Busy Weekend

Another weekend has come and gone... and I have no pictures! We had a great weekend... lots going on! Friday Nick and his cousin Ryan took Hallie and Parker to the Waukee football game (the kids' FIRST one)! They stayed until half time... and had a pretty good time. Parker says next time he would like to stay for the WHOLE game (I am thinking that could only happen with a REALLY GOOD nap beforehand)! :) While they were at the game Candi, Reese, Owen and I headed to the mall to play and have an ice cream treat! It was fun getting to chat and chase our kids! :) - - there are a few photos on Candi's sight.... http://ladwigs.blogspot.com/!

Then Saturday morning we went on the MEMORY WALK with Meredith and her family and friends in memory of her dad! (I had to steal a photo from her sight... but you can read more about it and see some more photos on her blog: http://mereandjonny.blogspot.com/). We were so glad we were able to go this year and hope to be able to in the future too!! - - LOVE YA MERE... glad you had such a good turn out and it was a GREAT day for it! :)

After the walk, Nick helped Ryan with some wiring things around their house and we spent some time with Candi and the girls and then headed home to get some things done around the house. Then we all got to have dinner at Ryan and Candi's... Seafood Lasagna - YUM!!! It was DELICIOUS... thank you!!! I am going to need that recipe!
Sunday we had a few errands to run and then hung out at home... watched some t.v. and got a little of our fall decor out.
It was such a nice weekend... and the weather was great! I love those weekends!! :)

Happy 60th Mom!

This past weekend my (Lori's) Mom turned 60!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!We went to Ida Grove for a visit and to help her celebrate this milestone! While we were there we got to also visit Nina and Papa Hamann for a bit (hope you are feeling better, Nina) and then got to go over to some friends' house and visit and have some yummy food during their Pampered Chef party! (Sorry Mom was on the phone when I was trying to take pictures... and I have to take what I can get!! :))

The kids had a blast helping Daddy outside with some housework to get ready for winter - Nick installed a new garage door opener for my Mom and then cleaned out her gutters and picked up branches and hauled them to the dump for her... so there was lots to do!

Parker and Owen played outside most of the weekend... Mom has this old metal swingset from the previous owners of her house and surprisingly it is still standing and even still has one swing left on it! The boys played on it all day on Sunday - Parker even went ALL THE WAY ACROSS the monkey bars on his own!!! He was so excited!! :) Here are a few pics from the weekend.

Date With A Purpose

Tonight Nick and I (and our friends Brian and Lori) went to a seminar called - DATE WITH A PURPOSE given by Dr. Gary and Barbara Rosberg. It was held at our church... and was a GREAT seminar! We hope to go to more seminars by these two in the future! - - Nick and I love getting to go things to improve our marriage... they are great reminders of how much we have to be thankful for!

Before the seminar we even got to go out for Pizza Ranch with Brian and Lori!! :) It was yummy! - - we missed you Amy and Jason!

The kids got to have a babysitter... Lindsay! :) She brought over arts and craft materials for the boys... and they had a blast!! THANK YOU Lindsay! - - you know you have a good sitter when Owen's tummy was completely covered with green marker!! hehe! They had so much fun... they told us all about it on the way to Ida Grove Saturday morning! :) - - ok, so Owen just says, "Linley" and grins from ear to ear!! - - but it is precious! :)

THANK YOU again for watching the boys so we could go tonight! :)

Beautiful Day...

It was a GEORGEOUS day today... even a bit hot!! My friend Nicole and Cooper joined us at the park while one of my little daycare kids were at school! The three oldest boys had a blast playing together... it was fun since they all 3 are in a different class at preschool!! The little boys had a great time on the swings... THANKS NICOLE for all of the great pushing you did today!! hehe! Afterwards Nicole and Cooper came over to our house for lunch! The boys again were EXCITED!!! They played while I got lunch ready and then we ate and played some more. Nicole and I were able to get in some good chat time too!!!! - Thanks for joining us! :)

I don't have any good shots of Parker... enjoy the rest though.

Parker Update...

Parker's arm is feeling MUCH better! :) Yeah! We got ZERO sleep the night it happened... poor Parker cried and whined all night --- Nick and I were EXHAUSTED and I might ad that he remembered none of the crying and whining! Agghh... poor thing! - - too bad we remembered it all in the morning!!! :)

The doctors wanted him to elevate his arm when possible to alleviate pressure and to keep it stationary as much as possible - - YEAH RIGHT!!! So little miss Kya (who actually broke her elbow last year) had a sling and we asked to borrow it... and of course we had to get photos.

