busy, busy and busy

We had a very nice weekend. On Friday, it was Curt's birthday, so we went over there for their party. The kids played outside and had a blast. When it got dark, we all went down to Ang/Curt's new bar and the kids hung out in the basement. It was a lot of fun. The only thing missing, was seeing Andi/Troy. The great thing is, we will see them this weekend though.

On Saturday, we went to my cousin Kyle's graduation party. It was soooo cold. Seriously, it was in the 50s. Todd and I were not dressed for it, but luckily I did have a jean jacket for me in the car. The kids had sweatshirts on and I had a blanket around Gavin. Poor Todd was in short sleeves and had blue lips. The kids were sooo good and Gavin even had a little ice cream treat. Those grandpa's sure like being sweet to their grandsons =)


Dylan had a blast on the playground going down the slides, swings and also playing in the sand. I think his favorite thing was being the keg boy. RELAX>>.. it was a keg of root beer, but he loved it. He was great at making rootbeer floats too. We also went down by the river and that was pretty neat.

Later we went over to Todd's parents house. We hung around outside and played basketball, watched Dylan ride his bike and also went for a walk. Denny was dog sitting the neighbors so we all went down there and walked around the neighborhood. When we got back, we played on the computer and I showed Denny/Maxine how to upload pictures on Craig's list. Grandpa was a favorite that night. Gavin fell asleep on him and he also gave Dylan some cookies. How sweet...
We also enjoyed Maxine's taco dip and chocolate covered strawberries.

The next morning, they did chickens and I stayed home with the kids and Austin. We met them for lunch when they were done. It was nice seeing Fred and Marienne too. After lunch, we went over to Austins, so Dylan could jump on the trampoline. He had a blast. We even had Gavin on it for a little bit.





Then, we went swimming at Grandpa Dolphin's house. Man oh man, was that nice. The water was really warm. Gavin was in for a little bit, but then he got tired, so Maxine cradled him. I think she enjoyed that. Todd, Austin, Dylan, Denny and me stayed in the pool. Dylan really loved it. As it started to get cooler, we decided to go inside and Denny/Maxine grilled out. We also wanted to go over to my parents house, so after dinner we packed up and went over there. It was still light out, so we went to the duck pond. Dylan LOVED feeding them. It was pretty cute. We also had his bike with us because he wanted to show grandma and grandpa. It was fun watching him ride around...




SMILE Todd..


It started to get cooler, so we went over to mom/dads for strawberry shortcake. No wonder the lbs are hard to come off. I feel we are constantly eating, but it was so good. Dylan tried the strawberries, but didn't like them. He did like the ice cream though.

We stayed for a few hours and headed back home. It was rainy a lot, but I didn't mind it. I think its pretty cool looking at the lightening. All in all, a great weekend. Next week, we are heading to DSM for the Keagan/Kade/McKenna's combined birthday. We also plan on seeing one of Keagan's baseball games too. I'm looking forward to it =)

 

Gavin has graduated from the baby tub into the raft and he LOVES it. Of course, Dylan wanted some attention too, so he jumped in the tub too. He really wanted to go in the raft, but I said he was too big.

As some of you know, Dylan has gotten into a habit of crawling in bed with us in the middle of the night OR just going into our bed instead of his. So, we decided to end that bad habit we would reward him with something. So.... we decided to get him a bike, but the key is he only gets it if he sleeps in his bed for 7 nights straight. We went shopping yesterday and he picked it out. He looks like such a big boy on it. So far it has worked too. He slept in his bed the whole night and then in the morning, he wanted to see if his bike was still in the garage. Then, today at daycare he told all his teachers he got a bike. If this works and he does sleep in his bed all week, we plan on bringing it back to DBQ, so he can ride around at grandma and grandpas. Keep your fingers crossed. I'm sure I'll have more pictures to post of this.

Happy Birthday Jen!

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear Jenny, Happy Birthday to you.

xoxo
Todd, Traci, Dylan and Gavin

Happy 5th Birthday McKenna

Happy 5th birthday Kenna!!!

We love you

Todd, Traci, Dylan and Gavin

Gavin's 6 month pictures

 

Memorial Day

We had a very nice Memorial Day weekend. We decided to stay home on Friday evening with the family. We celebrated Dylan's good behavior by going to Buffalo Wild Wings (his choice) and then we played outside. On Saturday, Curt and kids came over and he helped us strip down more wallpaper. We are using a steamer now and what a difference that has made. We have 1 1/2 more walls to do and then that part will be complete. I think we are going to put heated floors in, so the tile will need to come up and we will have to spray the walls again, since the wallpaper took down some of the drywall. We will then paint and put up new fixtures. What a messy project. On Sunday, we went to Maquoketa Caves with the kids and they had a fun time. I had Gavin in a carrier and he was really alert. Dylan did all the climbing on his own and after the 3rd cave, he said my legs hurt can we go to Grandmas? We were there almost 2 hours, so that was plenty of time.









We headed to DBQ and stayed at Denny/Maxines. The guys got the pool up and prepped for the poles to go in the ground. They grilled out that evening and Jason and Heather came over for dinner. Later, my parents stopped over too and we had a bonfire and cooked smores. Oh, they were yummy.



