March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb!

I sure hope so because I've had enough of cold and snow, bring on spring!

It's been a while since my last post and we've been busy, trying to make the most out of our weekends and family time.

February was a busy month for this household:

Kevin raced in Florida for two weekends and did very good. The nights I was there, we were at East Bay and are the only ones I remember how he did: Thursday- rainout, Friday- motor broke and Saturday- 2nd. He tried eveything and anything to get the lead, it was awesome to watch! (You know what else was awesome? The nightly strawberry shortcake I had for dinner each night at the track! Well I was on vacation....;-)  I flew down with Matt Leer on Thursday and we all were headed home Monday, so my time was limited and I made the most of it! Since the guys worked on the cars all day, I was on my own.....so peaceful! Friday I found a county beach not far from the track, it wasn't on the ocean (I could see it tho!) but it was a white sandy beach, so wonderful anyway. I spent the day reading and relaxing. Saturday once the guys were gone I drove to St. Pete and LOVED every moment of the blue water and white sandy beach, it was a most perfect day! Sunday we drove to Orlando and went to Universal Studios, (gasp we didn't go to Disney World! Even though I would have gladly went there!) Kevin and I haven't been there since our Honeymoon in 2007, it was exciting to go back! Kevin, Matt and I went to the Island of Adventure side to ride the roller coasters and Dave and Jim went to the movie ride side. We had a blast, what a great last day of vacation! Until we drove back to Gibsonton and went and saw the dumbest, most ridiculous movie, I've ever seen....Djuango (sp?). Needless to say I'll never get those 2 hours back again! Monday we packed up and headed home bright and early.... We were ready to be home and see Blake and Brooke!

Valentines Day I turned the big 2-7! My twenties are flying by, I never thought I'd be this "old" even though its not even old! I just assumed time would go by way slower or something, just wishful thinking I guess. Kevin and the kids made the day very special, with cards, flowers, cookies, cake and gifts!  What a wonderful day spent with the most important people to me, I'm so blessed!

LOL Blake and his goofy smile!

We took the kids to the Wisconsin Dells for a fun getaway one weekend at the end February, we stayed at the Wilderness. The hotel was beautiful and there was a ton of stuff to do! We all had a blast! Our kids are fearless and love the water, they kept us busy as they rarely were both in the same spot. The hotel had 3 water parks which was fun, just a little inconvienent with them being so far apart. I think our favorite was the park with the wave pool, it was warm and sunny and fun just to play. Blake and Kevin were able to play lazer tag, Blake is still talking about it! Blake and Brooke both painted a plate and put their handprints on it, such great keepsakes and a great activity after such busy days! We also played in huge climbing playground thing. Great memories were made.

Our church had a blood drive a couple weeks ago and Kevin and I both donated blood. I'm glad we did, as it was interesting to learn about why its so important and how blood is constantly needed. I would definitely donate again. And kudos to the ladies who provided all the food afterwards!!

This past weekend we had the Rice Lake Speedway banquet, it was a lot of fun! Kevin won the points and my dad got 2nd.  There was a great turnout of people, I just wish I could have gotten a chance to talk to more people, the night flew by! I loved that Scott, the announcer did random interviews throughout the awards ceremony, it's interesting to hear what the racers have to say and how serious some get! Congrats to all the top 10 finishers and the Rookies!

Kevin and I at the banquet.

Most of the top 5 in Mods

Doug Zimmerman, the retired track photograhper, Kevin and my dad!

Now on to the most important updates.....our kids!

Blake! My sweet boy, he's still full of energy, loves his cars, trains, ninja turtles, action figures, swords and nerf guns! He would be outside all day if I let him, yet he's a lounger and loves his cartoons, movies and a good snuggle with mom! We had pre-k sign up in February and Blake really enjoyed seeing the school and playing in the classrooms. Both teachers seemed great, which eased my mind some. Granted, I know I will be mess come September, I love spending my days with Blake and will miss him like crazy! A few weeks ago Blake started swim lessons and he's doing awesome! He's so much more brave then he was in the October lessons. It's fun watching him in another environment with other kids. Other than that he has hasn't been up to too much else, just very much ready for spring, he keeps asking to eat snack outside!


Blake!

On to our wild child...Brooklyn Lilly! Oh my are we going to have our hands full. She is this sweet, adorable little girl with a BIG personaility and lots of attitude! She is all girl, from her side pony tail aka her "pretty" to her pink necklace to her favorite leopard print skirt and her favorite boots..her Uggs. She is full of giggles and big smiles, and lots of hugs and kisses for her family, especially her daddy (she's got daddy wrapped around her little finger!). She is silly and loves to be the center of attention and be crazy! She sings and dances, makes animal sounds (the funniest one is her lion sound, huge LOL).She is also talking quite a bit, her favorite word ever is : "NO!" Oh and do not make her mad, the girl has a set of lungs on her and you will hear about it! Brooke loves to "hide" she grabs your hand and whispers "hide" once we go hide she giggles and makes sure Blake can find us! Her favorite toys are her baby's (never is she without one), her princess dollhouse, rocking horse and any toy that is Blake's! Brooke LOVES to play swords with her brother. She's the toughest princess! The kids are finally getting to a stage where they can play together, its fun to watch!

