FUN weekend!!!

Whew... this weekend was busy, but sooo fun! Nick and I had a MUCH needed "Date Night" on Friday night... we went out with friends from our church (Marriage Matters Class), we went out to AppleBees for dinner (only after everyone made it back from Spaghetti Works - poor Jess, how many trips did you make downtown???) and then to a Stars Hockey game (and they WON - 4 to 1... we never get to see our D.M. teams win... YEAH!!!) It was such a FUN night... we have such a great group and it was nice to get together with them all again! - PLUS... Meredith and Jonny watched the boys for us, so we got to hang out with them when we got home!!! We bowled on the Wii and hung out for a few hours... - ok... so Jonny was a little hooked, he even broke a sweat!!! hehe!!

For an update of their night with the boys, check out Mere's post on her BLOG @ http://mereandjonny.blogspot.com/2008/03/fun-night-babysitting.html!!! They had quite the night!!! :) hehe!


Then, today (Saturday) we got the boys' NEW bed delivered!!! YEAH!!! FINALLY - it is all set up and ready to go!!! They are sleeping in it as I write! I will be posting pictures (hopefully tomorrow) on my previous post http://hamannfamilyblog.blogspot.com/2008/03/parkers-room.html, so be sure to check back! Owen is VERY excited... he thinks HE should be up on the loft!!! hehe! We have already had to hide the ladder up on the top bed to keep him off it... this should be a fun adventure!!! :) Parker is sooo excited to be sleeping with Owen, but he told me tonight before bed that if he gets scared up there he will come in to Nick and my bed... hopefully everything goes well tonight since he likes to sleep SIDEWAYS when he sleeps with us!!! They both are happy to have a "NEW" room!!! And... Nick and I are excited that they will be sharing a room - plus, their bed is really nice... we both said how awesome it would have been to have a bed like that growing up!! They are lucky boys! - hopefully they enjoy getting to share the room and will be close as they grow up!!!

Then tonight we grilled out and had our friends Shawn and Lindsey and their 3 kids (Colin, Chloe and Dylan) over for dinner. We had steak and grilled shrimp... YUMMY!!! I even had a cake for desert!!! Lindsey, did you and I even get any cake??? hehe! It was very good food - Nick did a GREAT job on the grill! It was a fun night... the kids played games and the Wii - once Parker got over his little melt down he had when they first got here!! :) Agghh! Owen was busy as usual, running around, chasing after Daddy, crying and dumping water on the carpet (thanks Shawn for getting that!!!) but suprisingly he did very well with Dylan (he is 3 months) - Owen really isn't around any babies and I was a little nervous, so it was nice to see he was gentle with Dylan. He gave him some hugs... and was very curious, it was very sweet!! We had one little mishap - Owen got ahold of Dylan's teething toy and decided he needed to try it out... but all in all, it went well! Thanks guys for coming over for dinner... so good to catch up!!! LOVE the NEW van too!!! I didn't get to check it out other than through the window, but I heard all about it from Nick, who thinks we should have the 2008... such a dreamer!!! :)

Mere and Jonny... we will have to have a grill out this summer!!! :) - Thanks again!!!

Hope everyone's weekend was a good one!

(Sorry... we only have one picture from the weekend... we didn't do well with the camera!!)

Family Fun Night - March 2008

What a BEAUTIFUL day!!! We went on a walk today with our daycare friends and also did sidewalk chalk... it was soooo nice and the kids had a blast being outside!!! - I can't wait for summer!!! :)


Tonight we took the boys to Family Fun Night again at the mall... it is always a good time, and best of all it's FREE!!!! The characters there tonight were BLUE (from Blue's Clues) and HELLO KITTY. - the boys were so excited to see BLUE... they both ran right up to him to give him a hug... and we don't even watch BLUE'S CLUES - - we have a couple of books and he is on 1 video we have?!?!?! - but apparently he was worthy of their love!!! :)



I had to start with this first picture of Owen... for those of you who know little Owen, you would agree that this look TOTALLY fits his personality!!!! - hehe! (so ornery!)

The boys giving BLUE a BIG HUG!!!!

Parker had a blast... Owen still didn't want to go on anything and just watch Parker... but he got just as excited as Parker!!! - Owen had more fun with his balloon!!

Parker got to get his face painted too... he wanted to be BATMAN, so they did a BATMAN mask! He LOVED it... and had to look in the mirror quite awhile before we could do bathtime! - hehe he is so funny!!!

And finally... I tried to get a good photo of the boys together, but this is as good as it gets! We enjoyed pretzel sticks from Auntie Annies afterwards... YUMMY! :)

HAPPY EASTER!!!

We had a busy Easter weekend!!! The boys, Uncle Matt and I went back to Ida Grove on Thursday morning for me to work at the tax office during our spring break (we had the whole week off!! :)). The boys got to go stay with Nina and Papa Hamann Thursday and Friday (THANK YOU!!!!). They had lots of fun playing with Nina and Papa and getting to go to the park with Nina and Aunt Tricia and the Ladwig cousins! Sorry Nina that Owen had a tough time!!! :(
I am sure it was very fun for him anyways, and I know Parker had a GREAT time!!!
Then Nick came to Ida Grove on Friday night with Dan, Kim and the girls! We went over to spend time with the Hamann's Friday night after I got off work.

Then on Saturday morning we went to Moorehead Park for the annual Easter Egg Hunt! We had a great time!!! Owen was busy as usual and was ready to start the hunt as soon as we arrived. Parker on the hand was mad that lots of kids started before they were supposed to, resulting in him only getting 6 eggs! Last year Parker did MUCH better!! Owen got 5 or 6 eggs as well, and had a blast doing it! He knocked another kid down (by accident!) and fell himself a few times, but all in all he had a blast!

