April 2012

Julie came back for a visit in April and we spent a couple of days looking at wedding dresses. She hasn't nailed down the exact date of the wedding, but it will either be this fall or next summer. She found some really beautiful wedding dresses. So many of them were different from when I looked ten years ago.

Over spring break, the boys held their first lemonade stand on our street. They stayed outside for nearly 7 hours selling their lemonade and they made $30. I was surprised they made so much and were so determined to keep making money. Charlie loves his money. 

We had a pretty quiet Easter this year. My mom had gone to visit Julie in Denver, so Doug, the boys and I stayed home. We went to the park and then had dinner down the street at the neighbor's house. Doug was worn out from work, so he stayed home. 

We had the yard fenced in and some landscaping done this month, too. I had wanted a fence for a while, so I was excited to get one. 

Jack was sick on day in April and neither Doug nor I was able to stay home. So, I took Jack to work with me for a few hours until he could go to my mom's. He LOVED it. He loved meeting the kids, talking with them and seeing the school. Charlie was jealous and the next day happened to be Take You Child to Work Day, so Charlie spend the afternoon at school with me. He really enjoyed it to. I was surprised by how shy and quiet he was. 

Also this month, I was a chaperone on Charlie's class field trip to the zoo. I was happy to be able to go with him. It was a perfect day for it. 

 We also got a fire pit this month, and had our first backyard fire. We roasted marshmallows and hot dogs. The boys loved it!

March 2012

A few things happened this month. First of all, Jack turned 6 1/2. The boys love getting a special cake for their half birthday. Our kitchen was out of commission for the remodel, so I had to pick up a cookie cake at Hy-Vee. Jack still liked it!


One exciting thing that occurred was that Jack had his art work from school chosen to be displayed at a local mall. We got the news and then headed out to see it. He was pretty proud of himself and excited to see it at the mall! Charlie might have been a little jealous.

Our kitchen remodel was completed this month. It's so nice to have it done. Now we want to do a lot more and will be working on new lighting, new fireplace/mantle and some new painting, woodwork and doors! It's pretty exciting and I can't wait for it to be done.


We made a visit to Coco Keys in Omaha on St. Patrick's Day. We hadn't been there before and thought we'd give it a try. The boys had a lot of fun and it was nice to get some pool time.

One of the most highly anticipated events happened this month! The Hunger Games movie was released. Two teacher friends of mine and myself went to see the midnight viewing, which I have to admit was a little late for me. I can't say I will do that again, but never say never. I was zonked out for most of the next day. The movie was very good, though, and Doug and I went to see it again that weekend.


















Next up was the Pinewood Derby for Charlie's Cub Scouts. He loves this and placed second last year, so he was looking forward to placing again. And he did! He got 3rd place and had a lot of fun. Jack can't wait to do it next year and I am sure Doug is looking forward to making two cars instead of one!

We saw the Harlem Globetrotters this month. I wasn't sure what to expect since I hadn't seen them before. I can't say I loved it. The boys had a good time, but I am not sure they loved it either. Charlie played his first season of YMCA basketball this year and he LOVED that. He has become a big basketball fan, so we all enjoyed filling out our NCAA March Madness brackets. I think I won out of the four of us. The boys enjoyed checking their brackets after the games.




Grandpa Denny, Aunt Jessie and Grandma Barb all made visits out to see us this month. The boys loved that.

 The boys had been asking (especially Jack) about having a lemonade stand. Doug helped them set it all up one morning while I had my grad class at UNO. The boys sat outside in the 85 degree weather for 7 hours selling lemonade. They had quite a few more customers than we thought they would and they made roughly $30. People were very generous and the boys loved it. They want to do it again and again.

The most exciting thing that happened this month was our purchase of a dog! I had been wanting one for quite some time and debated for months about what kind to get. I researched, talked to people and researched some more. I couldn't decide if I wanted a big dog who would be able to run with me or a little dog because they are, well, little. I knew having a big dog would be a lot like having another child...it would take up more space and eat more. I was constantly on the Nebraska Humane Society website checking out the dogs. Finally, I found a little rat terrier who caught my eye. I emailed to get information about her and the lady who was fostering her and I emailed back and forth for about a week. I decided to meet Kiki and take her home for a trial to see how we liked her. I am happy to report that I LOVE her. She is perfect. She is 1 1/2, potty trained and kennel trained. She's pretty good with our cats and she runs! I ran 4 miles with her over the weekend and she loved it. The boys love her and she's the perfect size for them. She sleeps with me at night, is the best cuddler and jumper and is just plain awesome. It's great having her around.