Miss Brooke!

Making chocolate chip cookies!

Thats all for now! Enjoy your day!

Getting back to Normal

The holidays are passed as is our vacation, we are reluctantly getting back into our routine. We're trying to enjoy winter but there's not to much outside to enjoy! If its going to be cold and grey, it should at least snow and be pretty to look at!

Two weeks ago we were in Florida for 6 days and it was beautiful! Warm and sunny everyday... Our kind of vacation. The trip went great, it was the 4 of us as well as my mom, who was the "nanny", its so nice going on vacation with the kids knowing we get to have breaks and time for ourselves. Brooke did pretty good being cooped up in a small area on a plane, a minor 6 minute meltdown (my mother timed it!) after getting woke up by someone bumping into Kevin as she slept. Blake was awesome, he eats his snacks, watches his movies and plays with his toys, so content! 

Our vacation agenda went somewhat like what we did last year: arrive and settle in on Sunday,  Hollywood Studios on Monday, Magic Kingdom on Tuesday, Epcot on Wednesday and Animal Kingdom on Thursday and sadly home on Friday. 

Since we've been there quite a bit, I planned a few things they we've never done. We always stay at the Grand Floridian and we have never eaten at any of the restaurants there (besides the awesome room service and the "quick" service restaurant) so Monday morning we had breakfast at 1900 Park Fare, with Winnie the Pooh, Alice in Wonderful and Mary Poppins. Blake loved it, and meeting all the characters, Brooke on the other hand was terrified of them! She would cry and cling to me. Poor baby! For the rest of us it was nice to see something new! Hollywood Studios was much the same as last year, we did go to the Indiana Jones show and the kids seemed to enjoy it. We got to see Chip n Dale, Blake was so happy to see them! Kevin took Blake on the Star Wars ride, and attempted to go on the Toy Story ride but it broke down while they were standing in the 90 minute long line. While they were going on rides Brooke and I went to Disney Junior Live on Stage, Brooke danced and clapped and waved the whole time! Her favorite part was the bubbles tho! We went back to the hotel early and the kids napped. Kevin and I went back to the park for the thrill rides, we also walked to the Boardwalk which we've never been too, it was neat too see. After that we went to Downtown Disney for some delicious Fultons and shopping! We had a great day and night!

Tuesday Blake had an appointment at The Pirates League, where they turn your kid into a pirate! He had a scar put on his face, a tattoo, and the whole costume! Blake was really quiet and shy, he didn't get much sleep the night before so he was bit outta of it! He was happy about the sword he got and the sword fight he got to have with a pirate! Brooke wore her Cinderella dress, she's too young to go to the Bibbi Bobbi Boutique but she still had to be a princess! And the ladies at the pirates thing doted on her, they painted her nails and played with her! We were able to go on most of the rides before heading back to the hotel for naps. Before we left the kids found the water area and burned off some energy running through it, it was a perfect Florida day! Blake loved the kids roller coaster and well all the rides! Brooke loved the Dumbo ride and the carousal. Once back at the hotel I took Brooke back to our room while Kevin got lunch with  Blake, when he got to our room his key didn't work, apparently he knocked quietly at first since Brooke was sleeping, then as I didn't answer he started pounding on the door and yelling at me through the door, while Blake was yelling for mommy to answer the door cause he had to pee! The housekeeper happened to see this and told Kevin it wasn't his room, Kevs insisted it was, so the lady opened the door to the empty room.... Cause my hubby was in the wrong building! Ha ha ha! All the buildings to the hotel look the same in his defense. However I think this was hilarious, especially as I sat and enjoyed a wonderful quiet lunch! After everything settled down we went back to Magic Kingdom and finished up all the things we wanted to do, Blake even went on his first big kid roller coaster, he laughed, giggled and screamed the whole time...it was a hit! 

We went to Epcot on Wednesday and spent all day there! I loved it, however it got too long for the kids and we had a few meltdowns along the way. We got to go to the aquarium, the Finding Nemo ride,  on Test Track, on Soarin', 2 boat rides as well as a quick walk through the countries. We ate at the Garden Grill restaurant, it was a revolving restaurant with Mickey, Pluto and Chip n Dale. The food wasn't very good but the experience was fun! (Trying new things :-) We then headed back to the hotel for some much needed sleep!

Animal Kingdom is where we spent our last day, we went on the safari ride, saw some animals, went to the Lion King show as well as some Dinosaur rides. It was a nice easy day, we were able to see everything we wanted and head back to the hotel early. The kids napped/ rested while Kevin and I snuck out and rented a 2 person little boat and cruised the lagoon around our hotel, it was a blast! (Again something new!) We definitely want to do that again! After our "cruise" we went and had drinks at the pool bar, it was so relaxing! We did some more shopping, then grabbed the kids and back to Magic Kingdom we went! Blake loved the Buzz Lightyear ride, we went on it a couple more times. We also went on the People Mover, my mom and I discovered it on Tuesday so I wanted to bring Kevin on it. Again something new and it's a relaxing ride and you get a good look at the park! Sadly we had to head back to the hotel, we took the boat back to our hotel, the kids loved it!


