Yeah, I'm a bad, bad blogger

I know, I know, I haven't put anything on here in forever and I really don't have any good excuse other than I just didn't do it. We've been having a great summer and the weather has been good for the most part so we've been taking advantage of it. We were lucky to get in the lake as early as Memorial Day Weekend and our little Tristan is quite the fish! He gets pretty upset with us when we try and take him out of water of any kind-the lake, the pool, the tub. He even wants to go out and water flowers with mom just hoping that I'll squirt him with the hose! It's been fun watching all three boys really enjoy spending time together. Of course that means something different to all the members of our clan-nice Connor!! I can't believe that it's already the middle of July. Where is the time going?

Connor went to Grand Forks, ND for Sioux Hockey Camp again this year-lucky me got to drive Connor and his friend Seth up to camp. We stopped in Detroit Lakes and visited Penny, Mark, Cody, Alison, Scooter and Kaylin which was a lot of fun. The drive home alone however, not fun. Good thing they make sugar free energy drinks or I'd have been sunk! Connor had a great time of course and learned a lot again so I was happy to do that for him. We headed up for July 4th weekend and got to enjoy more family time with Jerry, Erin and the kids. An added bonus for me was seeing my friends Melissa and Sherrie who were home visiting from down south. It was hard to come home after that weekend of sun, fun and family!

Jim ran his first road race EVER!! It was a 5K but over some pretty rough terraine so we are all so proud of him. He's been doing a great job training and working hard getting in to shape. He's hoping to run a few more races this summer and maybe work up to a marathon next year. Way to go sweetheart!

Happy 11 Months Tristan

I know, I know, I'm a terrible blogger. I'm a disgrace to bloggers everywhere with my infrequent posts but hey, I'm a busy mom with three boys and I just get caught up with life! SO, here's what's been going on with our life. Tristan is 11 months old today-I can't believe that our baby boy is almost already a year old. This just doesn't seem possible that time has gone by that quickly but it sure has. He's walking with more and more confidence each day so there's no stopping him now. He gets lots and lots of practice on wide open floors at the hockey rink waiting for games to start. We pretty much have been living at the rinks these past weekends. Both boys teams have been doing very well. Connor's team had a great second place finish at the Elk River Tournament January 2-3. The boys played some great hockey and we've been on a roll ever since. Garin's team also had a great weekend at the Centennial Tournament January 23-24 taking home the Consolation trophy. It's been so much fun watching them grow and develop as players and it's always exciting going to the games and cheering them on. We'll be going strong until about early March so join us at the rink-it's a great time.

Christmas was wonderful and relaxing-we headed up North to Grami and Papa's house in the Wisconsin woods and we had lots of fun taking Tristan out in the snow. Garin went snowshoeing several times and we even hit the sledding hill with Papa one afternoon-that's a workout! Our week went by too fast of course but it was so great to just enjoy our family time together without all the running.

Tristan's New Hat

Our little boy is 6 1/2 months old already! He's got one shiny new tooth coming in and is scooting around the house like crazy. We rearranged the living room to help keep him in one spot a bit better. He's in a big boy car seat now since his infant seat just wasn't big enough any more. Last weekend we painted the entry way and living room which went amazingly well with a baby in the house. Daddy took his son shopping on Sunday so Mommy could finish putting things away and cleaning. Well, when they go shopping, something always comes home for the little guy and this time it was a new hat! So now we're adding to our growing collection of camo gear with a new baseball hat that says "My 1st ATV" with a trike on it. When they got home from Fleet Farm, Tristan was smiling so much-I think it was all the attention he got from everyone in the store. He didn't want to take his hat off which is very unusual for him so I think he's going to be living in a baseball hat like his daddy.

Where Did The Year Go?

It seems like it was just yesterday that we were in the snow and cold of January and now it's creeping back up on us again! At lease we're getting one more shot of summer weather in September. Labor Day weekend was beautiful weather with lots of sun and fun up at the Lake with our good friends the Kitzmans and our niece Shawna and nephew Jerod. The weather couldn't have been more perfect so the kids got to spend a lot of time in the lake.

We had a couple of fun dinner too-we did a spaghetti dump for everyone on Saturday night-their faces were priceless when I dumped out the spaghetti on to the table and told them to dig in. I would post pics but I was busy dumping out dinner! Sunday night we celebrated Garin and Papa's birthdays with a Luau Taco Party. My good friend Mia came out for the afternoon and evening with her daughter Ayla so it was a great three day weekend. Wish the summer wouldn't have to come to an end that's for sure!

There is one good thing about fall, Football season! And my dad who has been a loyal Vikings Fan living in Wisconsin for over 35 years has finally gotten his little revenge..........

Happy Half Birthday Tristan!

I can't believe that I am posting our little guy is 6 months old already!!! It seems like it was just a few weeks ago that I was furiously posting pictures and his birth story and now he's celebrating 6 months. As you can see from the picture, we've got quite the little personality on our hands! We had pictures taken on 8/22 and the photographer had a hard time keeping him still enough to get the shot. We fell in love with this one and decided that this was the one. He's working on crawling and can get all around the upstairs now with no trouble. Unfortunately, he's still trying to cut his first tooth and he's got another ear infection but he's such a trooper. Even when he feels badly he's still trying to smile and be a happy baby. The boys have been spending the week up at Grammi and Papa's house for one last summer week of fun. Hockey starts next week and then school shortly after so we will be one uber busy household!!! We've really had a fun summer with all the boys spending time together and just enjoying being a family. Here's the picture that we got of all three handsome guys. What a blessing to have such awesome kids!

We're on the move!

Tristan is mastering the art of crawling! He's up on all fours and going forward, thankfully, not very quickly but it's coming. He has a funny way of getting up on the tips of his toes and pushing his butt up in the air too. The boys are having a great time encouraging their little brother to get around the house-little do they know this will put an end to their freedom too. I can't believe that summer is quickly coming to an end and we're looking at back to school and back to hockey in just two short weeks. I'm ready for everyone to get back on a schedule since it's been a crazy summer driving all over but it will be a new adventure with two big boys in school and hockey and fitting the baby's schedule into the mix. We can do it-we're tough! Here's a few more pictures of my wild boys.

Finally! A weekend at home, kind of.

We had a weekend at home, well sort of, and it was nice not to have to drive 8 hours over a three day period for a change. We did have have a few fun summer parties to attend, one of them being our friend Ehren and April's daughter MaKenzies First Birthday! It was a fun afternoon in St. Charles playing with all the new toys (but don't mess with the birthday girl if she's got her sights on her toy!) and having our first taste of cake frosting and ICE CREAM! Tristan of course loved jumping in the jumparoo-since his legs are so busy all the time anyway. The weather cooperated and it was sunny and warm which was nice considering we haven't had much of a summer this year. I can't wait for TL's birthday to see what he does with a cake of his own.