Sick, sick, sick!

That about sums up our February thus far - thankfully it's a short month so maybe we'll move on to being healthy for the rest of the year! Aiden is recovering from yet another cold and just finished a round of antibiotics due to a 'rattle' still in his lungs. Brendan is on the rebound after catching the croup-like cold Aiden had when we traveled to Green Bay and hasn't caught the next one, yet. After taking care of sick kids, I finally caught a cold too. I must say, no wonder they were so miserable - it was a pretty rough one!

Aiden's 'real' birthday was during the week and we celebrated with pizza - here he is blowing out his candles! He opened the gifts from us afterwards.



And for the record, he picked out his own clothes. He loves these MN Gopher pants and will wear them all the time if I would let him. Problem is, they don't exactly 'go' with everything...which is why he gets to wear them at home ;)





And, like it does every year, my birthday rolled around. It was a pleasant day, starting with my wonderful hubby letting me and my cold sleep in while took the boys off to church. I woke up to an hour of being the only one home! Then it was time to open presents - so much fun this year just because the boys were so excited to give me their gifts.

In retrospect, I wish I would have jumped in the shower before they got back, cold and all, since there was no time for me to do it before gifts - they were ready to open the gifts!

Brendan really wanted to get the Slider Station for me since the commercial is always on TV and the guys always says, "Moms love it!". We tried it out and it was easy to use and best of all, the KIDS loved it! Made for a very easy dinner!




The mirror and table I had 'hinted' about. Wellyn had them hidden here for me - he's very good at keeping secrets! Me, I can hardly buy anything and keep it for any length of time before I tell the person or give it to them. (the kids must take after me)


For dinner we went out to Chili's and the boys were hilarious. They just loved the food (they did order corn dogs) and the waitress was kid-friendly which is always a plus. She got a kick out of them telling her it was 'the best food ever'...shows you where my cooking rates! She also got them sprinkles on their ice cream, a real crowd pleaser.

So, this is kind of funny...on Monday I was talking to a fellow mommy on the phone while the boys were playing. They decided to put on some temporary tattoos - no big deal, I just have to move the toilet paper so it doesn't get soggy as they are getting the washcloth wet to apply them. After a few minutes Brendan came around the corner looking like this:


Nothing I would get too concerned about, except spring pictures at school were the next day! He was so proud that he'd gotten them on all by himself and that he looked 'tough'... A little oil before bedtime and his forehead and arms were as good as new!

Needless to say, with so much time spent being ill, we haven't done too much in the way of fun. Brendan started his spring break after school Tuesday and has all of next week off so we will be keeping busy with play dates. Aiden enjoys the kids coming over just as much since they are older, which translates into 'cool'. This photo kind of sums up their relationship...Aiden looking up to his older brother ;)

Birthday Bashes!

I'll apologize right away for the length of this post...it's been a busy couple weeks filled with so much to share. I'll try to keep the next one shorter!

The weekend before last was our neices' 1st birthday party. We made a last minute decision to pack up and head to Green Bay - very spontaneous for us! Unfortunately, Aiden had the sniffles during the day and they just continued to get worse the longer we were in the car. We got a motel room in Green Bay for Friday night and by the time we had settled them back in bed he also had a bad cough. At 2am he had a croup attack, a first for us... an hour in the bathroom with the shower running and we back to bed! Brendan was up early, peeking out the window of our room which looked down over the pool and waterslides. Aiden soon joined him and together they 'whispered' about going swimming down the waterslides; a cute way to wake up. We hit the water and were joined by my sister Katherine, nephew Preston, and Wellyn's parents for the morning. After many trips down the waterslides, laps around the pool and breaks in the hot tub, dried off and headed to lunch before Katherine and Preston had to head home.



Brendan and Preston taking a trip down the slide.


This would be me and Aiden - yeah, I didn't do very good and dunked him by accident.


Brendan going solo down the big slide.