Blake and Tow Mater!

 

Both kids got a Duffy Bear, he's the Disney Bear!
 

Happiness!

Brooke loved the horsey and cried when the ride was all done!

Cold water on a hot day!

Blake and Brooke loved running around!

Cute!

 



Meeting Duffy for the first time!

 

Donald duck is number 1!

Fianlly not scared of Mickey!

One of our only pix of us from our vacation!

Friday we packed up and headed home, much to mine and Blake's dismay! Blake wanted to stay for 55 more days, me too! The flight home went good, Brooke slept most of the time and only fussed a bit, Blake of course was awesome! Home sweet home we are!

 Blake turned 4 last Wednesday! My baby boy is a big boy so he tells me! The Sunday we came home we had his birthday party, it was Spider-Man themed! He had a cupcake "cake" which was awesome, definitely doing that again! Anyway he got a lot of neat gifts: remote control car, soccer ball and basketball, Power Ranger toys, Jake and the Never land Pirates ship and accessories, a tractor and clothes and slippers...which he and Brooke loved! We went and got Brooke a pair too! Blake also had a daycare party with his friends. The day of his actual birthday I made him special chocolate chip Mickey Mouse pancakes with sprinkles...yikes! We took him to Apple bee's for his birthday dinner, he loved the treat he got but was shy when they sang to him, in fact whenever he was sung to he got shy! We came home and he opened 2 more gifts, a marshmallow gun and a Mr. Potato head! One last cupcake before bed and off to dream land for him! I think he had a great 4th birthday!

4 years old already!

An attempt at a family pic!

Blake is still into ninja turtles and power rangers as well as cars and weapons, he loves to fight with swords and chase you! He loves to lounge and watch movies and will beg or whine every night for a movie! Sorry kiddo Friday and Saturday night only! He has a huge imagination and loves to pretend, he's always coming up with things to play with his friends, I love watching and listening to him. He also loves books and story time. Blake almost has his phone number memorized and we're still working on writing his name (no patience!) and better listening ears! Last weekend Blake and Kevin had a boys day and went to Monster Jam, sounds like they had fun...Blake has been renacting what he saw with his monster trucks all week! Next up for Blake is pre-k registration, some day he's excited to go school other days he doesn't cause he wants to stay with mommy!

Brooklyn! What can I say? She's the sweetest little spitfire! Her personality is a blessing, she's silly and sweet, a ball of energy with a smile always. She's quiet and loud and a bit dramatic, all girl is our princess!  Brooke loves to play in Blake's room, with her 2 baby dolls and blankie by her side, she loves her purse and baby stroller to haul around all of her little treasures she finds. She loves shoes, especially her little "ugg" boots, she loves to go places, shopping, daddy's shop or grandmas, she just likes to be out and about! Brooke is constantly making messes and gets into everything she's not suppose to be in, like scaling the gate, going up stairs, closing the gate at the top of the stairs and going to play in her room while I did daycare dishes! She loves playing with her daycare friends and trying to keep up with her brother. Brooke is saying a few more words and still tries really hard to say certain things, she says: mama, dada, ba (Blake), hi, di (bye), juice, please, kitty, this, horsey, yay, this and no. She babbles a lot and can do most of the animal sounds we learn at circle time. Brooke was a mama's girl on vacation and is back to being a daddy's girl at home. She's still not much of a snuggler but gives lots of a hugs and kisses and will sit and read her princess or pooh book. 

Such a happy girl!

 

Kevin has been spending time in his new shop, there's still a few things he needs to get but all in all he has just about everything to make it a functioning shop! Just in time, he can now get his cars ready for the season before his busy season at work hits. Kevin has changed his plans...he is racing in Florida this year, as of right now I'm not sure how long he will be gone, but he will be racing for someone down there. Which is awesome as a lot less to do with not having to haul our stuff down! Kevin, his dad, Jim and Matt Leer and me are the lucky ones that get to leave wintry Wisconsin for the sunshine state.

I've been staying very busy, like always! I'm a still on a mission to "re-do/redecorate" our house. I find that now that I'm getting older my tastes are changing, a lot of things that we have I picked out when I was 19 and for a different house. Lots of ideas, just need to put them all together. I did end up redoing all the decor in my master bath, as I wanted it to be "spa" like and relaxing, so now its all cream and pale green....I love it! Next up I want to do our master bedroom, I found some beautiful bedding that I loved but I'm not sure that I want to spend that much money on it as it is expensive and my comforters seem to wear out quickly. I've also been buying a few things for the kitchen/living room area, those will be my last rooms to do. And I'm kind of lost as to what direction I want to go in. I've even considered hiring a designer to help :-/  Other than that I've been busy with work, all of the kids keep me busy, it just makes for long days and I'm beat by 8! I got a Kindle for Christmas and I've been reading a TON, that was probably one of the best gifts I've ever gotten. Last weekend Brooke and I went to Duluth for a little r&r and shopping. We had a great time and I think she really enjoyed being the "only" kid. I wish I would have stayed longer but dang it was nasty cold up there. Brrr! My mom and I are going to be planning a weekend getaway just the 2 of us, sometime in the next month, I can't wait as I am a girl that needs her mama.