Here are a few pictures of Parker and one of Parker and Owen - - The one with both boys is of Parker showing us his arm and Owen is on daddy's cell phone talking to Nina (a.k.a. Nani) Hamann!! :)

Parker took off the sling this afternoon and hasn't asked for it back yet... he says his arm feels better, so I hope it is healing up for him!

THE RESULTS ARE IN...

NOT BROKEN!!! The doctors took x-rays and Parker does not have any broken bones... he just bruised his elbow pretty bad and the doctor said it could be pretty sore for about a week! He is to take ibuprofen and tylenol for the pain. Nick said that he had a pretty grumpy boy in the ER (even though Parker is the one who wanted to go)!! He did get 8 stickers (which is why he really wanted to go!!) - - those are PRETTY EXPENSIVE stickers!!!
Lets hope our family doesn't continue to make a habit of going to the ER - that is 2 of us in about a months time! Aghhh.

Our Childless Weekend

This weekend I had my friend Julie's sale so Nick decided he wanted some alone time to get some things done and watch the BIG game on Saturday, so he called Nina and Papa Hamann and asked if they would be interested in watching the boys for the weekend! Nina and Papa said YES so Nick met them in Jefferson on Friday night and after eating at Pizza Ranch the boys went home with Nina and Papa!!! - - THANK YOU SO MUCH DON AND JANE!!! :)

So... Saturday after the sale Nick and I decided to go out to dinner and then meet up with our friends Laci and Justin and head to the Comedy Club (The Funny Bone). We had gotten FREE tickets, so that made it even better!!! :) After the comedy (which was GREAT) we came back to our house and hung out for awhile (ok... it was after 2 before we got to bed)... and we did not get up today until 12pm!!!! SERIOUSLY!!!!!!!!! - - I can not remember a time when we slept so late!!! It was so nice! - we must have been EXHAUSTED! :)









Then today we met Nina and Papa Hamann in Carroll to get the boys - - we were SOOO happy to see our little boys, that is until the entire evening was spent fussing and crying and whining about EVERYTHING!!! Aghhh! Seriously... they were GRUMPY boys... Nina and Papa must have wore them out! :) - - either that or maybe they would have just rather have stayed there with Nina and Papa?!?! hehe!

Anyways... we had Ryan and Candi and the girls over for dinner... and the Dads and the kids were playing outside and Parker decided to climb up on the roof of our little playhouse and he fell off!!! He complained all evening that his arm hurt, but he could use it, so we weren't too concerned... that is until around 9pm when he was STILL crying about it! So Nick took Parker to the ER to have it checked out and I am at home with Owen waiting to hear the results! (I will post the results once I know!)










Despite all of the fussiness, we did have a great time tonight... thanks for coming over and thanks for the GREAT bars!! :)

GARAGE SALE SUCCESS!!! :)

YEAH!!! - The garage sale was GREAT!!! A HUGE success! Julie sold LOTS of her stuff with only some small things and a couple of big items left which the big things will be going on Craigslist soon! THANK YOU to all who brought goodies and who came to buy and donate!! :) - - Our bake sale went great too!! :) The raffle for a Jack-O-Lantern screen was won by Jessica Stevens!!! :) Jessica was a former daycare mom of mine and Julie's (how fun is that)! :)

THANK YOU, EVERYONE!!!!

GARAGE SALE - SATURDAY

This post is for my friend JULIE!!! To the left is a photo of her and her family... we are having a huge garage sale for her daycare closing this Saturday and here are our flyers/signs! - - - If you are local... please come and check it out!!






Click to enlarge! :)


















Our Bake Sale Sign...


















Our raffle sign...

Our Week...

This week has been very busy for us... now that school has started, I transport the kids 4 days per week! Monday, Tuesday and Thursday are Parker's days (and Corbin who is here Mon-Wed) and then Mondays and Wednesdays are Avery's days (who is here typically Mon-Wed) and then Thursday it is just us (me and the boys) to take Parker to school! - - wooo... that is a lot! - - I have been LOVING it though because it allows us to get out of the house for a little bit each day and the kids love it too! :)

Besides running everywhere I have been busy helping my friend Julie with her garage sale she will be having this weekend (Sat.)! She has decided to close her daycare and is selling many of her items.... so if you are local, you'll have to come check it out! - - we are also having a bake sale with the proceeds going towards some of Julie's expenses! She was diagnosed with Stage 3 Triple Negative Breast Cancer... and we want to help her out with some of the expenses she has incurred.