The next morning, Denny, Maxine, and Todd went over to Freddy/Mariennes to butcher chickens. I said NO WAY will I EVER do that. So, I stayed with Curt and the kids. They were really good. Denny, Maxine, and Todd came home around 10-ish and they started working on the fence. They got everything done before the rain came. The kids had fun playing together and grandpa gave them a ride on the tractor.

Even Gavin went on the tractor. He likes the wind and just smiled the whole time.

random thoughts

This weekend was pretty exciting. We went to Karissa's graduation party on Friday night and had a nice time. Dylan LOVED jumping on the trampoline. At first he wanted us to hold his hands or have me jump with him, but at the end of the night he was jumping around with anyone on there. Its great that he is getting more independent. We stayed until almost midnight and heard Karissa sing with the band. She is so talented. The next day we decided to head to Dubuque.

Got MILK?


Denny/Maxine had a few tree limbs they wanted cut down, so we went back for that.





Ang/Curt were back too. Ang had a bachelorette party to go to on Saturday night. Saturday the kids played, played and played and then they took a bath. They sure had a lot of fun.




We didn't do much that night, just hung out. The kids enjoyed some popcorn after the bath before they went down for bedtime.





On Sunday we went out for breakfast with the aunts/uncles and called Andi to wish her a happy birthday. We were thinking about her and the next day she was getting her tonsils removed. Its more serious doing that on an adult. Later Sunday afternoon, we dropped some shoes off at my parents and said hi. We made it back by 4-ish and Todd/Dylan cut the grass. I was unloading everything and doing laundry. I'm still putting stuff away and trying to get caught up on cleaning.

I'm also feeling under the weather. I have a head cold right now and just not feeling like myself. Gavin is on Augmentin right now and man oh man, they doctors sure were right when they said the side effect is diarrhea. Literally, we have blow outs every day. I can't wait until this infection is over and we are off this stuff.

Troy called yesterday and said Andi's surgery was a success. YIPPEE... we are thinking about you. When you feel up for it, give me a call or send an email. We would love to see you guys. Is this weekend to soon for visitors?

Mothers Day Weekend

On Friday, Todd picked the kids up from the daycare and they made me the cutest pictures. Dylan also had planted some flowers for me and they are sitting by the window. How precious and what keepsakes.



On Saturday, Todd was not feeling well at all. He basically stayed in bed the whole day, so the kids and I did our own thing. That evening we decided to go to the grocery and Dylan liked to drive his own cart. People were saying how cute he was. He cracked me up too, we kept seeing the same guy down each aisle and Dylan said beep beep to him and he smiled. Thank goodness he was a nice guy. That night we made egg casserole for the morning. My plan was to sleep in, but that wasn't the case. Todd did feel 100% better though on Sunday, so that was the best Mothers day present ever.

Later that day, Denny and Maxine came down to cheer us up. We did not have a good last week. Angie and Curt also came over with the kids. We grilled out pork chops that Denny and Maxine brought. Denny is a master griller- it was soooo yummy. We also had my moms famous cheesy potatoes, taco tip, macaroni salad, rubarb tart, fruit, and creme de mint cake. I swear I'm still full, but it was so good. It was a beautiful day. The kids played outside in the sand box, on the swingset, and we flew kites. Dylan also ran over to see his friend Brody. His daddy bought a nice swingset and Dylan wanted to go down the slide. We were so happy he went over there all by himself, but then he came back shortly crying. We asked him what was wrong and he said he fell. Luckily grandma was there to give him some TLC.



Gavin is such a cuddle bug, but he is also in the stage where he likes to pull hair and give suck on your face- sorry Angie. =)

Weekend fun

This weekend we had a nice time with my parents. We went to DBQ on Friday night, trying to find some good bargains at the garage sales, but no such luck. Todd and I were actually on time too. So, we hung out at my parents and relaxed. On Saturday we headed to the garage sales. Its a big thing in Asbury and we used to do it as a kid, so I wanted to check it out this year since we are back in Iowa. The first one we went to, Dylan got a transformer mask. He loves it ~ thanks Grandpa. Then, we decided to split up and have the guys drive the cars to the other section, while mom and I walked with the strollers. Well, we both forgot our cell phones in our purses, which happened to be in the trunk of our car... DUH on us. Anyway, we couldn't find the guys. It was ok, but I felt like we were concentrating on finding them and not really having as much fun as I would have liked. I did find a little toy for Gavin though that he likes and Dylan got some cars and also a transformer, so all in all it was a success. My parents bought a stroller, which is really nice and looks like it was rarely used. That will come in handy with the little ones. We actually used it on Saturday when Dad and I went for a walk with the kids. Dylan was planning on pushing around teddy bear, but got tired. Mom had to work in the afternoon, but it worked out nice to spend Friday night and part of Saturday with her.

Sunday we slept in and did things around the house. We really need to get the garage organized and that has been low on our priority list. We did make some headway this weekend though. We also played around outside since it was so nice outside.

Dylan and Gavin having slumber party during the middle of the day. We were trying to do naps, but that didn't really happen.





Last year for my birthday Todd bought some golf clubs for me. I haven't used them at all until yesterday. He was showing me how to use the PW. I "think" I have it down, but we will see. We will practice again today. Dylan is so excited for that too.

I would like to get to DSM some weekend soon to see Andi/Troy and watch their kids play soccer and baseball. I'm not sure if next weekend will work though. Andi is getting her tonsils out the following Monday. Maybe the weekend after that will be better.