Have a wonderful week!

 

Why blog?

This is a question I often ask myself when I have "update blog" on my to do list. Is it really something I need to do? Is it worth spending so much time on? Do I enjoy it enough?

My answer is yes and no! I like highlighting certain events in our life, I like seeing a picture and having a story about it. I don't like the amount of time I spend on it though, as I don't have enough spare time as it is. I enjoy it enough, I enjoy it most when I go back and look at older posts and remember the memories and seeing how our family has grown.

I don't blog for others but for myself and my family,  my hope for this blog is to print it out and give a copy to each of my kids when they are older. Something fun to read and look back on for them.

Well anyway now that I've convinced myself to continue to work on my vacation and family update post, time to get to it!

Enjoy the day....the cold will be gone soon!

Welcome 2013!

Happy New Year! I'm ready for a new year, not that 2012 was bad, it just wasn't the greatest year, kind of nice to start out new and hope for a better year this year! Although I don't make any resolutions as I never follow through with them or I forget them :-)

December was a wonderful month full of Christmas cheer, birthdays and time spent together! As usual it went way to quickly. Anyway the first weekend in December we drove out to Hendricks Mn for our friends annual Harvest Party, we've never been out there before, it was a blast! It took about 5 hours or so to get there and that was driving through a snowstorm! We got there a few hours before the party started and were able to tour some of their farming operation as well as there barn and horse arena. The place was beautiful and really neat to see! (Kevin FINALLY understands why I want an arena and what I need done around my barn after seeing Chad and Pam's beautiful horse barn!!!!) The party was amazing, they had awesome food, cold drinks and the Johnny Holm Band playing, who I've never heard of before but they were really good. We ended up staying at a beautiful bed and breakfast. *Quick story about the B&B: Chad brought us to the bed and breakfast and Kevin and I remarked about how nice it was, he then said he would tell us what it used to be the next day. Well guess what it used to be.... a funeral home! I was a bit uncomfortable about it! LOL That must of been why all night Kevin kept my drink full!

Kevin's birthday was December 17th, we celebrated at home with a homemade cake that Blake decorated, he was pretty excited about it! (And for dinner we had sloppy joes and pasta salad, per Kevin's request...my man is easy to please!) The weekend before his birthday Kevin and I went to St. Paul and stayed at the St. Paul hotel and saw the play Elf. It was great to getaway! We had fun shopping and just being together!

The new race shop is all done! Kevin has been moving things in and organizing and doing whatever guys do in their garages for hours on end! Its been great to have him here more, the kids and I love it, especially when mommy needs a break and off to the garage they go to play :-)

Christmas was wonderful as always! Christmas Eve we went to our Church's service, first time for us, and we all enjoyed it for the most part. Brooke was a stinker! She sat still for 20 minutes and then would yell "hi" and babble really loud and would cry/scream if we made her stay by us or go get her when she walked away. Kevs and I spent a lot of time in the hallway with her! Blake was great and sat still and listened, he was such a good boy!!! Blake even sang "Happy Birthday" to Jesus and wanted to know if he was coming to our house for his birthday party! That night we hosted my side of the family and we had a great time, we ate good, laughed a lot and the kids loved opening gifts. Blake was hilarious he would open a gift and then yell so excitedly about what he got, it was cute! Brooke did good opening a few gifts, then she got bored and would play! Kids were in bed by 11, with milk and cookies left for Santa. Santa brought Blake the Ninja Turtles hideout and Brooke a kitchen, they were so happy! Christmas day afternoon was spent with Kevin's side of the family, it was wonderful! My mother in laws house is so beautiful especially at Christmas time that it makes for a cozy and merry day! The kids were super excited.... more presents! Needless to say we all had a a wonderful Christmas, the best part was time spent with family and the happiness in my kids' eyes!

My little loves!!

 

She new the princess gift was for her!

 

Ninja turtles!

 

New Years Eve was kind of thrown together, we really had no plans as most of our friends were staying in and we really never gave it much thought. Well then we thought we would go out and have dinner and drinks at the bar in town....romantic huh?! ;-) Then we decided to stay home with the kids, yet I did NOT want to cook! So we hopped in the truck and headed to the grocery store at 8:30 to get some crab legs and whatever else, we get to the store and decide we should go to the Mexican restaurant across the street...it wasn't busy! *(The kids already had dinner!!) Blake had a meltdown because he wanted to get the ice cream we promised him, in the store we go for cupcakes, ice cream, a sippy cup and wipes. Random! (I didn't bring my diaper bag or purse as this was suppose to be a quick trip!) We ended up at the Mexican restaurant at 9:00. We ate, headed home, kissed the kids good night and I was sleeping by 11! And that was our wild New Years! ha My how times have changed!!

