Funny man!

Tomorrow I'm going to post pictures of a wonderful art project that Daniel decided we needed on our walls going down to the basement. Somewhere along the way he picked up a green dry erase marker and he decided that we need more color going down our stairs! It was quite the elaborate set up he had going too! :) Uncle Bill caught him in the act however and took some pictures of our budding artist. Then he got right to work cleaning up his nephew's mess!!!! Thankfully dry erase marker comes off the walls easily!!!!!

Life...

So sometimes life catches you by surprise.

Today on the way to school my sweet, adorable little four year old said, "Mommy, I'm getting too big to snuggle you." And of course, this super attached mom started telling him that he wasn't, etc. He continued to say how he was getting too old and too big and so on and so on. Imagine my reaction. When his bus came, he got right on without a backwards glance, a kiss, a hug....nothing. This bothered me all day at school....to the point of tears at some points. Until he got off the bus and was walking across the commons....when he saw me, his little face lit up and he ran to me and I got the biggest hug ever. Everything is ok again in this mom's world. We had snuggle time tonight (along with his brother) and it was a good night...he even smiled at his soccer pictures! :)

My sister also called tonight to tell me about what her boyfriend had gotten her for her birthday and the plans they had for this weekend. She turns 20 on Wednesday and I'm finding it tough to believe...my baby sister, grown up, with a boyfriend and turning TWENTY! Where has time gone?

Then the realization hit me....I will be 30 at the end of this month. I thought about that a lot tonight and a couple of my friends who are already 30 say they don't feel too different. I don't imagine I will feel different but it's making me look back on what I've accomplished and I have to say....I'm pretty happy. I have a fantastic family, great friends, a nice house, everything I ever thought and hoped I would have when I was 30....

At the risk of sounding like a dork or self-pitying....there is only one thing I wish I had more of. The self-confidence I see in all of my friends. They are some of the most outstanding women I will ever know. They are confident in all they do....work, relationships, family....never seeming to doubt a thing they do. Amazing. I can only hope and pray that one day I make it there.

I feel like this is just a rambling post and that may very well be but I feel better. Whew! :) And what could make this better right now? My little man is sitting next to me on the couch because he wants to snuggle his mommy before bed....

Pictures!!!!

Ok...here is a whole kaleidoscope of pictures for you! :) Enjoy!



Chris's First Soccer Game: Orange - His favorite color!!! :)

Daniel riding his tricycle all by himself!!!! He loves it!!!!

My smiley boy! :) Always ready for the camera!

We also have some cute video of the two boys but I have to figure out how to put them on here! If anyone knows will you help me out!!!!

Thanks!

~Nicole

Where is Time Going?

That's all I have to say! Another month has gone by and here I am just now getting a chance to sit down and fill everyone in on what is going at our house! :) Ok...where to start...

1) Chris has started soccer!!!! He has had 2 practices and he had his first game on Saturday! He is loving every minute of it. He was able to be goalie for almost a whole quarter (about 8 minutes) and was able to block 3 goals and allowed only 1 to go by! :) Way to go! By the end of the game however, my new little soccer star decided to stand near the middle of the field and direct traffic. He would point to which way the ball should be headed depending on who had it...funny guy!!!! I have pictures on the camera and I will pull those off soon and post them!

2) Greg and our neighbor across the street are working on finishing the rest of our basement! YEAH!!!!! We are adding a bedroom, storage room, bathroom, large family room area and a linen closet! They have worked for 2 weekends and already have the whole thing framed! They think they will work on drywall this coming weekend! I can't wait till it's done! Feel free to visit and stay overnight in about a month ~ there will be a nice new bedroom waiting!!!! :)

3) Daniel is starting to learn his colors! He knows quite a few color names but matching them up to the correct color is proving to be difficult. His blue shirt today was "yellow" and his orange Tigger is "purple." It's so much fun to work with him on this because he is trying so hard to get them but it's just not happening! I guess I'm mostly thrilled that I can ask him what color something is and he gives me a real color name (not a made up word or an animal name or something similar)!!!! :)

4) In case I haven't had a chance to call or email or anything like that lately....here is our biggest piece of news from the last month:

We are expecting No. 3 at the end of April!!!!

I had an ultrasound a week and a half ago and everything looks great! We are beyond thrilled and Chris is absolutely excited! He understands that it won't happen for a while because we told him that the baby will come after his birthday and man does he know that that is FOREVER away! :) His words! :) Daniel really doesn't know what is going on but someday he will!

Well, that is all that is new with us at the moment (like all of that isn't enough!). I PROMISE to post pictures soon!!!!!

See everyone around!
~Nicole

What a Weekend!

This past weekend we spent time in St. Louis. We had the boys pictures taken, did a little shopping and Greg, Chris, my dad, John and I all went to the Cardinals game!!!! Thankfully we had beautiful weather and the Cards WON!!!!! :) What a wonderful way to spend a Saturday!

We took the boys to my new favorite place to have pictures taken! They print the pictures in an hour and they are all cropped and ready to go! They even printed some in black and white! :) Love them!

Here are the pictures that we got copies of. I just can't believe how big my babies are getting when I look at these pictures. Daniel looks like a little man and Chris could be moving out of the house any day now! :)

Enjoy!

First Day of School!

So today was the first day of school. I will pull the pictures off the camera tomorrow and post them then! Chris had a great day today. He is in his second year at Hickory Hills Preschool and he was a little nervous getting on the bus but with a little reassurance from a great friend he made it just fine (THANK YOU M.!!!!)! :) On the way to dinner he talked quite a bit about school and I'm hoping that this year will be great!

My first day of school was very calm and fun! I am looking forward to a great year!

I hope everyone had a great day and I will talk with everyone soon (I hope!)

Pictures coming tomorrow!

Not Much New To Report...

Just a quick post to let everyone know that we don't have much to report! Seems silly to add a post saying that but we are still here....alive and kicking! :) There is only a week and a half until the teacher workdays and then it is back to school!

We are headed to Des Moines this coming weekend to visit Greg's parents (Grandma and Grandad) and to do some school shopping since both boys have really grown this summer!

More pictures coming soon so please keep checking back!