Monday, October 24, 2011

Fall Break

We have had a fabulous Fall Break at our house! Nolan had 2 weeks off of Preschool to relax and enjoy the beautiful Fall weather we've had! It was fun to have him home with Heath and I on my days off of school! I know he loves school and is learning a lot, but I still miss him when he's there! And it was really nice not to have to drive him back and forth too!

Here are some pics of all we did to make his break super fun! (Most of these pictures were taken from my BlackBerry's camera...so they are definitely not the best quality but I still wanted to document our adventures! When I'm busy with the 2 boys by myself it's just not always practical to have my big ol' Canon around my neck! )

We went to McDonalds for some lunch and play time!

Both weeks we went to the library for Story Time and to check out some new books and DVD's. The Parker Library has a fantastic Story Time that is very interactive! Stories, songs, and movement! In this picture the boys are singing a song about leaves blowing in the wind and they are using scarves to imitate the wind!

(Notice Heath's 24 Hour Fitness sticker on his back...oops I forgot to take it off! But I've been TRYING to still make it to the gym a couple of times a week! It's good exercise for me, a nice break from the kiddos, and the boys love playing at the Day Care Center there too! So it's the perfect way to spend an hour on my days off!)

Here is Nolan at the library again! This time shakin' his egg like the leaves shaking off of the trees! I don't know if you can tell from what the boys are wearing, but from one week to the next, our weather changed quite drastically! We've had 80's and we've had snow! It's just another crazy Colorado Autumn!

The boys run a bunch of errands with me on days off! It's nice to get them done during the week so that our weekend can be family time! A King Soopers highlight- riding on the horses!

And we spent a lot of time at the park! Heath LOVES to swing- the higher the better!

We took a wagon ride this time...we hadn't done that in awhile! They like looking at and laughing with each other on their ride!

One rainy morning, me and every other mom in the town of Parker decided to take our kids to Little Monkey Business to play for a few hours! It was crazy packed but the boys still had a blast!
We hadn't been here in almost a year! I think the last time we went was on Heath's 1st Birthday! The boys went pretty much non stop so with my slow camera phone and their fast pace, I don't think I got any pictures of them actually looking at the camera!

Here they are both in the Bounce House!

Doing some climbing!

It's amazing to see how much more confident and adventurous Nolan is becoming!

He is still cautious, but so much more willing to take a risk!

It's so fun to see!

And I actually got Heath to stop and pose...
He always leans into the camera and says, "EEESE"! His version of CHEESE!

This picture makes me laugh...mid bounce!

Little Monkey Business has a great art room too! My two little lefties did some painting and we made some puff ball spiders too!

Nolan never really used to be interested in arts and crafts, but since starting school he will want to sit and do projects for longer periods of time! It is fun to watch him learn to cut and use, what he calls his "helper hand" and to attempt to color in the lines instead of just scribbling. He would still rather be doing something imaginative or playing with his toys, but we tried to do some "school work" each day while he was on break!

We finished off his 2 weeks with dinner out at Red Robin this weekend and a fun night at my school's Monster Mash!

But somewhere along the way he must have picked up a nasty stomach bug! He spent Saturday night and Sunday puking and sleeping! It was so sad to have to watch him feel so bad! At 1 a.m. as I was in his bathroom washing off his favorite Fluffy puppy (who happened to get sprayed with a little throw up!) and he was laying on his top bunk (because he had puked in bed and we were washing the sheets- oh so fun in the middle of the night), he sat up and said to me in the sweetest, softest voice, "Thank for making my room clean!" Adorable! Oh, what I wouldn't do for this kid!
Poor guy was SO sick! I've never seen him so lethargic. He just wanted to lay around and cuddle! Who was this boy?! He would fall asleep on the couch or on the floor playing!

And we even had to keep him home from school today! He has eaten really nothing over the past 24 hours and now has some yuckiness coming out the other end! (Sorry for the over-sharing!) Hopefully a day to rest and build his strength back up will be good for him and he'll be back at school tomorrow! I was so sad having to call him in sick this morning! He really was looking forward to going back to school and seeing what his new unit was going to be. And he said to me yesterday, "I think my friends miss me!" This teacher Mama really didn't want him to be absent and miss out on anything! But I also don't want him to get any other kids sick...so I think we made a good call!

In other news, we've been working on a little of this for the past few weeks too...
Heath always wants to try and go potty when his big brother does. He sits down and tries to push and pretends to wipe. He tells me often when he has to go, but very rarely actually goes on the potty! He has gone a few times and we've made a BIG deal out of it! He feels so proud and gets a candy corn afterwards, which he LOVES! But most times we spend 15 or 20 minutes about 5 times a day, just practicing! I know it's still pretty early and he's not even 2 yet, so I'm not in any hurry, but I just thought I'd take him up on his interest and hopefully it will help in the potty training process when he is really ready!

And this next picture is because my bestie thinks I am neglecting our #3...
Here I am at 30 weeks! (Right now, I am almost 32 weeks, but I haven't taken a pic since this!) Wow! I'm huge and I still have 10 weeks to go! I've been picking up a few things here or there for this new little guy and I've been trying to put together his nursery a bit. But it's slow going. I just can't get inspired with yet another boy theme! Eclectic seems to be the route I'll be taking with the decor. I'll take some pictures when I actually have something on the walls!

O.k. that's enough from me...off to do some cleaning! A very special Auntie is on her way this weekend...need to get her room ready!