Our vacation is fast approaching us! Woohoo, can't wait to leave the Wisconsin weather for some Florida weather! Sunshine, palm trees and flip flops, here we come! I'm not quite as prepared as I usually am, in fact I'm suppose to be packing and making lists for things I need right now...but I here I sit blogging!!!!

Not too much new with the kids. Blake is still very much into Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, his Nerf guns and cars. He loves being outside as much as he can and counts down everyday until Friday and Saturday nights...those are his movie nights. His birthday is fast approaching us, and he is so excited to be the big 4. Brooke will be 18 months on Sunday and she is just the sweetest handful! She loves her baby dolls and blanket and books. She's very much a daddy's girl and loves to play/bug her brother. She says quite a few words, and tries so hard to say more, she babbles a lot! They're both happy and sweet, full of energy and they have all of my heart!

Other than our upcoming vacation we don't have much planned, Kevin and Blake plan on going to Monster Jam, a shopping trip/weekend in Duluth for me and the kids and hopefully a getaway to the Dells in February! I'm still working on redecorating the house, its work in progress! The kids bathroom and laundry room are done, our bathroom has been painted and all I need is new rugs. Next up is our bedroom, I'm not sure what I want in there yet....I'll get some ideas on pinterest!

Enjoy the day!

Tis the Season to be Thankful

Hello again! Its been a while, a long while since I've wrote. What can I say, I've been busy enjoying life. I've come to the conclusion that life never really settles down or is slow and steady or boring either! Which is fine, everything that we do or will do is something I want our family as well as myself to experience. Sometimes it would just be nice to have a a few days to do nothing and stay in our pajamas all day.....someday soon! (Maybe I should put it in my daily planner!)

Well racing is obviously over and ended up being a very good year! Kevin finished 2nd in national points and won track championships at Rice Lake and Eagle Valley Speedways. A couple of weeks ago Kevin, my dad and Cory Crapser went to Batesville, Ak to pick up Kevin and Cory's new cars. Kevin even debuted a new look for his car last weekend at the expo, its now black and yellow. Blake loves the color yellow, its his favorite so he wanted daddy's car to be yellow, (Blake used to say "lellow") which Kevin happily made yellow for him! I wasn't too sure on the idea, but wow I love it! Such a nice change and I think Kevs did an awesome job! Its pretty sharp! Last weekend we also had the Wissota National Banquet in St. Cloud, we had a great time with great friends and enjoyed every minute!

Kevin and I before the banquet.

Kevin getting his trophy, I'm so proud of him!

I remember a while ago writing about my hopes for a riding arena for my horses, hoping this fall would FINALLY be the fall I would get one, I've only been waiting 6 years..... Instead we are building a new race shop at our house! How in the heck did I get so lucky, just what I always wanted!!! All joking aside it will be really nice for Kevin, he's ready for his own space and to just have some more room. He will continue working out of the other shop with his  graphics business  during the day and will be home at night to work on the cars. It will be nice having him around more at night, we're all looking forward to this change!

 ***This spring I will be making plans for my arena, I have no idea who I have to get a hold of to do it but I will figure it out!!

In October we celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary! We celebrated by going away for the weekend. We went to St. Paul Friday night and downtown Minneapolis Saturday night, we ate at some amazing restaurants, shopped, we went to a play at the Orpheum (The Beauty and the Beast), and most all we enjoyed each other's company! It was one of the best weekends! I wish we could have a weekend like that once a month :-)

So my great idea of painting and redecorating a few rooms has turned into a huge pain in the butt! Mostly because I thought "oh this should be easy, how hard can it be to paint?" Well for someone who doesn't have much patience its a lot harder! I wanted all of these changes done yesterday! LOL I have great ideas but no time or patience to get them done! So far out of the 3 rooms I wanted painted, we have one painted, the kids bathroom which is a fun Tiffany blue color and the theme is safari, the kids love it and I think its really cute! It was very time consuming tho, first never paint the day after you've gone out the night before, and  second make sure you actually like the color! Needless to say we did NOT like the first color we painted it and ended up re-painting it less then 24 hours later. Our quick little project to make the kids bathroom more kid friendly completely ruined any chance of either Kevin or I to paint any other rooms in our house. We will hire! Next to be painted will be our bathroom which I'm leaving all the decor I have, the color in there will be a soft/pale green, its a very soothing color, and our laundry room which is also our garage entry way, will be painted silver fox, its a grey that I fell in love with but doesn't look good anywhere else. I've found some really cute decorations for my boring laundry room......now it just needs to get done already!

All about our kids now!

Blake seems to have grown so much since summer! He's still the same sweet little boy full of attitude and energy! He's all boy. In October he started swimming lessons and he did great, he really enjoyed them, he had a lot of fun and got to see 3 of his daycare friends there. About a month ago he watched an episode of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and now they are his favorite toys, he knows all the characters and loves acting out the scenes and playing ninja turtles with dad. Blake really enjoys coloring and drawing, he's getting very good at drawing people and of course ninja turtles! In September we started going to church and he is in the Sunday school program, he loves all the songs and seeing his friend Brylee! Blake also loves to tell jokes and can be just so silly sometimes, I don't know where he comes up with things but he sure can make us laugh!  We are currently working on writing his name and using scissors  and we are still working on being a better listener!

