Our garden 2011

-This year we grew strawberries, cucumbers and sugar snap peas in the circles by the house. The cukes have been plentiful!

We have had a great crop of raspberries. Our best year yet! Thanks to my friend, Nancy from work! And even our blueberries produced a handful!

In the main garden we had/have carrots, lettuce, cantaloupe, watermelon, magic purple beans( thanks again to Nancy), mini pumpkins, broccoli, tomatoes ( best tasting ones I've ever eaten!), squash that I never produced, giant pumpkins that never produced, a few pepper plants, spearmint and peppermint and basil!





We have never taken advantage of eating this much out of the garden! Lots of fresh salads, cucumber waters with fresh mint, I froze a few meals worth if beans tonight and we are going to can some tomato sauce tomorrow! For the first time we even have both melons producing! They both have a bit bigger than softball sized fruit right now!



The really exciting part is that I brought my mini pumpkins and ome purple beans to the MN stare fair this year! I am not sure what happened with the beans ( i dropped them off but Robb said he didn't see them there today when we went with work) but



my pumpkins took FIRST place! I am pretty excited! Thanks to Jen who told me and my mom for sending me some pictures!

The pirates of the Whitefish chain!

Circa July 2011


- what started out as a fun idea turned into a reality for these three boys! The imagination of my husband and his dad grew into a pirate ship...


With flags that we sewed out of old t-shirts....costumes compliments of my amazing mother-in-law's handiwork! They even hand swords and eye patches!






A treasure map that the boys followed ( and Robb got poison sumac from hiding the flags) and a hidden treasure. Candies, monies and cars!





Aarrrrrr! Matey!

Elm creek swimming lake

We have been here a hand full of times this summer. We load up the "buggy" our burley and bike up to the beach.


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It's especially fun when we pack a picnic and play at the newly remodeled park!

Max and his puppies

-This is my son Max! These are his puppy friends ( all 15 of them!) and two kitties!

They are his best friends and constant companions!

From R to L: Mitty, Mitty kitty, Bulldoggy, Blue ( from blues clues), Pink Dots, Blue Dots, Buster, Bella, Clifford ( aka Cliffy), Blu, Lucky, Bogie, the Christmas pooch, Taco, Cody, Brownie, and I am not sure the Ty beanie has a name!

He is happiest when they are all in his bed with him! You can find him having them talk to one another, give puppy smooches or lick us!

My sweet boy!

August recap 2011

I have so much to recap. After the fun wedding and family time in Hayward we came home. Our kids now strongly dislike any time in car beyond going to Target, 3 minutes away!

That next week we finished up swim lessons! Our final night I got to Jaskson pool and realized I didn't have my suit just Max's and Robb's. So, I called Robb and asked him to bring it( he was home with the sleeping Gracie). When he got there he surprised me with only bringing my top piece! Decisions had to be made.... So, in we go, ten minutes late, with me in my top piece and Robb's bottoms! Hot stuff, I tell ya! Can not tell you how embarrassing that was. However, I got got through it and just hope to not see any of our swim friends again!

The second weekend we had a Headlee ( Robb's moms side) family reunion in Pequot! We just drove up for the day. It was at Robb's uncle Dans house. I am so glad we went. There was a great turn out and it was so nice to spend time with all his cousins and aunts and uncles. Robb's grandma was not able to make it to the party. Too much effort to get her there and then i think she falls asleep if over stimulated! And she probably would have been with the 11 brothers and sisters and their families all there!

The third week, the kids and I had a fun day with my friend from work Jen and her two adorable kiddos! We went to the St. Louis Park splash pad and park. It was great, fun to see her out of work and my kids were exhausted afterward! Then, Thursday I meet up with my cousin Katie and her two kids for a fun day at the zoo!

Did I mention that this was also the week when we found out our Volvo wagon was dying? The battery drained twice during that week and the fuel pump was leaking. So, on the 20th we got a new car! A Subaru Outback! I will be the one to drive it! Hoping to keep it nice. We went with it on the recommendation of the Goodyear station manager. He said they have great resale value, don't break down too much and are pretty fuel efficient!



We still are search for a name for it!

The 3rd weekend, well we bought the car, then headed to the westmoreland birthday party. This years theme was carnival! I helped run a booth that the kids used a sling shot to shot at numbers hanging down for a sting! Both kids got goodie bags and a tie dyed shirt! The special treat instead of cakes was three kinds of homemade ( of course!) ice cream sandwiches! They even had cotton candy! Huge hit with Max!


After that party we had the Dalbec annual luau! First one in the new house. I really enjoyed it!

This past week we have celebrated my mom's 54th birthday! Happy birthday, nana! She had 3 cakes at work and brought one over to share with us! Then next night we all went out to eat at the Olive Garden! I thought we were brave to go out to eat with the kid!


This weekend we will finish up all the loose ends because I start back to work on wednesday! I hope to post about the state fair and our fun upcoming play dates!

Book Family Hayward time

Following Mat and Sarah's wedding we woke up and drove to Hayward, Wisconsin. The trip took us about 7 hours with a few stops in there. We pulled into hayward in time for Robb to hit the links with my dad and uncle Dan. I finished the voyage to the cabin with a littel fuss yet safely. By now the natives were getting restless and I can't say I blame them.

My uncle Bob, my dad's eldest brother, has this magnificent cabin on Teale Lake. We all gather there every August and every other Christmas. I have been fortuntate to be apart of it most years. This year we had 42 family member in attendence. We go to a fish fry on friday nights. The crowd gets pretty rowdy and the fish is always good! Saturday we mingle, catch up with everyone, some play golf, some go into town. I ran one last errand before "hosting" a baby shower for my cousin's Dave and Lisa who are about to welcome their Son Clayton to this world. I had a lot of fun organizing the shower and I think they got some pretty cool stuff!

