Friday the 13th

Started out with me taking a shower with an incredibly large spider!!! Ugh!!! I was shampooing my hair and opened my eyes to find it running across the wall!! I had to catch my breath and think about how to get rid of it...Graham wouldn't be coming home until late tonight, and I didn't want that monster loose in the house...a kleenex would not work, as I didn't want to "feel" it being squished...thank goodness for Sean's bath toys! I was able to squish it and clean it up, but I don't think I will get over my bad case of "hebe-jebes" anytime soon!

On a fun note; I was able to have lunch with a old friend, Tiffany, and her little girl. Now we are only 10 minutes away! Super fun :) Alli comes home today, and we will see her tonight at Braeden and Charlie's birthday party! Graham will be home when we get back later tonight!! Great, great day :)

Here are some fun pictures from Easter, to our last time at Bay Front Park in Duluth, a carnival at Emma's school, and fun at Target. Great memories!

Moved!!

We survived our move! We are officially Shakopee"ians." It has been eventful, stressful, exciting, and sad all at the same time.

Eventful:
We bought a Bank Owned home...not recommended! Many problems finalizing the sale, and the "Bank" didn't seem to care or want to sell. Totally opposite of what one hears in the news! Freddy Mac is not easy to deal with and the realtors they list with are awful, too! But, we are here and dealing.

Stressful:
1. Uhaul didn't have the truck size we reserved, and we had to go with a smaller one...let's just say we had to go back and get a trailer to fill to the brim...ugh...didn't make it easy, but we managed.
2. Graham loaded us up and helped drop the truck and trailer off at the new place the day before closing, and then had to return to Duluth for his Board Study Program. So, my dad and I hired some guys to meet us at the new place to unload. They were lifesavers!
3. I think that I am a little spoiled when it comes to moving, as my husband has always made such beautiful homes for us. This time, I had to move into someone else's home. On the surface, it looked fine. Close up, it was another story! I am a VERY clean and picky person, so it was very overwhelming when I first started to clean! After a few days of scrubbing and Graham coming to my rescue, the stress has lifted :)
4. Unpacking...need I say more!

Exciting:
1. We have more space here, and we no longer share walls with neighbors. That means we can be loud without worry, and let me tell you, my boys are loud!
2. We are closer to family and old friends.
3. Love being close to the cities, too :)
4. Graham came and made everything better beginning Friday night...new water heater, water softener, appliances, and washer/dryer...along with scrubbing skills...he makes everything better!
5. My mom and dad helped us out so much with their time and talents. We couldn't have done it without them!

Sad:
1. Having to say goodbye to Graham early this morning was really hard. We will see him on Friday night, can't wait!
2. Having to say goodbye to our new friends up in Duluth. Some will be moving down this way in the next few months, which cannot come soon enough! Others, we will have to make sure we visit when we make the trek back up. Soon Ladies!! :)
3. Wednesdays were our YMCA days, and I got a little choked up thinking about it last week. We miss our Gym/Swim friends and fun! I have already looked into the Y here, but it will never be the same.
4. Our neighbors...we had the best neighbors. They took us in like we were part of their families when we moved up there. They were so sweet to our boys and dogs, so loving, and we will really miss them. I can't wait to drop in on them, too!

We are so blessed to have such special people in our lives. Thank you.

I want to wish my nephew, Charlie, a very Happy 3rd Birthday today, too!!

Birthday Pictures...

I am not a photographer by any means! Once again, thanks to my photographer friends for helping me capture their milestones!! You are amazing!!

We sang "Happy Birthday" four times today...once to each of them when they woke up with donuts and once to each of them at their party! I think it is important for them each to get a song for themselves :) They loved all the attention and songs!

First Birthday Blast!

Wow! What a great first birthday for Andrew and Isaac! They had a great day of celebration and are currently zonked out!

1. Their day started with a song and a candle in their donut made with love from their Nana!

2. They played their little hearts out with all of Nana's toys and cupboard items ;) They are great at taking everything out...haven't gotten them to pick up yet...

3. Poor buddies had to go to their one year appointment...what a mean mom! I forgot how torturous that one was!! 3 shots and 1 finger prick later, they couldn't wait to get home!

4. Thought for sure that they would nap...nope...now they are going on NO NAPs for their big party...yikes!

5. We had a Minnesota Twins party for them! They wore their new shirts from the Fellings, and we borrowed baseball serving wear from the Jacobys. We made baseball cakes and had baseball balloons to help us decorate. Fun times!