Blake was a pirate again for Halloween!!

At the pumpkin patch!

 

Brooke is running and climbing everywhere! She is into everything and anything, she is busy! She is still just as sweet as pie and very loving and sweet but she has some sass too. She does NOT like to be told no and will throw a fit. She loves to dance and be silly, her favorite songs are on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, she loves Mickey and calls him "he" for "MickEEEEy" Brooke loves anything girlie, her shoes, purse, baby doll and blankie, if she has those she's good to go! Brooke is trying very hard to talk, she can say "hi, mama, dad, ma for more, kitty, is for this, oh oh is for uh oh, see for horSEEEy, juice and she tries to say yes but I don't know how to explain what it sounds like! She understands a lot, and will somewhat listen to us and do as she's told. If she has a wet or dirty diaper she is really good about bringing the diaper and wipes to me and then laying down, I'm hoping this will be a sign of easy potty training! Brooke loves to play peek a boo and lay her head on her shoulder and smile, some days I can not get over how sweet she is!

Brooke was Minnie Mouse for Halloween!!

She is so silly!!

Our happiness!

Winter is coming too fast but with that we have some fun things planned! December will be full getting ready for Christmas and Kevin's birthday :-) January will be full of: going to Florida with the kids, Blake's birthday, hopefully some Monster Jam and a shopping trip for me and my mom :-) Once Kevin's new shop is done we'd like to have a racing party sometime too! Other than that anything to keep warm!

I hope you all have a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Summer Fun

Summer is flying by and we're trying to enjoy every minute! I've been trying to take as much advantage of Monday's off as I can, I wish I could take Monday's off all year :-)

In June, Kevin, the kids and I went to the Dells for a night and we stayed at the Kalahari or as Blake called the Kalihari. We had a blast! Both kids loved all the slides and things to play on. They both loved the wave pool, which was great for me as that's one of my favorites! Brooke even fell asleep on the lazy river. We enjoyed most everything the hotel had to offer from the water park to the room service, ice cream, gift shop, candy shop, restaurant and the adorable baby tigers! So much to do and see we will be planning a long weekend there this winter. We also went on the duck boats, Blake loved it and Brooke was very well behaved, thank goodness. At night we went for a drive around town and we ended up driving around Lake Delton and found the mansion that belongs to the man that owns Mount Olympus. All I can say is wow!!!! The place was amazing and sure enough I forgot my camera!

 

One Sunday in June the kids and I packed up and headed north to visit my family. Blake and I went to Proctor Speedway (Blake calls it Practor) to watch my dad race, it was a lot of fun and very relaxing to be at my old stomping grounds, I haven't been in there about 4 or 5 years! My dad was sure happy to have us there as I think he liked having his best bud aka Blake there! Blake's favorite part of the night was the green station wagon pure stock! He still has the picture! The next day Blake had a grandpa Tim day, while my mom, Brooke and I had a girls day full of shopping and good eats!! I wish I could be in Duluth once a week, I love where I live now, but I do miss my family and "home". I love seeing all the new things Duluth has since I moved and sadly enough I'm a tourist when I'm there, I always want to do/see all the attractions Duluth offers that I never did while I lived there. And of course we had to make a stop at Cookie Temptations before we headed home, the cookies there are sinful there so good.....I may have to order some :-)

Blake and I also went on a day trip to Wild Mountain in Taylors Falls, just the two of us. It was nice having some mommy/Blake time. We had a blast, the water park isn't very big, but big enough to have fun! I remember going there when I was little with my family, so it was neat to go back there. I have to say that I was impressed with how well kept it was, its old but very clean and the kids that work there are some of the most polite teenagers I've ever met! Needless to say Blake and I would go back in a heartbeat!!

A couple of weeks ago we were in Hayward, for our yearly camping trip to the KOA. I just love it up there, its so relaxing and there's so much to do! I brought both kids with me and met my family there, we rented a really nice cabin with lots of room. Blake and Brooke enjoyed swimming, the wagon ride, riding bike, the jumping pillow, the playgrounds, the water slide, mini golf, nightly ice cream, go carts, Wilderness Walk and camp fires! Blake said his favorite parts of camping are marshmallows and the wagon ride with the clown/swamp monster who throws water and marshmallows at the people on the wagon ride! I had to send Brooke home with Kevin on Wednesday night at she isn't quite a camper yet. She had a very hard time sleeping and was very crabby, come to find out she had 3 teeth popping through, poor baby. I enjoyed every minute of my vacation, the weather was beautiful, the drinks were cold and the not having to wake up to an alarm was perfect! Too bad it went by so fast. Kevin and I plan on taking a date night up there some Wednesday so I can check out all the shops that I couldn't browse through with the kids in tow.

 We also hit up the Barron County Fair last week/weekend, the kids loved it, Blake was super excited to see the pigs and go on rides and Brooklyn was scared of the cows and thought the goats were "kitty's"! She loved the merry go round and cried when we took her off!

