room to spare! It is nice to get some of that out of the garage and to have everything so nicely organized–now we just need to keep it that way! Once they finished that, Jason finished the landscaping I had started around the mail box–we dug up the soil, put in cement edging blocks and filled it in with crushed brick. It looks a lot better than the weeds that were growing there before and it will be much easier for mowing now. Anya was loving all the excitement going outside–she got a ride on the lawn mower, a ride in the wagon and a ride in the burley!

So, that was all the excitement we had around here. Last night when I was laying in bed with Anya before going to sleep I asked her what she had done all weekend and her response was “so many fun things”–it was so cute! Here are some picture of all our “fun things”!

A few days late, but HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY to all the mothers who read this blog. Believe it or not, this is my 3rd Mother’s day–and it seems they get better every year. I can’t think of anything in the world that I would rather be than a wife to my great husband and a mother to 2 of the best kids in the world. Not a day goes by that I don’t thank God for all the gifts he has given me–and my family is always top on my list!

We had a very fun weekend up in Ringsted. We spent the time visiting with family and friends and on Sunday we had a delicious brunch at the Elk’s Club in Estherville to celebrate Mother’s Day.

I would say the highlight of the weekend for Anya and the other grandkids was getting to ride around on Papa Jim’s new Ranger. Even though it was cold and very windy on Sunday, the kids convinced Papa Jim to get it out for a few rides around the farm. So, the whole gang bundled up and they had a blast zipping around on it and the golf carts. Anya even got to drive the golf cart and she thought she was pretty hot stuff behind the wheel!

Here are some pictures of our Mother’s Day weekend!

Today was a beautiful day outside…YAY FOR MAY! Although it is suppose to be rainy and cold again tomorrow atleast we have had a few days that feel like spring is finally on its way!

Since today was May Day, we decided to get Anya alittle “may day gift”—a pair of crocs. Jason got a pair a few months back and ever since he got his, she has been wanting a pair. So, finally (just by luck) I found the color we wanted to get her (it is called grape) in her size at the mall yesterday. She was so excited about the crocs–and she hasn’t taken them off since. In fact, she even wore them in the bathtub tonight. Good thing they are made of rubber and can be submerged!