Family get-together

The boys and I headed up to Hopkins to my cousin Katy's house for a Petersen party. My uncle Charlie was in town and it called for a party.

The boys had fun sitting at the kiddie picnic table (makes me think we need one for ourselves since Joey sat so well at it)

Jack loved playing the mini golf course with Grandpa Dave-thought I had a pic of this? I guess not :(

He also loved the Stomp Rocket! We had never seen this before and it was a hit with the boys.

Joey spent most of the party going up and down their stairs and playing with the gate.

A good time was had by all :0)

A weekend without my bro

Hi everyone..Its Joey! I'm home alone with my mom because my brother Jack is up in the cities with my Mama & Boppa for the weekend! I get ALL the toys to myself and nobody is pushing me around.

I love to play with the THOMAS the train sets. Mom says Jack never really played with them much and I do...ALL THE TIME. I like to carry the trains around clutched in my hands if I am not putting them on the tracks. I also like to put them on the Little People Family village road and send them in circles.
I do ALL this while catching up on my favorite shows..Thomas, Dora the Explorer and Wonder Pets. I'll watch a few Mickey Mouse Clubhouses too..Mom says we might go visit Mickey at his house someday in Florida..but not until I have better Manners? What are manners?
I like to scream at the top of my lungs and bite and scratch people if I dont get my way or I dont like what they want me to do..like change my diaper. I have better things to do than that..don't they know? I'm trying to tell them but they dont understand the way I talk yet. I can say mama and Bye bye pretty well..and I know where my nose and eyes are.
This Spring I got bit all over my these nasty gnats...Mom thinks I am allergic to them..all I know is I want to scratch them 24/7 and it makes me crabby. So I do have reason to be crabby sometimes. My mom is allergic to bugbites too- I heard her tell my Daddy she feels so bad for me...I'm milking this for all I got!
Maybe today she will take me on a ride in the bike trailer. I will have so much more room without Jack in there...I heard her tell Jack she is out of shape on our last ride..Maybe I should loan her my Big Bird book of shapes to read?
I just pooped in my diaper..gotta go run away from my mommy..BYE!

that spinning thing...

Last night I was eating some Salt & Vinegar chips with my sandwich...Jack LOVES chips and spied them on my plate right away. ( He was eating his Kids Cuisine)





He asked to eat one and I said ok..but they are adult chips because they are extra salty...he tried it..thought about it awhile and replied...





"Mom, I like the ones with the spinning thing on the front...."





(Im thinking hard trying to figure out what he means)





He asks if these chips are that kind..I look over to the bag and the lightbulb goes off...

Spinning thing = windmill on Old Dutch chips bags...

He really is smart..I'm just slow.

16 months

Loves his rabbit..carries his around by the ears...and loves when I sing "Little Bunny Foo Foo"
Is quite vocal..no real words really..just loves to scream and sqwauk and hear his own voice..ugh.

Waves and yells "bye-bye" (sounds like "ey-ey")everytime we pull out of the driveway at daycare.

Loves to ride around on his Mickey Mouse car..and push it backwards with his feet and says "ey-ey"

Here he is holding the tie to my bathrobe..something I did as a little girl with my mom's bathrobe tie too!

Likes to eat bananas, peanut butter on toast and waffles, cereals of all kinds, grape and apple juice, baked beans, eggs.

Still prefers a bottle of milk at bedtime and when he is really upset...the sucking must calm you down...not ready to get rid of those "ba-ba's" yet.

You LOVE bathtime..I have to bribe you with watching Wonder Pets to get out..I sing the theme song and you know and start to stand up to get out.

You have started to KISS pretty good..although you have been known to BITE too so we are all careful when you lean in.

You are changing everyday Joey!

Happiness is...

being able to bring the boys outside after work to splash, run, slide, stroll, throw sticks in the creek ..and capturing it all on the camera.

Joey is in heaven..he can finally walk around outside and explore...unfortunately he loves to run TOWARDS the road and the largest mud piles he can find.

