Our Union Soldier

Mrs. Ludvigson's and Mrs. Glawe's 3rd grade classes had a Patriotic Program for their mothers on Thursday at the school! It was such a GREAT program... my only complaint is that I wish dad's and grandparents could have came to see it too! --- I forgot to bring my camcorder so I didn't get it recorded! :( 

The program covered several significant events from our country's history... Parker was a union soldier from the Civil War. We ended up ordering a costume online... and will re-use it at Halloween! ;) He had 2 speaking parts (conversing with the confederate soldier) and did GREAT! :)

Some of Parker's friends in the program were:

Beau Neiman - Confederate Soldier

Beau McCormick - Teddy Roosevelt

Evan VanHouten - Paul Revere

Jackson Godberson - George Washington

Jaxson Claussen - Abraham Lincoln

SLEEPING BEAUTIES!! :)

We could hear the pitter patter of little feet and a giggle here and there... but we knew they would make their way to their beds and be asleep by the time we came upstairs for bed!! To our surprise... this is what we found when we came up... 

I must say... Their days are often spent fighting... but their nights prove they LOVE each other!!!! -- we sure do love those boys!!!!

BOWLING...

It has been awhile since we have taken the boys bowling... so we joined the Mason family this weekend and went bowling for a few hours!! I only got one picture of our night out... :)

Old Friends...

Tonight Erin celebrated her 30th birthday... and Nick and I actually got a sitter and went out for a bit!! :) Here is a picture of 4 of us girls (missing Erin!!! - darn it) from back in the day!! --- We used to spend EVERY weekend with these girls and their guys!! Sure miss spending time with them all!!!

Mommy and Her Boys...

We were in Des Moines this weekend to show the house to some potential renters... and got to see a few good friends while we were there!! Mere and Jonny come over to our hotel room to see us and surprised us with champagne and a card and asked us to be the host and hostess at their wedding in October!! We are sooo excited and can't wait to be a part of their BIG day!! :) 

Mere took this picture of me and the boys... :)

WRIGLEY

We have added a new family member to our family!!! WRIGLEY!! :)  -- a.k.a. WRIGLEY BEAR! The boys are in heaven right now... and LOVING every minute of it! Wrigley was born on 12/12/12 and  he was part of the boys' Christmas present... but we had to wait for him to be ready to come home to us in February!! Wrigley is a golden doodle... and will be a big boy when he is full grown! For now we are enjoying his 'puppy' size!! :) 

The ride home...

 

Settling in at home...

 

WELCOME to our family Wrigley Bear... we are so happy you are here!! :)

No family is complete without the pitter patter of doggy feet! - - author unknown

Our Dinner ENTERTAINMENT...

Most nights of the week... we have entertainment with our dinner!! ;) Our boys sure like to perform for us!! We have singing and dancing and it all happens on stage (a.k.a. the radiator)!! Here they are putting on another show!! :)

ANOTHER... Eye Surgery

I remember having a picture like the one on the left when I was dating Nick.... a snowmobile accident in 1999 caused him to have 5 surgeries then and here we are 14 years to the EXACT day... having surgery #6 on his poor eye! Unbelievable!!!

Nick and Owen were playing around and Owen kicked his head a few years ago and Nick started to have vision troubles then... then about 2 months ago they were playing around again and Nick completely lost his vision. We went to our optometrist in Des Moines and he told us the lens implant had become detached and from that point on... we spent lots of time in the eye doctor office with appointments with different specialists... to finally the surgery on January 4th!

Here is Nick BEFORE surgery...

and here he is AFTER....

He has weight restrictions and just has to take it easy for awhile for recovery!! THANK YOU all for your prayers, visits, calls, texts, gifts/cards and kind words!! Thank you to Don and Jane for helping with the boys too!!! We truly appreciate it!!!

***UPDATE... Nick's eye has been slow to heal, with cornea swelling and pressure issues, but is now improving!! We are hoping for a contact soon so he can have his sight back!! :)

Milkshakes

Our boys LOVE to go get ice cream... ALL YEAR ROUND! So we decided to start having it more often at home since it can get pricey with 5 people!! :) We make sundaes, milkshakes and have ice cream with strawberries or raspberries more often than I would like to admit!! ;) --- but the fruit makes it better, right? ha! Here we are with our milkshakes.... they were carmel and chocolate this time!! YUM!

We

Parker's NEW Room...

Our FOOTBALL fanatic of course wanted his room to be FOOTBALL (with a little bit of basketball)!! :) Instead of one team tho.... he decided to go NFC teams of the NFL... so he can have several of the teams he likes!!! The BEARS are still #1 in his book though! :) Here are some before and after pictures!

BEFORE

(there was a 1/2 bathroom in his room that we removed... and wallpaper on the ceiling - ugh!)

AFTER

Owen's NEW Room...

Our former PACKERS fan... has now switched to a baseball room!! ;) This was our dramatic switch!! ha! He had a Packers room... and now likes the Bears! --- so we switched to NO SPECIFIC TEAM... and got him new bedding (sheets with all of the MLB teams) and some general baseball decor! :)  He has already told me once that he doesn't like baseball now... ha! He really does... just my little indecisive boy! ;)

BEFORE
(sorry can't find any other before pics???)

AFTER

Once it was all decorated.... he was a HAPPY boy!! :)

Drew's NEW Room...

For Christmas Drew got lots of decor and new bedding for his 'big boy' room! So I will show you some 'before' and 'after' pictures of his NEW space!! :)

BEFORE

The room...

 The closet...

 

AFTER

The room...

The closet...

We are VERY pleased with how it all turned out... the closet especially since it was so dark and dingy before!!! :)