February 2012

I never take ANY photos in February, and this year was no exception. It's just a boring month! Well, except that it is our anniversary month and this year, we celebrated 11 years....but guess what?! No photos! We got a sitter and went out to dinner at Bonefish Grill. It was really good. Then we went to the bar where we met (The Green Onion). We sat by the fire and had a drink and then we were home by 10pm. Wow, we are exciting! We did have fun, though!

Then there's Valentine's Day. We got the boys some Legos for a little present and we celebrated at breakfast with heart-shaped pancakes. For dinner we had heart-shaped pizza. I took a half day at work and went to the boys' parties at school. My mom also went along.

The other thing keeping us busy this month is our kitchen remodel. We have gotten new cabinets, countertops, backsplash, peninsula and sink/faucet. This week the new hardwood flooring goes in on our first floor. Finally, the cabinets will be painted mid-March. I am so excited for it to be done. But then we move on to an electrician and first-floor painting, new furniture, etc. So, it will be a long process. I can't wait to see the end result.

We also attended Disney on Ice this month. I hadn't been in years and the boys hadn't been at all. They really enjoyed it and sat and watched the entire time. Jack was sick when we went, but luckily he was on the mend.

And I almost forgot! The most exciting thing to happen this month was that Julie and Nate got engaged! He proposed after dinner while they were on a walk. It was the 13th anniversary of their first date, which was on February 13th. Julie is really excited and happy to finally be engaged, after waiting 13 years! It sounds like they plan on getting married late summer/early fall of this year!

January 2012

 We haven't done much this month. We were all a little sick and basketball started, but other than that, nothing! I think the only real thing we've really done this month is that we had Charlie's 8th birthday party. We held it at a local art studio. The boys have taken art lessons/classes at this studio and have loved them. Recently, Charlie completed a movie class, and really liked it, so that's what he wanted to do for his birthday. The party ended up a little larger than I thought it would be. It was 11 little boys, including Jack and Charlie. The party was three hours long and it consisted of the boys filming a movie trailer called "Who Stole the Cookie from the Cookie Jar." While some were filming, the others played games and had snacks. When the filming was complete, the boys had a dance off and did some filming of their very interesting dance moves. It was pretty entertaining.

December 2011

Most of December consisted of getting ready for Christmas and Charlie's birthday. My grad classes ended at the beginning of the month, which was a nice break for me! I start back up again mid-January. We made a trip to Cedar Rapids one weekend to visit with Doug's family for Christmas. It was good to see everyone and the boys always love going.
December always means Christmas break for me and the boys. It was much needed this year. We haven't had much snow and the weather has been abnormally warm. This week it was mostly in the 50's. We went outside without coats and even made a trip to the park a few of the days right after Christmas to let the boys use their new Razor PowerWing scooters.
Christmas Eve was spent with the four of us as a family. We had a fantastic day. We made sugar cookies, ate crab legs (which were amazing) and played games. The boys went to bed pretty early and Doug and I got to watch part of a movie...which never happens. We spent the entire day in our pajamas.
On Christmas Day, my mom, Bob, Nate and Julie came over for presents and dinner. We had a fun time playing with the new basketball arcade game the boys got for Christmas. Doug and Nate competed to see who could get the highest score. We had lots of food and presents. Overall, a really good time.

One day after Christmas, the boys and I met a few of my former students at the Con Agra ice skating rink. One of the girls had babysat for the boys a few times, so they liked seeing her and going ice skating outside. 

Charlie turned 8 after Christmas. I can't believe he's so old! We had his favorite blueberry-lemon breakfast cake. Then we spent the morning putting together their new electric train. Then we went to the movies to see Arthur Christmas, which was a really good movie. We went home and opened a couple of birthday presents and then met my parents for his birthday dinner at Genji's. It was a great choice of a restaurant. The boys loved watching the chefs cook the food in front of us. We had a lot of fun and then headed back home for cake and presents. Charlie got Skylanders for the Xbox and a magic set from my mom and Bob. He was thrilled. He also got a pogo stick, which he had really wanted and was actually able to use pretty well for doing it for the first time.

For New Year's Eve, we spent our forth evening together with the Bell Family and friends. Doug ended up being sick, so he stayed home, but the boys and I headed over to their house. The party as an 80's theme and it was fun to see all the outfits.

