Pretty much the best week ever!

I know this is the fourth post in two days, but we have had an exciting month. This past week was Spring break for Colby and (as the title suggests) we decided it was pretty much the best week ever. Here are some of the highlights, in no particular order....


The First Major Car Repair

Colby has never done a major repair on our car, until this week. For the past few months, Colbs car has been leaking antifreeze. It has gotten progressively worse and recently he has had to put antifreeze in every time he drives. We got a quote on the repair and it was ridiculously expensive. I was telling our friends the Bomsta's about our quote and Brandon offered to help Colby fix it over Spring break. The guys put in over 15 hours of work, and saved us a ton of money. I'm very proud of Colby and owe Brandon a big THANK YOU!




The Science Center

We drove up to Minneapolis with the Bomstas for a couple of days to see the sights! It was just over a three hour drive and it was well worth it. The Science Museum of Minnesota was very cool. The boys loved the dinosaurs, human body section and the music area.


Carter and Evelyn hang out by one of the dinosaurs.


The kids play in a tunnel. (I know Ammon's eyes look kind of freaky, but the rest of the kids looked cute!)


Colby, Ammon and Carter play on the giant Xylophone.


Buck Hill

Those of you who are skiers should get a kick out of this. When locals hear that we like to ski they always tell us that there is a ski resort a couple of hours from Iowa. Well, we passed it on our way to Minneapolis. It looked like a total man made hill and the base was right by the freeway. These pictures don't capture how small it actually was, but you will get a pretty good idea.



This is the "summit" of the ski resort, notice how you can see it from the ticket office.


These are the three lifts that the resort has to offer.


Underwater Adventures

We took the kids to the aquarium at the Mall of America. It was pretty cool. They had a lot of underwater tunnels, sharks and sting rays.


Evelyn, Carter, Brielle and Ammon by the miniature alligator.


Our two little "treasures"


This picture was actually really hard to get because the treasure chest had about a foot and a half overhead clearance. But wasn't it worth it?


Ammon and Mom in the shark tunnel. I know it's hard to see, but there is actually a shark over Ammon's head.



Carter and Bri check out the fish.

I don't have photo documentation, but we also saw the Mall of America, went on a couple kiddie rides at the amusement park at the mall and visited with my friend Angel who lives in Minneapolis. (And Angel, I was sooo glad we got together!) As all good things must come to an end, Colby will return to school tomorrow. The good news is, he only has 2 months left of school!

Real Moms...MEME

I was tagged by Karin to post something that real moms do, so here you have it.....



Real Moms drive mini-vans. I love my mini-van. Believe me, I never thought I would own a mini-van, let alone love it. Not only is it very practical, but it is also super-cool. I dare say I would even buy another one. I am tagging Kim, Marcie, Carolee and Angel. Post something that real moms do and if possible, include a photo!

Light Ma-feen party

For Carter's birthday dinner, he chose to have pizza and blue jello. Mom threw in a fruit salad to try to add some nutritional value to the meal.

Carter was very excited for his Lightning McQueen cake.

Believe it or not, this was my best attempt at getting a group photo of the guests at Carter's party. None of them were too excited about taking this picture, obviously Carter was the least interested in being in the picture.

Happy Birthday Carter

I can't believe Carter is already two! Time flies. Carter is such a fun little boy with a great personality. He always keeps us laughing. He wants to be a "big boy" so bad. In fact, if you ask him how old he is, he will tell you he is four. Here are a few fun facts about our little peanut.

Favorite movie: Cars
Favorite color: blue
Favorite cartoon: Curious George
Best friend: Ammon
Favorite meal: grilled cheese sandwiches and jello

Here is a movie I made of Carter's first year.

A Buzz Birthday Bash

This year for Ammon's birthday, I decided to let him have a friend party. He was so excited to give invitations to his friends. He wanted a Buzz Lightyear theme so we found Buzz invitations, plates and favor bags and we built rocket ships out of toilet paper rolls. When we were going over the guest list , Ammon looked at me and said, "Wow, Mom, that's a lot of friends." The kids were all great and we had a fun time.


Ammon, Cannon, Nathan, Evelyn, Caden and Louie show off their rocket ships. (They are saying, "To infinity and beyond!")z


This year I got a store bought cake (which I didn't think was as cute as the ones I make, but it was definitely easier). Originally, I was going to make a rocket ship cake but I just couldn't complete with this one that Ammon saw at Target.


The kids all gathered around to watch Ammon open presents. My efforts to be organized were futile.

All the party guests pose for a picture. I couldn't get them to all look at the camera at the same time, oh well.

Happy Birthday Ammon!

I can't believe Ammon is four years old today! Time has gone by so fast. Ammon is getting to be such a big boy. Here is a little bit more about our buddy (according to Ammon).

Favorite color: Green
Favorite food: chocolate malt o meal
Best friend: Caden and Cannon and Nathan
Favorite movie: Star wars
Favorite animal: my little puppy (cook da boo)
Favorite song: My Wish
Favorite cartoon: Curious George
Favorite toy: my Dodge Viper
Favorite letter: all the letters in my name

I made this video to commemorate Ammon's first year. I had so much fun going through all his baby pictures. Ammon is such a sweet boy and we are so grateful that he is a part of our family.

Little Mister Bacterial Conjunctivitis

Sunday night, Carter's eyes started looking really red and goobery. I took him to the doctor yesterday and discovered that he has bacterial conjunctivitis. His little eyes look so sore, but if you ask him how his eyes are doing he will say, "It doing good."


He is still our smiley, happy little buddy!


This picture isn't really related to the rest of the post but I thought it was so funny I had to post it. Carter fell asleep like this one afternoon. He is actually standing up with one leg in our blanket basket.

Some days I wish I were the daddy

It's not that I don't like being the Mom, cause most days I love it; but some days I wish I were the daddy. The daddy gets to go to work (if he has a job that is) all day and then come home and play. He comes home and wrestles and tickles the kids and gets them all wound up just in time for me to try to put them to bed. When I discipline the boys, they want daddy. If they go on time out, daddy is going to save them. He is the fun guy. I have to be the mean mommy. Last weekend, Colby came with us to the Science Center. Now, I have taken the boys to the Science center two or three times- but it was never as fun as when daddy got to go with us. Ammon had Colby by the hand leading him all over the place saying, "Dad, come look at this," "Daddy, come over here!" He was sooo excited to show Colby everything. Don't get me wrong, I am so grateful that my kids love their dad; but every once in a while I think, "Some days I wish I were the daddy."

Carter, Colby and Ammon check out the snakes at the Science center.

Ammon, Colby and Carter get ready to race their lego cars.