September!

September 2013

We had the Cremers and Jakobs over for a Nebraska football game.  The kids really enjoyed playing together:)

Ever since Joden started preschool he has not only LOVED coloring, but he has gotten really good at staying in the lines:)

Boys!  They love playing with gross things, such as these locusts.  Thanks Mike for teaching him this:(

We helped a good friend, Adi, celebrate her 5th birthday at the YMCA:)  Also, Joden jumped off the diving board for his very first time!

Reeve truly LOVES baby dolls.  This was a doll my grandmother bought and they are actually worth some money. So, it was a special moment for her to get to play with it:)

Toasting to time off from work!  It is great to relax and refresh the mind.  I LOVE continuous calendar!

Reeve started gymnastics this year and really enjoys it!  Gotta love her thighs-just like mine:)

Over break I spent a morning at The Chocolate Bar.  Honestly my coffee that I ordered looks prettier than it tasted:)  I will have to try something different next time!

Love saving money on gas with my HyVee fuel saver card!

In September we celebrated the end of my course work for Capella!  We went to Hall County Park for sushi, wine, and some corn hole:)  It was a beautiful evening, but we cut it short due to Joden having another allergic reaction as you can see below.

Joden got to be special friend of the week for preschool! 

While off in September I took Joden on a date to the bowling alley one afternoon.  We bowled one game and played some arcade games.  I must have wore him out-he crashed on the way to pick up Reeve from daycare:) 

Again, I LOVE her personality!

Also while off in September we went back to Sidney to visit family.  This is Reeve, me, and my niece Anslee:)  Reeve was being quite the mother hen that day!

We watched Finn and Anslee that Friday when we were back in Sidney.  I love seeing the kids make memories with their cousins!

For the first time ever we also attended the Dalton parade.  The kids got more than enough candy!

Wearing her Snow White dress for the very first time!  She loved it, but has not worn it since then:)

Being off of work also allowed me to go watch Joden at swim lessons.  It is such a blessing that the kids get swim lessons at daycare.  One less item to worry about at night during the week!

More examples of Reeve's personality.  She is a happy/sassy little girl.  It is awesome how she can make you smile even when you are not in the best mood!

Finally, I helped a great friend celebrate her 30h birthday! 

September really was a great time to slow life down a bit and appreciate life.  It was great to spend time with family and friends and to also get caught up with many to do's!

Now for August....

August 2013

August began with a trip out to Sidney.  We actually dropped the kids off with my mom so they could stay with my parents at the lake.  We had a busy weekend planned, so my parents agreed to watch them.  I think they just fed the kids M & Ms:)  Once we got to Sidney we met our nephew Finn, Mike's sister Shannon, my sister Lindsey, and her husband Chris at good ole' Dudes.  

 Saturday morning began with a softball tournament in honor of Mike's uncle who passed away several years ago.  It is a really fun tournament because it is a Turkey Trot.  That means you run to third first, you only get one pitch, which you have to swing at, and you pitch to your own team.  Although, we were not the greatest, we had a blast!   

 

Mid morning we left the tourney to celebrate our niece in heaven.  My parents brought the kids down to Sidney to help celebrate.  Miss Charlee would be 2 years old now.  Of course we love and miss her like crazy, but we all know we will reunite in heaven someday.  The kids ran around and played and I just know Miss Charlee was playing with them:)

 

It was such a busy day-next up was my 10 year high school reunion.  We had a small group, but it was great to see some old classmates!

 

Finally we got to be back with the kids on Sunday!  What a great, but exhausting weekend:)

Next up was the Sludge Trudge.  Just the 2 of us ran it together.  The crowd was much smaller this year and I will have to say it is much more fun with a group or at least Shannon:)

Some random pictures from August....

Dad and Joden went on a movie date so Reeve and Mom enjoyed some dessert at Applebees:)  I think I got the better deal that night!

Next up was dinner group without kiddos.  We went out to Miletta Vista for some great wine and great food!  It was a good time had by all:)

August 22-25 was something I had been planning for roughly a year...Mike's surprise 30th birthday trip to Vegas.  The surprise went extremely well and let's just say he was surprised.  Our group included Mike's sister Kati, his brother Dan and his fiance Lisa, a good high school/college friend Colby and his wife Tera (who has of course also become a good friend), and another good high school friend Kyle and his wife Meagan, who was a good high school and college friend of mine!!  We had a great group and we truly had a blast:)  Mike is my rock and I wanted to do something extra special for him and I know he felt extra special because he thanked me about 50 times:)  Love you Mike!

There are a ton of pictures below, but there are so many good ones that I wanted to post them all:

Surprising him at work:)

Seeing his sister Kati for the first time!

Seeing Colby and Tera for the first time:)

Below is our first night in Vegas!  

 Day 2 in Vegas started with the last surprise visitors, which was Mike's brother Dan and his fiance Lisa.  We ate breakfast and then laid by the pool most of the day.  

The second night was Mike's birthday celebration.  We ate at Triple George down on Freemont Street and then hit up some of the casinos down there.  A good time was had by all:)

 Mike's brother ordered me a shot and told me that I needed to not be a teacher and let loose:)  The next day he informed me that they did not get me drunk enough:) 

 Our final night in Vegas included dinner at an Italian restaurant, then we went to Mystere (a show by Cirque de Sole), followed by more gambling and watching the pirate show outside our hotel.  Then we headed to bed due to our shuttle arriving the next morning at 4:50am.

We were exhausted!

Mike's birthday was the Monday after Vegas.  Joden picked out cupcakes for dad.  We sang him happy birthday and then had to head off for gymnastics-it was Reeve's first night of gymnastics so we snapped a picture of her in her cute outfit!

  

 Labor Day weekend we stayed home due to traveling to Vegas the weekend before.  We were ready to relax and catch up on some much needed sleep.  We hit up the park one day and the state fair another.  It was definitely relaxing and enjoyable to be with our kids:)