We were very lucky to have such an amazing 2011 as a family. Work is good for both me and Doug and both of the boys do very well in school. We are blessed.

November 2011

November was a busy month. A lot went on this month that didn't necessarily include the holidays. A good friend got married! The first weekend in November included a wedding shower and a bachelorette party. We stayed downtown at a hotel and had so many laughs. The wedding was two weeks later. It was fun to be a part of it and I am so happy for them. 

Jack and Charlie followed Ben around everywhere that night. Jack LOVED Ben and he even danced like Ben. At the reception, they all three sat at the bar to eat their dinner that night.  Ben said, "We're just chillin'.  It's free refills!"  Then they explained to us that they just had to tap the bar and the bartender would refill their drinks. So funny. 

The week after their wedding we started getting ready for Thanksgiving. I was so thankful to only have a two-day work week that week. I needed that time off work. On Wednesday night we did our Charlie Brown Thanksgiving dinner. We watched the movie and had toast, pretzels, popcorn and jelly beans for dinner. We had it picnic style on the floor. We had a great time doing this. After the movie, we made pumpkin pies and cupcakes. The boys love to help cook and bake. This year they pretty much made the pies by themselves....with my direction. They did a great job, though. 

Jack lost another tooth this month, his second. He nearly swallowed this one, as well as the first one. Doug had taken Jack out to lunch during school one day. Jack looked down at his food and noticed a little bit of red on it. He told Doug that his corn dog was bleeding, so Doug made him take everything out of his mouth and they found the tooth. 

For Thanksgiving, my mom and Bob came over for dinner. I completely forgot to take one single photo. We had so much food, which meant a lot of leftovers. We FaceTime'd with Julie and Nate after dinner. That's so convenient and fun. Later that night, I went Black Friday shopping with my friend Kim. We hit Wal Mart at 10pm, which was insane. But for some odd reason, I absolutely love it. 

I love the Friday after Thanksgiving. This year we watched the first Iowa/Nebraska football game. Iowa lost, of course, and I slept through most of the game because I wasn't feeling well.  After the game we got ready for our trip downtown. This is my favorite tradition that we do and this is the third year we've done it. We head down to the Durham Museum for Christmas at Union Station. We decorate cookies, make a few crafts and the boys get to see Santa. After that we listen to some of the music.

We then head over to the Old Market for a carriage ride through downtown to see all of the Christmas lights. This is our favorite and this year was fun, because the line was short and we got the "special" carriage. 

                                         

After the carriage ride, we ate dinner at Spaghetti Works. Then we head over to Tannenbaum and the boys chose a Christmas ornament. This year the boys both chose a nutcracker ornament and I chose another Santa for the tree. Then we head next door to the candy store and buy fudge and some candy. Finally we head home very full and ready for bed. I can't wait to do this again next year. 

October 2011

October was a fun month. The weather was beautiful and it has yet to get cold. At the beginning of the month, I was able to go on a field trip with Jack's kindergarten class to a local pumpkin patch. It was fun to see him interact with his friends.

We made our annual trip to Vala's Pumpkin Patch. The boys (and we) love it there. We tried to hit everything, but didn't quite make it all. The weather was beautiful.

The highlight of the month for me was not turning 37, but going to the AASL (American Association of School Librarians) Conference in Minneapolis Oct. 26-29. I had a fantastic time. About 30 librarians from the state of Nebraska all rode up to Minneapolis on a chartered bus. We had a fun time chatting, eating, reading and watching movies. I was able to meet quite a few people I had heard about. The conference itself was amazing. I came back with nearly 100 books for me and my classroom. I even was able to get a few for the boys. Quite a few authors were at the conference signing their books. I got to spend a lot of time by myself at the hotel at night, which was a great birthday present for me. It was such a jam-packed busy trip, but relaxing at the same time. One evening I walked around downtown by myself, did a little shopping and had dinner.

I also turned 37 this month. Doug took the boys to Sephora to get me some perfume and to Scheel's to get me a Hawkeye's sweatshirt. My mom and Bob came over and we all went out to eat one night and had cake.

For Halloween we had beautiful weather as well. It was in the 60's. I made some Halloween-appropriate food and Nana and Papa came over to hand out candy while we made the rounds. We were out trick-or-treating for quite a long time. The boys got way too much candy, but we had a blast. 

Jack lost his first tooth on Halloween. The actual tooth was nowhere to be found, though. We think he swallowed it while drinking his chocolate milk!