After lunch we headed to the Appleton area for Ellies' birthday party. The boys were exhausted and fell asleep almost instantly once we started driving. It was a fun party, Ellie is just adorable and we also got to see our nephew Max and his mommy and daddy. The boys had a grand time playing, eating cake (or in Aiden's case eating frosting), and 'helping' Ellie open her presents.

Ellie and Stacey:


She is such a little ham, a real cutie! She seemed to enjoy the cake ;)


Gift openening; Staceys' sister Sara was able to see too via Skype from Spain. Brendan has the biggest crush on her!


My party boys!



Levi and Max:


After the party we headed back up to the motel for a little downtime before the kids went to sleep. Brendan rescue animals in the rainforest on the Leapster:


Doing some looking at legos, a favorite pasttime!


Wellyn 'resting his eyes' ;)


They were up early the next morning for another trip to the pool and many, many trips down the waterslides. After we were back upstairs we had a suprise visit from Ellie, Stacey and Colin. The boys were super excited to see them again and we all enjoyed some playtime before heading out to lunch. The end of lunch brought the end of our Green Bay trip and back to Minnesota we went.

Colin and Brendan playing Uno - a game that never gets old.


Aiden loves holding 'babies'... won't be much longer and Ellie will be holding him!


Wellyns' parents were in town on Wednesday evening, and the kids were very happy to see them again. Unfortunately, Aiden's cough continued to get worse as the week went on so Wednesday night we made a visit to urgent care. The doctor ordered x-rays to check his lungs and we were thankful to get the all-clear. Armed with a prescriptioin we went back home and tried to get some sleep.

Thursday brought birthday preparations followed by parent-teacher conferences at Brendan's school. We were very pleased to hear he is doing well in school and gets along with his classmates well. He rarely gets in trouble there since breaking the rules results in less free time - the highlight of his day!

Friday morning started with Aiden covered in hives... poor kid just couldn't catch a break this week :(. Calls to the pediatrician and pharmacist resulted in ending the prescription in case it was the cause of the hives. Friday evening we started hanging the crepe paper and some of the decorations of the party and Aiden was so excited - he said 'this is the best party ever'.

Saturday morning we were all running around finishing up the decorating - and thankgoodness Donna and Herb were still here! Donna took care of the food and Herb made a very important ice cream run. Wellyn took Aiden back to urgent care to have the hives looked at (and there was over an hour wait!) while I ran to get Aiden's cake... a busy morning for everyone. The doctor felt Aiden was getting better and they made it home just in time for the party.

We shared a party with friends Ava and Ella again this year. Their birthday is the day before Aiden's so it's a nice way to celebrate. Aiden had some Lightening McQueen decorations while we did a princess/unicorn ones for the girls. Wellyn printed a couple pictures on the sly at work for the walls and with those, the crepe paper and some balloons, it was a festive party. We always feel blessed by the friends we have out here and enjoy all the milestones we are able to share with them. Thanks to all of you who helped make this day special!

Trudy and the girls made this awesome unicorn pinata for the party - it was a huge hit! (no pun intended...)


Aiden's Lightening McQueen cake:


My first attempt at cake decorating a gluten-free princess cake.


Aidens' first peek at the cake - definitely approved!


Everyone had a few turns swinging at the unicorn. And they all enjoyed the toys and candy it was filled with.



The girls waiting for everyone to finish singing so they could blow out the candles:


Aidens turn!


One of the many very cool gifts Aiden received; an Air Force costume.


Again a HUGE thank you to Donna and Herb for all the cooking, laundry, dishes, dishes, and yet more dishes you did. The party went great thanks to you two!