Then we spent last night over at our friends, Brian and Lori's house for dinner and SMORES!!! It was YUMMY!! :) Brian is quite the CHEF! He made us steak tips with fresh veggies, garlic mashed potatoes, corn, and oven-baked bread (which was still warm)!! It was delicious! - Great job Brian! Then after dinner we went outside and sat by the fire and roasted marshmallows and made smores... my favorite! :) THANKS for a GREAT night guys!! :)

Today we took Parker to school and then Owen and I went to the library for story-time... where we met Aunt Kim and Grace and Caroline!!! It was a good time, thanks for meeting us Kim! :)Afterwards Parker, Owen, my brother Matt and I ended up meeting my friend Laci at the park where we stayed and played for awhile! - - - what a fun day!

Sorry I forgot my camera for pretty much EVERYTHING this week... I will try to get some pics of the kids posted soon!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDMA HAMANN!!! :) Hope you have a special day! :)

BIG CREEK PARK

We had a GREAT Sunday... Nicole called me this a.m. and wanted to come to church with us!! We were so excited!! :) It was a fun service... a little different with a guest motivational speaker, but a really great message! Lilly and Cooper were a little aprehensive at first, but I think they enjoyed themselves!! - - the FREE goodie bag helped too! :) hehe!

After church we ran some errands... and stopped by Ryan and Candi's only to smell a YUMMY aroma coming from the kitchen!!! Me being the nosy person that I am... I ran to see what was cooking! She was making some BBQ Chicken with green peppers and onions... I watched her closely, only to steal her NEW recipe for our own lunch! :) - - THANKS Candi!!! :) It was YUMMY!!!!

After getting things done around home and relaxing we joined up with the SHEEKS Family (Brian, Lori, Abby and Anna) for a family date at BIG CREEK PARK!!! We had never been there and it was GREAT!!! - - well, minus the rain Brian!!! hehe! We had Subway at the shelter house and then on to the play equipment! The kids had a great time!!! :) ... and so did we!

Afterwards we went back to their house and planned to make smores... but had to cut it short so we could get to Target before it closed... as Parker is the LEADER at preschool tomorrow and has to bring treats!

Sorry to have left in such a hurry... we had a GREAT time and can't wait to do it again!!! - - We will be thinking about the smores for later this week! :) THANK YOU for inviting us for such a fun outing!!! :)










Below is Lori... BEGGING for me to take her picture! :) hehe




















































P.S. Aunt Tricia... Owen LOVES his "Tractor" sweatshirt you got him for his birthday and wants to wear it ALL the time now!! :) THANK YOU!! :) - it is ADORABLE!

HAPPY 30TH BIRTHDAY MERE!!

On Saturday night we went to Meredith's (Owen's Godmother) 30th birthday party at Jimmy's American Cafe in West Des Moines! It was a SURPRISE party for Mere thrown by Jonny... sooo sweet!! For her birthday he had this GREAT party and booked them a trip to FLORIDA!!! What a GREAT guy!!! :) It was a GREAT party... it was great to see some familiar faces and of course getting to visit with Shar, Monica and Adam, and the birthday girl Meredith and Jonny was a hoot!!! It was sooo funny... one of the waiters there was Andrew Georgopolis from Battle Creek - how fun is that??? We sat and chatted with him for a bit too!! :)

Uncle Dan, Aunt Kim, Caroline and Grace all came to stay with the boys... THANK YOU!!!! :) The boys had a great time too!!! :)

I just got a couple of photos from the night...

FIRST day of Preschool

Today was Parker's FIRST day of preschool!!! He was a lucky boy... his good friend from our daycare goes to school with him this year! :) They were BOTH soooo excited! It was precious! Parker acted like an old pro... telling Corbin what to expect!! hehe... it was very sweet!

Ironically... Owen and Braxton thought they should get to go to school too, so they grabbed back packs and waited to be photographed... saying "CHEESE" and all!!! hehe... it was so cute, they were so excited to get to take their big brothers to school!!! What a treat!




















When we went to pick the boys up... they both were so excited... their FIRST day was lots of fun!!! :)

LABOR DAY WEEKEND

For Labor Day weekend we got to spend time with the Hamann's (Don and Jane) and the Edsen girls (Kim had to work and Dan went to a game), time at home and time with the Chiafos' (Brad, Nicole, Lilly and Cooper)! It was a nice relaxing LONG weekend for us since Nick had Thursday and Friday as vacation days too!! :) - - the family photos are posted under FAMILY FUN!(previous post).

Here are a few photos from our BBQ with Brad, Nicole and the kids... (Papa Hamann made the picnic table the kids are eating on!!!)