Happy Halloween!

My inlaws came down to watch Joey and Jack today. I was able to get off work early and Grandma Kathy and the boys and I went to an apple orchard.

It was a little late in the season but we had a good time..tasting apples, picking a few and they had ponies and a playground for Jack to enjoy. Poor Joey just watched from his stroller.

We took the boys out for a short trick or treat time and then they went up to G&G's overnite and John and I had a costume party to attend.

Here I tried to capture how John tells Jack he is a half bearded man...and we told him he was going trick or treating like that. Jacks yells..No Daddy!.You're not done shaving yet!

...just a family joke.

It was good to go out as a couple again. John wanted to be an oversized horse jockey..I wanted to be Minnie Mouse or a flapper but the costumes were too small..so I became a doctor..with Jack's stethascope ...it says...eat 2 cookies and call me in the morning!Our friend Kyhl..works at Gustavus. He let me try on the lion head...and spin it.hee hee

One year ago today

you came into our lives and filled it with a love we didn't know we had room for..and wouldn't want to live without now.

You were approx 2 weeks early but I was more than ready to have you out! You sat very low for a long time and Dr. Cooley said I wouldnt go to my due date which was Nov 9th.

Just like your brother did, you amaze us with how much you grew this first year

AND

unlike your brother you are so physical and progressing a bit earlier than he did..understandable..you have him to copy!

We love you to the moon and back Joey.

Halloween now...

The boys had their daycare Halloween party this past week.


Aren't they cute?

A good friend's little boy walked around the house a month before Halloween last year with a basket full of candy repeating.."Halloween now.." it was pretty cute.

Its a good thing Joey's 1st bday party was not this weekend- Joey has not been his usual happy self. His 12 mos molars MUST be coming in. Lots of crying-eating his hands-slight fever and red face and Lots and Lots of DROOL.



Poor guy..he is awake right now as I write this..late for him but he is happy finally for a change and eating in his highchair and watching his shows on Noggin. Sorry but this kid LOVES tv. We keep it on Noggin to keep it approriate for him.



Starting to plan his party and get the house in a decent state after I was gone last weekend.

One for the books

This week has been eventful..not honestly in a good way.

Never thought I would have 2 heartattacks in one week at the age of 36.

! incident happened yesterday morning:
John had apparently turned the baby monitor in our room off the night before. Once I discovered this and turned it on..Joey was crying in his room

I rushed down to check him and he is not in his crib! Where is he?...on the floor behind the door...with the crib side down and stuffed monkeys all over the floor that had been in his crib.
Little guy had climed out of his crib! He is not even 12 mos yet!..I think we are in for some trouble.

#2 episode this morning..John is downstairs with a repair guy -Joey is in the corner of the living room playing with puzzles and a guitar..Jack is watching shows in the same room as Joey.
I start emptying the dishwasher...decide to walk over to check on Joe and he is nowhere! I mean poof, vanished, gone!
I YELL for John to come upstairs..he doesnt know where he is either. I look up in the loft, in the hallway, in the laundry room...John decides to look outside-(I knew he had no way to get out there but whatever)...I figure out the bedroom door was shut ..sure enough Joey was in our bedroom. I thought Jack had shut it which he often does after going to the bathroom in the am. I have NEVER in my life been happier to see that little face peeking over the top of the bed..he loves to scoot around it holding on.

Can you tell he is a mover..and he LOVES to shut doors?? Ay yi yi!
No pics with this post..I am still recovering from my temporary nervous breakdown.

11 months

Such a sweet boy...but getting so old! And big!






At 11 months you:


Are 23 lbs and 75 cm



Eating all kinds of finger foods and prefer them over being spoon fed



Cheese, toast, tortillas, turkey, puffs, mum-mums, cheerios(Daddy likes to give you these in the am) peas, wagon wheels, chicken and I bet anything else I would put in front of you!







Giving you medicine has always been easy because you love to suck on the dropper..and you usually get every last drop out!







You will drink from a sippy cup..you tend to like to use the bigger ones like Jack does instead of the special baby one I got you...this may be a trend starting?







You pull up on everything and can almost stand up on your own from sitting...thats a big ALMOST.







You can crawl up the stairs..gulp!







