birthday weekend recap

Thursday evening- Tyler had friends over for poker and a birthday get together. I had asked him how many people he thought might come so I could make sure that I had enough food and drinks. His answer was probably around 12. Well, I lost count-- there were kids coming and going out of both our front door and the downstairs door- but there were 20 pairs of shoes by our front door and more by the other door!



I think Ty had fun and he won poker for the night--as one of his friends put it--"Tyler didn't just win, he dominated."

Friday was Ty's 18th birthday.



His big gift this year was an iPhone.



It was a day off of school so he spent the day getting his iPhone set up, playing Connect 4 with a friend (while he was waiting for his phone to download),



played in a kickball tournament at school, went out for dinner with friends, went to a football game, and went out with friends after the game. Needless to say, we didn't see that much of Tyler on his birthday but I think he had a great day!

Saturday was Drew's 12th birthday. His big gift this year was a big Lego set.

Drew spent the day building Lego's,



(this is what his floor looks like :)



eating homemade cinnamon rolls,



going to a Gopher football game,



going out to Olive Garden for dinner, and scoring a goal in his hockey game. I think he had a great day!

Sunday we had a little family birthday celebration with Grandma and Grandpa, Aunt Kim and Uncle Ron and 3 sweet cousins. It was a fun afternoon opening presents,



grilling out in beautiful weather, visiting, looking through old photo albums, and making birthday wishes....



It was a fun birthday weekend!

happy birthday Drew

Today we celebrate Drew's 12th Birthday!!! (My youngest is 12!!!)



Happy Birthday



to you,



Happy Birthday



to you,



Happy Birthday



dear Drew,



Happy Birthday



to you!!!


(Drew went to a U of M football game today with a friend and had a blast! What a way to spend a birthday- outside in the new stadium in 70 degree weather!!!)

Love you Drew-Drew!

happy birthday Tyler

I am seriously trying to figure out how my 'baby boy' can be 18 today!?!?

I really can not believe how quickly the time has gone- it doesn't seem that long ago that these pictures were taken of us as new parents holding a brand new beautiful baby.



And that baby has grown into an amazing young man that I am so incredibly proud of!!




Love you Ty!

a bathroom re-do

Well, I have been procrastinating again.

Anything to get out of choosing a paint color and painting my living room, dining room and foyer.

I decided just the other day to paint Tyler's and Jake's bathroom downstairs. We have lived in our house for 10 years and I have never painted their bathroom or really done much to it. This picture was taken after I had cleaned everything out of the bathroom and taken pictures off the wall.



So yesterday I painted their bathroom and I am really happy with how it turned out.

the legend

A few weeks ago Drew came home from school and said that older kids at the middle school have been asking him if he was Jake's brother.

When he says yes, they ask him if it is hard to live up to "the legend"?


After Drew shared this with me, he asked; "What did Jake do???" Ummm...I think I would like to know too!!!!

Jake is at the high school now, but apparently his name lives on at the middle school. =0)

halloween fun

A few pictures from Halloween.

new furniture

We have been in desperate need for some new furniture for our great room. The furniture in this room is over 12 years old and this room is definitely the most used room in our house and the most used furniture.

Some of the seems were ripping open. We had green silly putty (from years ago) that was accidentally left on the sofa and got squooshed between the cushions! Luckily, because it was between two cushions it was somewhat hideable! (After that incident, silly putty was banned from our house!)

Yesterday my mom and I went out furniture shopping. Just to start looking. Because this is a big purchase and something that our family will have to live with for probably another 12 years I was sure that it would take me a long time to find exactly what I wanted.

The first furniture store we walked into and the second sofa I saw is the one we purchased. Yes, in less than 20 minutes we picked out and bought a sectional sofa!! This is huge for me because I am not one to usually make quick decisions! =0) I have been debating on paint colors for my living room forever.... but yet I can walk in and buy furniture in just minutes??!!??

And the sofa was delivered today!!! And I love it!!! (These pictures are not the best quality~ the color and texture is off just a little.) Here is Jake enjoying the new sofa.



A view from the kitchen looking over the great room at Drew all curled up on the sofa.



I am loving the new sofa!!



So now I guess it is back to living room paint colors decisions... =0)

memories of Halloween

With Halloween approaching in just a few short days, I thought it would be fun to share some of my favorite Halloween pictures from years past.

::Halloween 1992:: Tyler's 1st Halloween



::1996:: Jake's 1st Halloween that he dressed up in a costume~ what a cute little Elmo!



::1997:: Darth Vader and Mickey Mouse. (This was a week before Drew was born.)



::1998:: A ninja, a dragon, and a power ranger. Jake picked out Drew's costume this year and insisted that Drew would be such a cute dragon. =0)



::1999:: Buzz Lighyear, Winnie the Pooh, and a Green Bay Packer football player. This was a month after we moved into the house we live in now.



::2000:: Mickey Mouse #2, Dracula, and Harry Potter.



::2001:: An astronaut, um...something scary?!, and Bob the Builder.



::2004:: A ninja, a hockey goalie and Tyler later threw on a hockey jersey (and Rollerblades to get to more houses faster!)



And last year Drew was a banana?!?! (One of his friends went as a gorilla =0)



And this year??? I don't think there are going to be any costumes.(Sniff, sniff- I am a little sad about this!)

To see some more fun Memory Lane posts- head over to Scottsville where Erica gave me the great idea for the post today!

And I am also linking to Kelly's Korner for Show us Your Life: Halloween Costumes.

raking

Leaves.




Drew worked hard raking... to save the leaves from being mowed up!



There is a really cute story behind this leaf saving.

We have lived in this neighborhood for 10 years now- but it is still a newer development- with younger trees- so come fall we don't usually have that many leaves on the ground {although that is slowly changing}. Drew and his friends from the neighborhood used to go from yard to yard with a wheel barrel to collect all the leaves they could find. They would put all the leaves in one yard to make one big leaf pile that they all could jump and play in.

So, when Drew saw the grass getting mowed yesterday- he ran to get the rake to save the leaves he could. Evidently there must be a future leaf pile planned. =0)