Happiness is NOT: picking up the boys yesterday to hear that Joey BIT another kid..hard on the cheek and left a mark. OOPS!

He is a little devil compared to Jack.

Happiness is NOT having my hubby leave for 5 days for a sunny golf vacation in FL.

Happiness IS having my mom come down on Sat to babysit while I go scrap the entire day nearby!

Happiness is finally getting Joey's room picked up, clothes sorted through, garage sale totes full.

Happiness is NOT having a laptop maxed out on memory and no time to clean it up to post more pics...hopefully soon..right after I get caught up on this weeks American Idol!

Happy St Pat's

I found it..or it found me?

I've been absent..without a note to excuse me...

I found Facebook and I have been sucked into its vices ever since...
I went to a reunion of sorts last Friday because of the wonders of FB..met up with my old co-workers from the movie theater I lived at ..I mean worked at in highschool.

New posts coming..I need to upload pictures first and my laptop is full!

Happy Valentine's Day

I got the boys to sit on the couch by giving them both Marshmallow (peep) hearts..the way to boy's heart really can be through his stomach!

I love these two boys to the moon and back! oxoxo Non

Little Heartbreakers

Hubby and I are off for a weekend together ..and the boys are staying with G&G S...Happy Valentine's Day to all those we love!

Coming home

After a fun night out of a scrapbook class at A's with Molly and some shopping at American Eagle and Target....I came home late to this sitting on the couch...
SO precious ...I can tell Daddy wrote it but Jack must have been involved in what to write....

15 months

Joey you still never cease to amaze us with what you can do..

at 15 months you:

Weigh 26lbs 14oz

Are 28" in height

Had your last "baby/kid shot" until kindergarten -Hurray!-(except for flu shots)

Love to open and shut drawers and have added the skill of putting objects into the drawer..closing it..and looking at me and babbling something that sounds like.."I dunno??"..to which I respond.."Where did it go?"..and this goes on for awhile until you pull it out of the drawer and we both SQUEAL really LOUD!!! :)

Grandma J says you eat like a truck driver..you shovel in what you like the most and then eventually eat whatever is left as well.

You are teething again..must be the incisors this time..Ibuprofen every night at 6 helps..A LOT

You want to walk around everywhere..forget a stroller or a car seat..this dude wants to WALK!

You carry around a stuffed animal (big or small) by its one arm or scarf and it is SO CUTE..if not a stuffie then a BLANKIE..you love blankies and will pull them down off a chair if necessary and then snuggle your cute little face into it like a pillow.

You love to look at books and will often pull out a basket of them and just page through all of them..nice quiet time for both of us!

Your bedtime is 8 pm on the dot. LOVE THAT!

You still love your bottles of milk..we know you should be done with them by now..but you love them so much and they contribute to the easy bedtime at 8pm!

When I pick you up at 4 from daycare..you smile and waddle over to me right away..it just melts my heart everytime! )esp when the pom pom on top of your hat waddles along with you..

You LOVE to eat: goldfish crackers, cheese, toast, peaches, bananas, bologna, bitterb buscuits, eggs, peas, green beans, apple juice, pears, chicken, pancakes, waffles and Cheerios!

Your brother is not very good at sharing with you and you have learned how to groan and cry until you get your way..or I have to step in a break it up.

You took a break from climbing the stairs..but now like to do it eveyday or night at least once..and you can go all the way up our full flight (about 15 steps) from basement to main level.

Which leads to your sudden need to climb on everything! You climb up your brothers green chair to get onto the couch..
You love to open the dishwasher door and then climb in..your bro never did this! LOL!

Thanks for the laughs and all the love buddy..we love you !

Spaghetti Supper at IC

Tonight we went to the Catholic Schools Week Spaghetti Supper at my old grade school IC in Columbia Heights. G & G Z came with us. After we ate and had a meeting with Clifford the Big Red Dog we walked down to my old Kindergarten room so Jack could see.

It was a lot smaller than I remembered :)

Saturday adventures with Mamma

I LOVE IHOP MOM!!

HMMMMMMMMMM..what to order this time?????