You love to sit at the bottom of the stairs and yell for me or Jack because you can hear us up there when you are downstairs playing with Daddy.







You are generally very good about riding in the car or your stroller but time for you to crawl around everyday is a must.



You love snakes and cows!



You dont like getting dressed or having your diaper changed.



Momma tries to distract you by singing songs like "Put your little foot" or "Pat a cake" ..sometimes it works..sometimes NOT!



You definitely have a strong personality



You still LOVE your brother Jack and watch everything he does.



It is fun when you crawl up and peek at him in his chair or on the couch.



Jack will clamp on to you and whine "I want you Joey" ..his way of telling you how much he loves you...then you get crabby because he wont let go and you whine!



You like to swing at Katie's and at the park

I took a political test

here are my results...

You are a Social Moderate (50% permissive) and an... Economic Moderate (41% permissive) You are best described as a: Centrist Link: The Politics Test on OkCupid.com: Free Online Dating Also : The OkCupid Dating Persona Test

Yep...I am usually in the middle on things..I'm a Libra...what can I say?

Family time

We had a good weekend...finally 2 days to just get things done around the house and spend time with the boys.

Joey and I went shopping in Eden Prairie on Fri night...I miss these days of just me and the baby out strolling around ...It was nice to have time with just him.

Our church/private grade school had their fall festival..Applefest... and we went both Sat and Sun for a few hours.

We picked out a fun painted pumpkin

Jack played games, got his face painted by Lollipop the clown, played mini golf and rode a pony!

and I bought the most delicious brownies ever from the country store.

They are gone now..no chance for a picture!

Jack helped me make a display board for his preschool..I was pretty proud of it..I must have been an elementary school teacher in a former life!

I took the boys to the park on Sunday aftn while Dad took 2nd in a golf tourney!

It was a spectacular fall day...and the boys had a good time..Joey can only sit in the stroller or swing so he gets bored..tried to let him sit on the slide with his brother and here is what happens..

I got 80% of my garage sale stuff marked and ready for next weekend...hoping to sell a lot of it but in reality I know that won't happen..we live outside the city limits and people just dont want to drive that far. Anyone want newborn boy baby clothes??

Lucky me

Today when I picked up Jack from preschool..he came running towards me..all the other kids ran past us to their parents..but he stopped quick..turned around and yelled back..BYE BYE..um...BYE Mrs. Hathaway and Mrs. Traxler..see you next time!

It was so cute I tell you..I was the proudest momma on the planet at that very moment.

He is growing up to be such an outgoing, friendly guy.

I WUV him.

Hello Visitors!

If you are here from my awesome shout out on Beejo (Kim)'s blog..WELCOME!

Please come back ..I try to be witty and have great pics..but I am working on the picture part!:)

Leave me a comment!

Have a fabulous blog reading day!

AM

First Day of Preschool!

Finally it is here...we have been driving past the building all summer in anticipation of this day.

Jack is in preschool with many of his friends from daycare, ECFE and soccer. I cant believe 4 other kids are in his class that were babies with him in his Baby class at ECFE.

We had a "meet the teachers" night last week and he was playing hard like all the other kids when he decided to yell at me across the room.."MOMMY! I HAVE TO GO TO THE BATHROOM!!!"

Now..he knows how to use the facilities on his own..can you tell he was excited to be there?

After emerging from the bathoom he yelled again across the room.." MOMMY! EVERYTHING HERE IS JUST MY SIZE!!"

Fast forward to today..he got ready and allowed me to take a few pics before we headed out..

I love this one..

I didnt cry at all! I think because we dropped him off and I didnt have to see him get on a bus it was easier.

Here he is when I picked him up with his teachers..Mrs H and Mrs. T

And finally Daddy and I took him out for lunch to one of his favorite spots..for chicken strips, FF and a "nanilla" malt

Good times!

my mosaic

my mosaic, originally uploaded by skubygurl.

Michele had posted this on her blog-I had seen it before and finally took the time to try it out. I like how it turned out..a little boring but I choose the pics I liked the most!

Here were the rules:
Answer each of the following questions by typing your answer into the flickr search engine. then pick the photo that best represents you and your answer. Then paste the photo's url into "mosaic maker" set at four columns, three rows. voila!