We attempted to go to the zoo on Monday but when we got to the cities it was already 92* and humid, so we opted to MOA and ride the rides and eat good! It was a wonderful family day!

We still have plans of going to the zoo with the kids and going to Valley Fair :-)

Family Update!

Blake Blake Blake..... he is quite the handful! He is as sweet and funny as ever and quite the little stinker! Blake is becoming quite independent and boy does he like things his way, he's become very difficult in the listening and doing as he's told department! His biggest complaint is "this isn't any fun" or "that's not very fun" when asked to do something, makes me laugh and drives me crazy at the same time because it will take him FOREVER to complete what is asked of him. Underneath all of his stubbornness and downright willfulness he still is a sweetheart, he loves the snuggle up with his babies aka his stuffed animals, he loves bedtime stories and always asks to snuggle before bed. Blake will randomly come up to me or Kevin and give hugs and kisses and tell us that he loves us. Love it!!  He has been pretty good with Brooke, she gets into his toys and his stuff all the time, Blake gets so frustrated and mad but is usually pretty good about coming to Kevin and I about it. Other than that he's been up to his normal routine, playing with cars, animals, trains, playing outside and getting dirty!  He learned how to ride his bike (with training wheels) which was great since he usually would drive his power wheels truck or tractor around and not even attempt the bike. Now he rides it all the time! Last weekend we had kids bike races at the RLS and Blake did great!! He didn't win but I was proud of him that he did it, last year I had to push him!

Brooklyn is 1! She turned 1 on July 6th, my baby is getting big! She is growing and changing so much, she talks or babbles all the time now, she says Mama, Dada, kitty, hi and this. She waves hi and bye, gives kisses and hugs, claps, does "so big", plays peek a boo and she likes to dance! Brooke isn't walking yet but cruises and uses her push/walker thing and she climbs up everything, drives me crazy! (slides, onto the tables, ugh!) She's into EVERYTHING And is always moving.  Our sweet little princess is constantly into mischief she loves the cat, Blake's toys, the toilets, the DVDs, pulling up the rugs, dumping clothes baskets, etc. Brooke has 13 teeth now and uses them well, cause she is a great eater. I had her in for her 1 year appt. last week and she weighs 25lbs and is 31.25 inches tall, she's perfect and healthy! Brooke has also found a little sass, she either thinks its funny when she's told no or she will throw a temper tantrum and throw herself on the floor. Most of the time she is happy playing and babbling and following her brother :-) She is very much a daddy's girl and momma's girl, when she is tired she loves to snuggle, we love it! When Kevin comes home he will be on the floor playing with her and she will constantly hug and kiss him, she's got her daddy wrapped around her little finger!  We had her birthday party on July 7th and she got lots of fun toys and cute clothes, she loves her cozy coupe car, doll house and horse and carriage the most. She still amazes us at how happy and sweet she is, she is such an easy baby!!

Kevin has been up to the same old same old: work and racing! Racing has been pretty good for the most part, some ups and some downs. Last weekend was a great weekend as Kevin swept on Saturday and Sunday, although he didn't sweep the bike races! ha ha ha Kevin rode a 2 seater bike with Mariah and I rode a 2 seater bike with Shane Kisling and wow it was a lot harder then I thought! (Kevs and Mariah did beat Shane and I...however they had previous experience from last years race!!) Tonight we are off to Menomonie, we have double features, hopefully it will go good!

I've been busy doing my usual stuff, work, kids, housework etc! I've been working on getting a ridiculous amount of pictures put in albums (such a time consuming task!), organizing and tossing out things we don't need and shopping! I've been looking at paint colors and trying to decide what direction I want to go in with a  few rooms, its a work in progress but I'm finally ready to add some color.  I haven't had much time for my horses this summer, but there fat, happy and healthy! Hopefully this fall I will have more time for them. (By then I hope to have an arena...hint hint Kevin!)

Have a great weekend!

I'm back!

Holy moly, where has the time gone?! My last post was in February! Pretty bad when Kevin checks the blog and asks me if I quit blogging :-) No I haven't quit, I just haven't found the time, I've been so busy with work and our kids that I keep putting this off.

We've had a busy and wonderful spring! Blake, Brooke and I have kept busy while Kevin worked endless hours at the shop. We went to the Children's Museum in Eau Claire with Randine, Braylynn and Kasen, we stayed at the water park in Duluth Easter weekend, we spent a rainy Sunday afternoon at the MOA going on rides and going to the aquarium (daddy even got to go with us!) and going to the circus with Keytun, Brylee and Jema. Racing started for us as well, in the middle of all of our fun!

Blake and Brooke cruising in the mud!

At the Eau Claire Children's Musuem, Blake loved it!

Enjoying the water park! We 're going to make it a yearly tradition :-)

Brooke at MOA!

Blake loved the horn!

Blake Finding Nemo!

Brooke enjoying the aquarium!

Blake at the circus!

Kids Update!