Parker was being grumpy and did not want to meet the Easter Bunny, but Owen (who usually doesn't like costumed adults) ran right up to him and hugged him and gave him 5! He even let the Easter Bunny hold him, so I had to get a of picture!!!
















After the hunt I had to go back to the tax office to work and the boys and Nick headed over to the Hamann's for Easter dinner. The boys got to open their Easter baskets and scored big time... they got new shirts, pj's, candy, books, etc. The favorite gifts were: Owen - Pablo (from the BackYardigans) and Parker - SCOOBY DOO V-Smile game! THANK YOU for all of the GREAT gifts!!! Sorry I had to miss the festivities... hopefully next year Easter will be later!!
















After nap, we had a little Easter celebration with Nina Wilson (who had been sick all weekend with the flu!). The boys got lots of clothes, candy, pj's, puzzles, books, and hats. Their favorites were: Owen - the jelly beans!! hehe!! and the SANDALS!!! (this boy LOVES shoes!) ... well, the noisy books too! He loved it all! Parker - he loved the puzzles! We put one together today... they are very cute and have a story to go along with them, THANK YOU, Nina Wilson!!! We hope you get feeling better soon!!! Get lots of rest and take care of yourself!














THANK YOU Aunt Tricia for the Bunny Kisses too!!! VERY CUTE!!! :)

We came back to Waukee on Saturday night and went to our church's Easter services today... this was our FIRST Easter at our own church and it was very nice... the service was EXCELLENT! :)

After church, the boys opened their Easter baskets from us and then we went out to get groceries and meet Uncle Matt and Aunt Nonna for lunch at Perkins. THANKS for joining us Matt and Nonna!

THANK YOU to EVERYONE!!! What a fun Easter! :)

- Nina and Papa Hamann, Nick didn't get any photos of the two of you or the Edsens, so if you have some, I would love some copies!!! :)

Good-bye "Ol' BLUE!"

The time has finally come to say goodbye to Ol' BLUE! We were the proud owners of Nick's 1992 Chevy s-10 for the last 4 years... and we finally made the decision to purchase a newer truck for Nick! He is on cloud 9... literally!!! He has wanted a "REAL" truck for 6+ years... at least as long as we have been married I know he has been asking VERY frequently!!! But, as many of you know, he gets to drive a company vehicle for work, so I have been fighting having a second loan payment... but now the fight is over and we purchased a nice used Ford F-150 for him! - - my side... we owned the S-10 for 4 years and only put about 2,000 miles on it!!! - and I think Ross was the driver for most of those miles!! :) Nick's side - I WANT A TRUCK!! :) hehe~! Anyways... it's done and he is happy... I am actually too, because now he can go places with the boys and I can have some much needed time alone!!! :) - (the S-10 didn't have real back seats!)

A GREAT day and a Fun Night with FRIENDS!

WOW... what a GREAT day!!!
Today was parent/teacher conferences at Parker's school... and without sounding like I am bragging, I want to tell you all how proud of a MOMMY I am today!!! The conference went VERY well... Parker is doing such a good job... as the teacher was telling me all of the positive things, I was about in tears! It made me so proud and I told Parker when I picked him up from school how proud I was of him... again almost in tears. He says so casually... "WHY??" - hehe! Then I told him because he is so smart and well behaved at school and because his teachers like him... he just grinned from ear to ear! :) It was sweet!

Then... today after daycare I was able to get some of the redecorating items for my kitchen... which made me SOOOO happy!!! I have been having a tough time deciding on colors and designs... so my redecorating is starting to come along now. :)

And finally, Meredith and Jonny stopped over tonight to work on her blog and visit. It was such a fun night!!! For those of you who don't know, Meredith is Owen's GODMOTHER and a GREAT friend of mine from college.. so it was fun catching up and checking out her NEW COACH purse!!! - LOVE IT!!! :)

Here are some photos of the night... we were acting a little crazy! For more photos... check out Meredith's Blog - http://mereandjonny.blogspot.com/2008/03/fun-night-at-nick-and-crazy-loris.html


So cute!!!
Jonny looks scared!!! :)













Sorry... Nick's eye doesn't photograph well! :)

Parker and Owen's Room...

We started Parker's room last week and are not completely done yet, but thought we would post some photos of our work in progress. We have a loft bed on order and are just awaiting delivery... and then we will get things finished up in there... and it will be Parker and Owen's room! :) Parker is so excited to share a room with Owen... he asks everyday, "Mom, if Owen has a tough time going to sleep, can I go lay with him??" hehe... he is so funny!

The lines look funny with my camera, but they are straight!! :)

I will add more pictures as we get it done!!! - ok.. all done!!! We got the bed yesterday (Saturday, March 29th) and here are all of the pictures...

Mall Fun!

Sorry it has been awhile since my last post... I have been sick since Friday night... we left to go to Ida Grove for the weekend and turned around and came back on Saturday since I was so sick! I haven't been able to have daycare all week yet... yesterday was my first attempt out of bed! Aghh... it has not been fun!! Nick has been great and has stayed home from work the last 2 days to help with the boys... who both have fevers now too. Hopefully we will all be feeling better soon.

Before all of the sickness... we had a fun playdate with Aunt Kim and the girls (Caroline and Grace)! :) We went to the mall and then out to lunch! Everyone did GREAT... except Owen had a rough time... he was over tired and hungry, so not a good combo! But once we got to the "lunch" part of the date, he was great!!! :) Here are some random photos of the kids... and one of Kim too!! :) - - - my favorite is of Caroline with her hands up in the air... her tongue is hanging out too!! :)