1. what is your first name? Ann Marie -remember the show That Girl?
2. what is your favorite food? Pizza
3. where did you go to high school? Columbia Heights (apparently there is town named this in Washington DC as well as MN)
4. what is your favorie color? Aqua Blue
5. who is your celebrity crush? go way back...Andrew McCarthy
6. what is your favorite drink? Chocolate milk!
7. what is your dream vacation? Hawaii
8. what is your favorite dessert? Hostess Cupcake
9. what do you want to be when you grow up? Flower Shop owner
10 what do you love most in life? ok wanted to put my kids but opted for my dear mom-love her So so much
11. what one word describes you? sensitive (apparently there is a flower with this name?)
12. what is your flickr name? skubygurl (had to shorten it to Skuby)

Try it..its fun!

Non's escape

aka Cousins Weekend .....

I LIVE for this weekend...granted it was back in July..but I just got pictures uploaded and I have to blog about it.

We have so much fun. These are my cousins on my mom's side and we just click and have so much fun acting 20 yrs younger than we are.

We eat, drink, sing, boat and sleep all weekend in excess.

I opted to bake a GIANT HOSTESS CUPCAKE for this years event.

Being my favorite dessert..why not make it colossal!?

I was googling "hostess cupcake" and came across this website: PIMP THAT SNACK

and after staying up until 1am the night before our big weekend...I was sucessful!! Unbelievable! I am not a very good baker or cook so I was really excited when this turned out looking ok..

Commuting it up to our family lake cabin was a challenge..I stuck it in a big silver wash tub (originally intended to be used as a picture prop)... it worked perfectly.

We have a ritual of spending a nice evening out eating "Road kill Pizza" at the local tavern just down the dirt road on Friday night..best of all... they have KAROKE!

This year none of us opted to sing...and the people who did (townies) looked and sounded like this.. (my cousin Scott totally cracks me up!)

We opted to head home to the cabin and play ROCK BAND! instead.

This was my 1st time playing it and it was SO MUCH FUN.

We spent most of Sat on the lake...

We had fireworks and a bonfire on Sat night...

thanks cousins for a great time..see you next year!

Trying

Trying to prioritize what is best for me and my family..blogging takes a back seat obviously. Sleep and playing with the boys rather than watching them from the computer became more important.

Summer is winding down and I can feel Fall's crispness slowly creeping in.

I LOVE FALL..the dew on the grass in the a.m. and the crispness in the air, the start of school, the evenings getting shorter and the leaves turning brilliant shades of gold and red.

and lastly...the family brithdays start..John, Jack, my MIL and my Dad in August. Mom in Sept, Joey and I in October.

Finally I am gettting the loft area cleaned up and usable again. The boys play area on one side and my scrap space on the other. Bought a new desk at Ikea -love it so far..I'm learning the good and the bad of Ikea. Most things are affordable but the directions are lacking and if you forget a piece or they are out of stock..it is an hour drive to go back for me..grrrr.

My mom, the boys and I ate lunch there for the 1st time..pretty good food..I had the salmon and loved the chocolate cake. Also LOVED the little rolling carts they have for your trays since I got all the food and mom stayed with the boys at a kids table. Mom enjoyed the ligonberry juice too!

( I put a squirt of Sprite in there with it!)

Brother Joe won his flight at the Le Sueur CountryClub championship this weekend..Go uncle DOE!

Daddy played and tried his best..and then came home to his trophy's..the boys.

4 yrs ago on the Sunday championship day our sweet Jack was born. How appropriate..I had to call the pro shop to have them drive out to get John. He said he was playing the best game ever but flew out of there once he saw them coming for him...he just knew.

Jack went over and watched the championship round with John..he is so cute when he knows he will be going to the course with John..he gets his sun visor on (just like John's) and flies out of his chair once John walks in the door.."Let's go Daddy!"

Here they are earlier this summer..

Boys are a very good thing.

9 Months old

-You LOOOOVE to have your back scratched :)

-You can self feed and love to do it-bits of cheese and puffs so far

-You do enjoy it when momma makes choo-choo and airplane noises with the spoon

-You LOOVE to watch the Baby Einstein "Old McDonald" video..the Cow is you favorite and you always squeal and laugh when he comes on screen

-You are "army crawling" ALL over the place.