My mom and I took the boys to IHOP (yum pancakes!) and Underwater Adventures at the Mall of America..It went pretty well..Jack thought the fish & sharks were pretty cool and I was entertained as well.

Joey was a trooper having to be in his stroller for such a long time..

Mamma bought them each a suprise at the gift shop...Jack had to have this shark hat

and Joey especially loved his Sharky the shark...it must be the bright blue color and sharp teeth! LOL

But the best part of all was just spending time with Mamma Joan...

xoxo!

BRRRRRRRRRRRRR

Forcast for tonight:

Temperatures start to tumble after dark, sunset is at 4:57, winds out of the northwest 5-15 mph. Wind chill warning in effect until noon on Friday. Wind chills will be around -25 to -40 overnight tonight through tomorrow morning. Clear skies with lows in the metro of -17 to -22 degrees..

YAWOZAAAA!!

We are bundling up in many layers, drinking a lot of hot chocolate (with Redi whip!!) and hoping this cold spell doesnt last too long..Jack really wants to play in the snow!

Happy New Year!

I went all out and bought a $7.97 fun pack at Cub Foods to help us celebrate our 7:43pm countdown to the new year!

Jack just couldnt wait until 8pm.

Jack loved the whole costume thing and even Daddy participated..yeah Daddy!

I had bought the fixings for ice cream sundaes but the 4yr old crashed before we had a chance to make them...that is what happens when you dont take your nap!

Grandma J had been down playing with the boys all day and they had a great day!

We are looking forward to making more memories in 2009..

Non's word for 2009 is SIMPLIFY.

The S's

Santa- We went to see Santa at the Macy's in downtown Mpls with both Grandma's-had a great breakfast..the big man came earlier to our table than last year so we were able to sneak out and see the 8th floor exhibit before a big rush.

Sick- I ended up with the stomach flu -hubby was gone out of town so I had to send the boys next door to the daycare house. Thank goodness for angels to take care of them when I couldn't!

Squeal- Joey loves to squeal really loud when he sees something he likes...Dora on TV for instance.

Snow- we are getting a good amount of the white stuff this month..makes everything clean and very Christmasy looking. Just wish it would warm up so Jack could play outside in it.

Scrapbook- wishing I had some extra hours each day to document the boy's life now..hoping come January I can sneak away a few hous here and there on the weekend to let my creative juices flow.

Sunday School- Jack has been attending this fall and LOVES IT. I love that he is learning about our faith and even knows a bit about the nativity story.

Keeping up with the Clauses

Busy here trying to start new Christmas tradtions and follow through with ones we started last year.

Jack has 4 -count them 4- count down calendars to track the days until Christmas. One I made on a pizza pan with an Uppercase Living rub on...it didn't turn out too great but he likes it..

The 2nd one I bought at Hallmark the day after Thanksgiving (one of my favorite Holiday season splurges is shopping and buying at Hallmark)

and one that Grandma Joan bought him with the the little doors you open-inside is a picture.

And lastly a placemat from Target with a spinning ornament with the date peeking through..part of Jack's morning routine.

I am also trying to document many of the little daily details leading up to Dec 25th in a mini scrapbook album I already put together. Im taking pictures everyday of what we do, eat, talk about, watch etc that makes this season special.
Jack is a bit tired of all the pictures but I've gotten what I need so far....

1st Haircut

We finally decided to cut off the mullet..it was really bothering both Daddy and I...and I must say Joey looks so much better now.
Granted boys always look older when they get a haircut..but you got cuter and older looking in a good way..

You behaved pretty well..it was not your best time of day-4:30 after a long day at daycare...but you liked holding Wren's comb and sitting on Daddy's lap.
( How about that flip flop cape Daddy is wearing LOL!!)

Turkey Day 2008

We had a great Thanksgiving this year. We were able to visit both sides of the family in one day and had our fill of the good food and good times with family...

Joey enjoyed his 1st turkey dinner..the real kind and not the lunch meat variety!
He also had his first pumpkin pie!!