6. Andrew feel asleep pretty quickly after the festivities began, sitting in his highchair eating a cracker. Good thing for Auntie Amy, she held him tight while we got everyone else fed.

7. Isaac enjoyed every bite of food, all the excitement of the kids, and all the attention.

8. Andrew woke up just in time for cake and presents. They did awesome! Enjoyed their first taste of cake and all the wrap, tags, and paper that came with their awesome gifts!

9. They continued to party with the rest of them, but started to get tired...

10. So, it was bath and bedtime for all...

Great day! We are so blessed! Pictures will be posted once I get home. Thanks for all the birthday wishes and gifts. We are lucky to have all of you in our life :)

Look Who Turned One!!

Wow! Where has this year gone?!

Our baby boys are turning one and have quite the little personalities, too!

Check out our "Minnesota Twins!"

Isaac

1. He has always been the easy going guy.

2. Loves to snuggle and hold onto you.

3. His smile will melt your heart.

4. He is a thinker and planner, and he is very successful when he tries something new.

5. He adores his brothers and wants to be where ever they are.

6. Has a contagious giggle.

7. Seems to be a little accident prone...ugh!

8. Loves the tub, pool, being outside, splashing in the dog dish,

making a break for it when he notices the gate is open, strings...

9. Can be found wrestling with daddy, Sean, and Andrew.

10. Loves to play "tug of war" with toys that Andrew has...

he giggles while Andrew (tough guy) cries...

priceless!

Andrew

1. He is our attention loving boy.

2. His volume seems to be the loudest of the 3.

3. He isn't afraid to try new things like; crawling, walking, stairs, climbing...

4. When he lays his head on my shoulder, I just can't get enough.

5. He adores his brothers, too, and wants to be where ever they are.

6. Loves to chase the dogs, take baths, swim...

7. Can be found wrestling with daddy, Sean, and Isaac.

8. Loves to pull on the drapes, stand up in his crib, bite anything that he can,

remotes/phones of any kind...

9. Has adoring eyes that sparkle when he smiles.

10. Prefers to WALK!

We feel so blessed to have been given such amazing miracles.

Our hearts are filled with so much love and joy.

Now, if we could convince them to sleep... ;)

Scooter Time...Finally!

He finally got to test out his new birthday scooter! Already the pro...holes in jeans and all ;)

Andrew wishing he could try it...

Isaac thinking his big bro is pretty talented...

I was even given the chance to show my skills :)

It has been an exciting couple weeks!

Sean and his new friends. Sunset at the beach. Isaac and Andrew in their boats.

Sean getting ready to go down the slide.

The twins in their "jeep."

We have had some exciting things happen for us in the last few weeks! We hesitated to "talk" about it, as we didn't want to jinx anything until we knew it was official...So let me catch you up!

1. About 3 weeks ago we got an offer on our townhome! We had to counter back and forth a few times...that is so stressful!! It is a done deal, and they take possession of our home on May 2nd.

2. Yes, I said "May 2nd!!" I was freaking out, too, thinking about finding a place to move into that quick. The stars have aligned, and we were able to find a great place after only 2 days of looking. We will be moving to Shakopee on May 2nd :) We are buying a detached townhome in a family friendly neighbor with a pool and park. It really couldn't be better for us at this time. The detached let's us have all four walls to ourselves, so we don't have to worry about noise...not that we are loud ;)

3. We went on vacation to Marco Island, Florida last week, and we all had a blast! Sean spent the entire time in the pool or ocean swimming, going down the slide, jumping off the side, diving for rings, playing with his torpedo, finding cool shells, and making new friends. The babes LOVED the water! They floated around in their boats, splashing, laughing, and having fun. Graham and I were busy the entire time and had a blast! We all crashed early every night, as that sun and heat took a lot out of us! The flights were good, we saw some dolphins, starfish, and conc shells, and we got over our fear of hotel floors... ;) We made some new friends, and wouldn't you know they are from Mankato!! Talk about a small world!

4. Now, we are back, and I am lining up our move, planning out my strategy/schedule, making lots of phone calls, and everything else that needs to be done on a regular basis :)

5. It is going to be an extremely busy month for us, and we feel so blessed that it is working out. Graham will have to stay up here for an addition 6 weeks to finish up. There is a local hotel, The Edgewater, that provides rooms to college students on a long term basis for a discounted price. It will be worth it for him to have the space to study and relax. It also allows for us to come up and visit him whenever we want. Fun place for the kids, too!

Enjoy our pictures! Wish I could've taken more, but believe it or not, my hands were full the entire time!