-You use one hand and the opposite foot to get around..army crawl..and acquired blisters on that hand and foot from it!

-To go backwards you flip over on your back and your scoot with your legs-I call it the "croppy flop"

-You love to play by the stairs and the white gate...it only took a few minutes for you to figure out how to slip your legs through the slim opening and get your head stuck.:(

-You are getting tooth #5 on the bottom left

-Your bedtime is officially 8pm! :)

-You tend to wake up around 7am and like to play and talk to your animal babies for awhile before you whine to get out.

-Momma and Daddy LOOVE to hear you "talk" in snippets of goo-goo'a and gaa-gaa's,bop

-With your new teeth you have discovered how to make funny slurping noises with your spit and your teeth..you make yourself laugh sometimes doing it.

-You like to be sang to..Twinkle, twinkle little star especially

-You love to play Pat-a-Cake with your hands and your feet

My christmas present

I recently purchased this shirt because I thought it was funny -if you know me I love cute funny t-shirts to wear as pjs.

So Jack comes up to say goodnight and sees it and our convo goes like this:

Jack: " Mom..what shirt you have on?"
Me: " My hamburger phone shirt!"

Jack: (giggling) "What's a hamburger phone mom?"
Me:" It's just what it looks like..a hamburger you talk on"
Jack: "That's silly mom..they dont sell hamburger phones!"
Me: " Oh yes they do..see
(and I pull up one from goggling it online)
Me:" Jack, go tell your Daddy that is what you want to buy me for Christmas...
Jack:" (still a little shocked they make such a thing) ok!"

overheard..
Jack:" Daddy! Mommy wants a Hangaburger fone for Christmas!"
Daddy: " A what?"
Jack:" A Hang-a-burger fone!"
Daddy: "a microphone?"

Mommy:(pipes in) " no, a hamburger phone!"

Daddy rolls his eyes at Mommy.. (Daddy does this a lot to mommy)

Wait and see my friends...you will all be so jealous of my new phone on Dec 26th!

My boys!

Another great photo shoot at Olivia's.

http://oliviawagnerphoto.blogspot.com/2008/07/jack-and-joey.html

Still here!

So behind I know..I need to recap back to the 4th of July!

Just a quick post to say its coming and wanted to shout out congrats to MICHELE whose BOOK is going to be for sale soon-How cool is that...at Amazon!

YOUR WORDS, YOUR STORY

I have met her and scrapped with her..such a cool chick!
When I ask her to autograph my copy I bet she will sign it.."you Dork!"

I think she really gets me.:)

8 months old

A few days late....we have been busy

At 8 months you:

Make a cute face by sucking in your lips -Momma thinks you look like an old man without dentures :)

Have 4 teeth total-2 top/2 bottom...the 2 on top came through with a big space in the middle- Momma calls you "Joe Bob."

You make it immpossible to capture them on film though!

Like to play with a 4 sided playtable G & G Zandlo had bought for Jack for his 1yr bday. We are getting a lot of use out of it early on with you.

Roll all over the place if we let you-you seem to enjoy rolling under tables with you head peeking out like an auto mechanic.

(Momma thinks if you become an auto mechanic that would be GREAT! )

You LOVE to jump in the Jumparoo...it is so fun to see you jump and jump and jump and then rest..and start all over again.-those chubba chubba legs won't be here for long!

You still love your brother more than anyone..

but he gets irritated with you screaming when he is trying to watch tv.

You also tend to laugh out loud at him when he is getting frustrated or throwing things around..it is hard for you to understand the difference between his anger and acting up for you :)

You love to watch tv...still. Usually we have kid shows on for Jack anyway.

You are eating #2 foods now..basically 2 foods mixed together. You have not shown an aversion to anything YET!

You took your first plane ride this month to see your cousin Brendan and you entertained everyone with your rolling and drooling skills.

You have days where you can drool through your bibs about 1 an hour and develop a red bumpy rash from it.

You love tub time...and grab onto whatever isn't nailed down. Momma tries to keep your hands busy with bright colored cups.

You are my sunshine sweetie-pie!