Monday, October 17, 2011

Oh, the Places He'll Go!

This past Saturday, my friend Lindsay and I had the privilege of throwing a baby shower for our dear friend Mandy! We had so much fun planning a Dr. Seuss themed shower for our principal friend...it seemed like the perfect idea for a fellow literacy lover!! The colors were adorable and the cute ideas endless!

We had a great turn out of family and friends and we sure hope Mandy and baby boy felt incredibly loved and supported! We hosted it at Mandy's house because she has the perfect space for a larger party and it ended up being a great idea because then she didn't have to load up and haul all of her amazing gifts home...they were already there!

the invite

Mandy with her hostesses

Of course we had to take a belly shot! From largest to smallest- I'm due December 16th, Mandy is due Deember 19th, and Lindsay is due March 4th! She finds out what she's having this Thursday!

When we were planning the shower I searched online for ideas and LOVED looking at blogs that had tons of photos of all the little details from the parties they've hosted. It really helped us come up with some creative touches for our own shower! Here are a bunch of pics from the day...
I found this online, printed it, and framed it for Mandy and the baby's nursery! LOVE what it says!

Didn't these banners turn out adorable?

Oh Joy! It's a boy!

Swedish Fish

We put Dr. Seuss books all around to add to the decor!


I saw this great idea on another blog too...hanging air filled balloons upside down from the lighting fixture over the food table! Thought it turned out super cute!

The plates matched our theme perfectly!

The yummy food! We did brunch foods which were super simple and easy to prepare! Thanks to everyone who helped out by making a dish to share!

And we had cupcakes for dessert!

red velvet with cream cheese frosting

After eating, it was time for gifts and games...



Mandy got SO many cute outfits and necessities for their little one.

We played "The Price is Right" and even found Dr. Seuss pencils and markers, for game playing, in the Dollar Section at Target!

Guests totaling up their prices! The winner was the closest to the total price without going over! And only 1 person did not go over...automatic winner! Ha!

the prizes

Then we played this Match Game...a baby shower favorite! The categories were: Things in a Diaper Bag, Baby Boy Names that start with B, Baby Foods, and Things you need for Baby Bath Time!

These 2 ladies are both incredible Grandmas and did great at this game! They made a lot of matches! You can tell they spend a lot of time with babies!

And finally, on the way out guests got to take home these little fishy treats as a thank you for blessing us with their presence!

yummy iced sugar cookies

And there you have it...it was so much fun to spoil Mandy for the day! And we can not wait to meet her little boy in just 2 short months!

Friday, October 14, 2011

Wedding Weekend

Last weekend we had the privilege of celebrating the marriage of our friend D.J. Van Eps and his beautiful bride, Mariah! Mark was an usher for the wedding and also sang in the ceremony. So that meant we had to attend the rehearsal and dinner on Friday evening and the wedding on Saturday....SCORE for us...2 date nights back to back! Oma & Opa watched the boys on Friday night and we hired a babysitter for Saturday! The boys had so much fun both nights and we knew they were in such good hands, so we were free to relax and PARTY!!!!

The rehearsal dinner was downtown at The Old Spaghetti Factory! All of our husbands were in the wedding and Lindsay, Mandy, and I are all pregnant! So we enjoyed a few Shirley Temples together over the weekend! Oh, how a glass of wine would have been so nice, but hey, it's just another couple of months right?!

The day of the wedding it SNOWED!!! It was so cold and dreary, but despite the weather outside, the wedding was absolutely beautiful! D.J. and Mariah have a whirlwind love story and our entire group of friends is just so thrilled that he has met the love of his life! It was a blast celebrating with them!

(And P.S.- Mark sounded awesome singing at the wedding- He sang "Glorious Day" by Casting Crowns and played the guitar! I love hearing him sing and the boys had so much fun watching and listening to him practice for weeks. Heath is his biggest fan and will just sit and watch him sing and clap and clap for him when he's done! And the other day I heard Nolan singing the song to himself while relaxing in the bathtub! LOVE hearing him sing praises to God!)

Since our boys were busy with their wedding duties, our date for the evening was our friend Phil who was in town from Austin, Texas for the wedding. His girlfriend couldn't make it so it worked out perfectly! He supplied us with Kiddie Cocktails and great conversation!

When the wedding party arrived at the reception they hopped off the Party Bus in rare form! Needless to say they had a great time celebrating...and Mark sure kept the party going!
He and Kim shared some cake together!

And he danced up a storm! By the way, this is the ONLY photo I took with D.J. and Mariah in it! What was I thinking? I hardly took any pictures and I didn't even take one of the bride and groom! They both had a rockin' good time on the dance floor! And we even got to bust out D.J.'s signature move with him once or twice!

This photo starts Mark's turn with the camera...Dancin' the night away! (Yes, that's Mark's mom in the background...she was quite the Dancing Queen too!)

"Every day I'm Shufflin'" (Also a favorite song of Nolan's...what can I say, he's got eclectic tastes!)

Dr. Leensvaart...he's got the moves like Jagger, he's got the moves like Jagger, he's got the mooooooooves like Jagger!

As you can tell it was so fun to have some kid free nights with our friends! Ernie and Kim took some great pictures of the weekend too: check them out on their blog- HERE!

Congratulations to the newlyweds, Mr. and Mrs. D.J. Van Eps!
We pray that God blesses you richly with love, health, and happiness over the years!