No, Colby.....

Colby's newest phrase is "No, Colby". He is quite mischeivous right now and still likes to get into a little trouble when I'm not paying close enough attention to him. So much so, that if I catch him doing something he's not supposed to be doing he will say "No, Colby!" before I even get a chance to!

Some of his latest antics are:
-Sticking his hand in the toilet
-Dipping a cup in the toilet and pouring the water out into the sink
-Dipping Jeremy's Neti-Pot (the thing he uses to clear out his sinuses) into the toilet and filling it with toilet water
-Turing on the bathroom sink and filling Jeremy's Neti-Pot with water and then drinking out of it (yuck!)
-Getting into Maddy's play make-up and smearing it all over his hair
-Getting soap on his hands and putting it in his hair
-Eating Maddy's gum, wrapper and all!

Ok, I guess I should stop there...those examples were coming a little too fast(sorry Colby!) ;-) I really do watch him, I promise, but he is so quick and knows when I'm busy doing laundry, dishes, helping Maddy with something, etc...He escapes quietly and quickly on his little missions ;-) Here is a quick little video of Colby saying "No, Colby" as I actually think it is very cute when he says it (but don't tell him that! Ha!)

The Best Surprise Party!!

Colby and I are in a play group that meets every Wednesday. My good friend Wendy and her daughter Elise (who most of you probably know about)are also in our play group on Wednesdays. Elise was diagnosed with a brain tumor exactly one year ago on March 29th, 2010.

A Mom from our group and another Mom from Elise's Kindergarten class (she is in half-day Kindergarten) decided to plan a surprise party for Elise on Wednesday at Backyard Adventures (an indoor play place that we go to when it's cold out). Since we go there every Wednesday, it was the perfect way to get them there w/out knowing anything was up. Elise's entire Kindergarten class and our whole play group was there and they were completely surprised!!! It was a great celebration for Elise and how far she has come this past year.

I even got Maddy out of school to go and she was super excited about it! We had Jimmy John's subs, chips, drinks and cake. The kids all got a balloon with Elise's caring bridge site attached to it and they all released them into the sky at the same time. It was really cool. We are hoping someone will find one of the balloons and post something on their site!

Colby also participated in the balloon release, however, it ended with me prying the balloon out of his hand and him crying since it blew away ;-) Oh, well!!

Here are some fun pictures from the party:

Maddy and Elise:


Colby eating his lunch:


All the kids eating:


Getting ready to release the balloons:


There they go!! Awesome!!

Home Projects......

We hired a friend of Jeremy's to put in some built-in bookshelves in our Living Room. He did a great job and the Living Room looks like a whole different room now. Jeremy also managed to install a new ceiling fan yesterday afternoon and it looks great!! We are still waiting on the doors to the bottom cabinets, but that should be done in the next couple days. 2 more projects to check off the list!

Built-ins and ceiling fan!


Close-up of ceiling fan:

Spring and St. Paddy's Day!

Last week during Spring Break I took the kids and met Josh and Ben and Jordyn downtown for the St. Paddy's day parade. It was a good time and the kids got lots of beads and candy!!

Come on guys, get out there get some candy!! Yes, I admit, both Josh and my competitive spirits came out a little bit at the parade ;-)


Me and Colby!


Josh, Jordyn, Ben and Maddy:


I also got all of the Spring stuff out of the garage last week (sandbox, kids' picnic table, outside chairs, etc...) The kids loved the fact that their picnic table was back out so I let them eat dinner out there one night --- hillarious how excited they were about it!

Cute!!

The other day I caught Colby sitting on Maddy's lap at the table eating breakfast with her --- I had to get a couple pictures while it lasted!! Maddy loves to baby Colby whenever she can; However, Colby is kind of a rough and tumble type of kid, so only occasionally will he allow it ;-) When he does, it is super cute, though!!

Birthday Mania!!!!

Maddy turned 6 last Wednesday and it has definately been birthday mania around here! On Maddy's birthday, we went over to Backyard Adventures with most of her cousins and aunts and uncles (that live in town) as it was Spring Break here and most everyone was around. The kids had a good time playing and we had pizza and a cookie cake.

On Saturday night, Maddy invited a few friends from school over and we had a Hawaiian themed party -- It was a lot of fun and made us feel like we actually went somewhere tropical like the rest of West Des Moines last week! Ha! It was pretty much like a ghost town around here last week. Everyone was out of town for break and it did feel a lot different not having all of the neighbors out and about.

I still can't believe Maddy is 6 and is almost done with her 1st year of school! She has grown-up a lot this year and is all about her friends and school! She is growing up way too fast!!

Here are a few pics from the parties!


Eating pizza and cake at Backyard Adventures:


Maddy, Katie and baby James:


Maddy's palm tree cookie cake:


Maddy and Cara:


Maddy, Jordyn, Ben and RJ:


Family photo:


Jeremy explaining the rules to Limbo at Maddy's "friend party" (Jeremy doesn't like to be involved in the planning of the parties, but once they're here, he's all about it! The kids loved him!)


Sack race!


Eating pizza, cupcakes and fancy tropical drinks from the blender!

Running Time.....

As you might have noticed, I added a picture to the blog of Maddy and I after the Taste of Hope 5K last summer. I am starting to get into running mode now that the weather is warming up. I love running outside more than any other type of exercise. It is so easy and convenient and now that it is lighter out later at night, I can get a run in after Jeremy is home from work. I added my tentative "race schedule" for this year to the side bar of the blog. This is what I am tentatively planning on for this year. I am not 100% on the full DSM marathon, however, I do think that I can get myself in good enough shape before October. We will see how things progress over the summer, though --- I may even add in a couple other smaller races here and there as I hear about them, but for now this is what I'm shooting for!! Can't wait to get back outside and off of the treadmill!!!

Spring Break!!!

This is a picture of Colby last year in April with his lawn mower! He looks so small to me!


Spring Break started for us today and Maddy is off school today and all of next week! It was so nice this morning to just wake up and let the kids watch tv and relax and not have to rush around to get everyone ready. It's close to 60 degrees out today as well so we were able to play outside for awhile --- I am definately ready for Spring and it looks like the warmer days are close to being here for good!!
I can even feel my own mood shifting just thinking about the idea of being able to go outside everyday! It makes such a big difference in our days! Happy Spring to everyone!!

Maddy's First Tooth Gone!

So, this is a little late, but I had to post a picture of Maddy the night she lost her first tooth! It was the night of Saturday, Feb., 19th, so a little over a week ago. It had been loose for a long time and finally came out after a little twisting and pulling! Her 2nd bottom tooth is really loose now as well and will probably be falling out anytime!

A shout out to all the Moms......

A friend of mine posted this video on Facebook -- A little cheesy at first, but keep watching -- I loved it!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wkc9-SvqfDM&feature=related