Blake is growing....fast! He's such a "little boy" now, the days of having a toddler boy running around are long gone. He loves anything to do with racing, cars, trains, four wheelers, animals, bugs, football, baseball etc. He loves driving his power wheels truck and tractor, and going for four wheeler rides and he's getting better at riding a bike now too! Blake also loves story time and doing any kind of project. Blake has a huge imagination, he is always asking questions and playing make believe, I love listening to what he comes up with! He continues to amaze us at how smart he is and what he comes up with and figures out, he knows his whole name and how to spell his first name, where he lives, how old he is, his birthday, his parents name, we are currently working on his phone number and starting to write out his name and use scissors. He is very friendly and out going, when we bring him to the park or to the races he always wants to go play with other kids, he asks them what their names are and he tells them his and asks if they wanna play! Blake can be so sweet and kind, that he makes my heart mush! Yet there is also the side of him that is full of vinegar! He can be so independent and willful at times, it frustrates the heck out of me! We are constantly working on having better listening ears and doing as mom says/asks (and dad, although he seems to listen better to dad, go figure!). This is a battle that I have a feeling we will be fighting for a long time! As trying as Blake can be, when he smiles his big "cheesy" smile and says "I love you mom" those frustrations fly out the window! Needless to say our little boy has his momma right where he wants her! And dad too!!!!

Brooklyn is almost 11 months already, my baby is growing way too quick!  She has changed so much since I last blogged, no longer is she an "infant baby" but a big baby girl! She has 7 teeth, she crawls, she can say Dada, mama (finally!), hi and kitty, she eats mostly table food, she goes to sleep all on her own and she's into EVERYTHING! Brooke also gives kisses and hugs! She loves our cat and will follow him around the house! She also enjoys books, she loves being read too.  Brooke is still very quiet and sweet but she's starting to show some sass, she will throw herself backwards if you set her down and she doesn't want to be set down, she thinks its so funny when you tell her no. She is very playful with her toys but Blake's toys and everything else she's not suppose to be into seem to interest her the most! Although she has this glow worm that is actually a seahorse that we call "Snuggle bug", she LOVES it and cuddles it and falls asleep, its sweet! Brooke enjoys being outside and loves to swing, she enjoys going on walks as long as we keep moving, if we stop she gets antsy. Brooke is very cautious of doing things at first, it took her a long time to crawl (which was fine with me, I miss the times when I could set her down and she stayed put!), she just started pulling herself up and seems to have no desire to walk, which is just fine with me! Brooke is very much a daddy's girl and gets so excited when she sees him, yet she's very much a mommy's girl too and doesn't like when I leave or she can't see me. Brooke isn't much of a snuggler anymore unless she's tired. She is very much our little princess and is as sweet as can be!

I  do have to say our house seems to have gotten louder and it usually involves our sweet princess bugging Blake! She wants to do whatever he's doing and play with all of his toys, which as you can imagine does not fly well at all, Blake is usually yelling for help or running with his toys and shutting his door as fast as he can! I think this is the just the beginning of the sibling bickering we get to look forward too! However when they do play together, Blake is very good with Brooke and can make her laugh like no one else.

Kevin survived his busy season of lettering race cars, it was a long few months but all went good and now he can enjoy some free time with me and the kids :-) Racing season is here full force...meaning 3 nights a week. This year has had a lot ups and a lot of downs, but that's just the way it goes. So far he has 4 feature wins and a roll over under his belt. He is fine, which is all that matters and so is the car, so we were beyond thankful and relieved. We still have a full summer of racing to go, so who knows what that will bring, I just pray for safety :-) Between work and racing and spending time with me and the kids, Kevin's staying very busy!

Daddy and the munchkins!

Racing for me and the kids has been hectic! Wow is it hard bringing a 3 year old and a baby! Friday nights I don't bring the kids (thank god for my mother in law!!!), Saturdays I bring the kids and we sit in the booth and its very busy to say the least, again I'm thankful for my mother in law and our friends who sit with us, the extra hands are so nice! Sundays have been easier, I still bring both kids, but where we sit I have easy access to the hauler, which is a relief and my dad has come every Sunday we've raced there so Blake tends to drag my dad all over! Sadly, my dad starts racing Sundays in Proctor this weekend, so there goes my help! :-)

I've been very busy with my kids, work and the endless housework. Work is busy as I have 7, sometimes 8 kids daily, its great money wise, just very busy at times! I can't complain though, their all great kids and are on the same schedule for eating and napping, and my kids enjoy having their friends over to play everyday! I've been trying to get things done on my endless "to do" list as well. Last weekend I had a garage sale and got rid of all the kids clothes and baby/daycare items I no longer use and I made just over 300! It was well worth the aggravation of setting up a sale! Everything was .25 unless marked or bring a bag and fill for 5.00, it was easy! So now I need to reorganize my storage room now that all the junk is outta there!

We have lots of fun things planned for the summer, I arranged my summer schedule so I don't work Mondays, I can't wait! We plan on taking the kids to the Como Zoo and the MN Zoo, Wisconsin Dells, Wild Mountain and a day trip to Duluth, as well as our yearly camping trip to Hayward. Kevin and I are also going to sneak over to Valley Fair, just the two of us. Is it summer yet?!

Have a safe Memorial Day weekend!