This is Lisa, Uncle Bob and Dave. Clayton, too!

Hayward 2011

Wish I had a family picture of all of us and some of the shower, but alas, I was too busy to get some pcitures! So glad we got to spoil Lisa and Clayton. Can not wait to meet the little man!

Mat-o and Sarah's nuptial's

8-4-11

So, funny story... the day Gracie was born we got a message from Mat-o saying he was getting married and wanted us (Robb) to be "special guest" at his wedding! I say to Robb, "hey, you should call him, to congratulate him of course, and get more details". He didn't. The next thing that happens we get and invite to the wedding. It is to be Thursday August 4th, 2011 in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada!

the guys heading out for photos!

Fast forward to the friday evening before the wedding, when Robb gets an email saying what time the grooms dinner is and what he is to wear! Auuugh! He is in the wedding... that is what "special guest" meant! We felt terrible because our plan was to have Robb work a full day of work, attend Max's swim lesson and hit the road. After a conversation explaning all this to Mat, he said no problem! Robb's brother Joe was also in the wedding and he would "take notes" on what Robb needed to know and fill him in!

So, after a long day if work, swim lesson, the car was packed and we took off. We got to Duluth about 830pm. Had a potty break, Gracie ate and Maxers got changed into Pj's. We then ventured north, rolling into Canada about 12:15am. Funny, we were the only ones going through customs. Not so funny, Ontario is an hour ahead of us. SO it was actually 1:15am! We got into Thunder Bay about 2am and unloaded. Joe, JOhn and Robb's dad were still awake and helped us move into our room and we slept from about 3am-630am when Robbs alarm went off. He had pictures ya know! Good thing the kidlets slept much more than we did. I saw in awe when we pulled back the shade in the morning to see the beauty around us! The hotel had spectacular vistas!

This picture doesn't do it justice! Such a beautiful place to get married! Robb left for pictures and I got myself and the kiddos ready. We left on time but need to find a place to buy a bottle nipple since I conviently left those at home. Opps! We also needed directions to the church. We got there just a tad late but didn't miss much. Then we headed back to the hotel where the brunch was. Both kids fell asleep on the drive so I stayed in the room with my sleepers and Robb was sweet enough to bring us some food. It was tasty! They took more photos after and then we got to hang out for a bit. Max got to swim, which he thinks is the best part about hotels, and then we headed to the BBQ at the Kekebeka Falls, National Park. It was also very beautiful and fun to just hang out. Both Sarah and her mother are teachers so there was a ton of kid friendly events including a pinata!

by 9pm we were exhausted and need to gear up for the following day. We headed back to the hotel for one of the earliest nights I can remember. Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Johnson! Get started on your hockey team!

trying for a dressed up family picture!

Two month stats

8-2-2011

Last Thursday we took Gracie in for her two month appointment. I am truly amazed at how fast she is growing... She was 24.25" that is 3.25" longer, 13 lbs, 4oz which is up 5 plus pounds!!! Wow! She definitely gets cuter each day and the smiles are more and brighter! I have been putting off saying it but starting last Wednesday, in honor of her two month anniversary of birth ( I am sure), she started sleeping 8-9 hours at night! Even sleeping in her crib a few of those nights! No prompting from me or anything! She usually goes down between 9pm-11pm and wakes up between 5:30am- 7am. What a rock star! We will see if it lasts! The daytime naps are less predictable but that is my fault for trying to run errands and get things done. I think if we were home more or at the same time we would have a better schedule!

The big guy Max had is first day back at daycare after a 9 week hiatus! He had a great time and was FULL of energy upon return! It sounds like they all had fun being reunited! I am so happy about that because I felt bad having him go, it has been fun having him home with us. I know it's good for him to be with his pals though and it was so nice for Gracie and me to have some girl time, too! He will just be going one day a week until I head back to work.
I got am call from my boss last week and we set a date of August 31st as my first day back. I am less nervous this time around about going back. I did have a moment when I thought about applying for a L&D position but it would have meant more daycare for the kids, so after talking with Robb about it I decided to pass for now. I think I need to try it at some point though, just to know. Growing up I wanted to be an OB and once I realized how little the Md's are there I wanted to be a labor nurse. It scares me just a little which is good. I am also worried I would be bad at it. Nerdy, I know but it is hard to give up the know for an unknown and be bad at it. But at some point I will want a new challenge to keep growing and learning. For now learning the ropes with the two kiddos is my challenge! :-)

Robb finished up his summer softball league in seventh place. Pretty sure he had a good time and some needed time away with the guys! His company got sold and they are just integrating with the new company this week. He was pretty nervous for the town hall meeting today and the actual meeting of the new boss. He said it went well and he really liked what is on the horizon, so that is good to hear! I am sure there will be bumps in the road but it is a promising start!

I got to see a few old friends from high school tonight and it was super fun to hang out and chat. We have somethings like being mommies in common so it was a fun time! Tomorrow I will meet up with a couple college friends, run some errands, attend swim lessons with my little guy and hit the road for Thunder Bay, Ontario for a wedding of Robb's good friend. Robb found out last Friday that he is standing up for Mat in the wedding. That is a special honor! After the wedding we will head to my Book family weekend in Hayward! So much to look forward to! Plus we just got our car boo-boo's fixed up (ouch!!) so we are ready for a fun road trip! See ya on the flip side of it!




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