This and That

The boys have had a busy couple of weeks between school and playdates. They've been relatively healthy too, which I'm thankful for. Aiden's last cold has cleared up (with no ear infection - yeah!) and so far we've managed to avoid the stomach flu that has been going around...knock on wood! Aiden came home from daycare last week all excited because they had got to put on old Halloween costumes and he got to be Buzz Lightyear (from Toy Story). That prompted pulling out our dress-up stuff...
My future racecar driver (and heart attack):


My future doctor (to fix the race car driver and my heart):


Such good brothers ;)


Wellyn and I are still working out hard, trying to beat his brothers in this crazy exercise competition we have going. So far we're doing pretty good, but there are still a few months left to go! The kids are always giving us thumbs-ups, telling us 'good job' and bringing us water when we're on the treadmill. And, apparently I sound bad when I'm on there since Brendan always wants to know if I'm okay... Well, it makes sense that I sound bad - I feel horrible! Burning lungs, rubber legs... bad thoughts about my fast brother-in-laws ;)

Last weekend I went to the Mall of America for a girls' night with one of my fellow moms. It was so much fun to wander around the mall at our own speed, try on clothes, go out to eat, and chat. We did visit the American Girl store (holy expensive!) and Legoland (okay, that can be expensive too) to look around. Whew, those of you with girls, it's not just the boys you need to watch out for - those dolls are pricey. Not to mention all the different shoes you can buy girls...literally one for each outfit! Probably a good thing I'm limited by the selection of boy clothes and shoes!

Last summer we took out the canoe and paddle boat with my parents and the kids around the shore of Gulliver Lake and found an old tree stump to take back to put in our aquarium. After getting it back here, we found it was too big so we sawed with a handsaw for awhile, but it was taking forever! Wellyn got his electric chainsaw sharpened last week and was able to cut right through it in no time. So Sunday night we 'redecorated' our aquarium with the stump and some new plants I'd gotten for Christmas.



The kids had an 'interesting' bath night earlier this week... you see, Santa brought them both cans of colored foam soap. They were playing really good together in the tub as we sat in the hall talked - actually caught up. And then, it was time to get them out - and this is what they looked like!! They had used so much of the foam that it made the water look like milk - and they thought it was hilarious; okay, it was, but getting them rinsed off and cleaning the tub afterwards wasn't quite as hilarious. Next time Santa should buy smaller cans... or pay a little more attention to the fun being had!


Look, a floating head!


With a beard (maybe Santa instead of a dr.):

Brrrr....

As in many other places in the midwest - it is COLD here! With yesterday's high topping out around -4 degrees and tomorrow's high expected to -3 degrees with worse windchills, I do expect we'll be staying indoors as much as possible!

A few weeks ago we all headed down to the south metro for our friend Paige's birthday party. The boys had a fabulous time - it was at Pump It Up which is filled with huge inflatables to slide down and jump in. Not to mention there was pizza, chips, pop and CAKE after they were done. Here is Aiden enjoying his pizza:


We did take advantage of the nicer weekend and take the kids sledding. Brendan had a blast and doesn't let some numb body parts from having some fun! Aiden on the other hand, well, it's not as fun for him. He doesn't like having the wind on his face at all and since he's so buddled up, doesn't really enjoy trying to walk or run around. He did take a ride down the hill several times with us though and was fortunate enough to have one of us (okay, Wellyn) pull him back up the hill too.





For Christmas, Wellyn's dad made me a shoe bench and coat rack with cubbies - it is perfect! Wellyn painted it and put it up over the weekend also. It has made a huge difference in our entry and in keeping the kids things picked up. Here it is after first being hung:


And after coming back from sledding (a great spot to hang damp clothing!):


Our past few weeks have been full of fun playdates with others and we still have some more lined up! We also were able to leave the boys with some friends and go on a 'date' by ourselves last Friday. Okay, we really did errands, but it was still fun! Brendan started his next level of swimming lessons last week and is doing great. He was a little nervous because he had a different coach, but she is amazing and has that 'kid humor' down pat. I do believe he's in love ;) And his old coach is teaching a few lanes over from him and always makes a big deal of Brendan entering the pool area - they should get bonuses for how fun and nice they are there! Tomorrow Aiden and I have our last ECFE class; I think we'll take a break from them until spring since we seem to be filling up our days and weeks as it is. Not to mention we're heading into the time of year when we miss the most classes due to illnesses. Other than that, we're just keeping busy with the normal things that make up our lives...