Last Weekend

We had a pretty fun weekend planned out for the kids and us last week.
Brayden has been a Mickey Mouse fan since he first laid eyes on the "club house friends" as he calls them. When we found out that Disney On Ice was coming again, we figured it would be a good idea to take him. Last time he went, he was over a year old and he did really well, but we didn't know how Adam would be since he's only six months old. Brayden had a great time, as we expected, but Adam totally surprised us. The kid wouldn't sit down. He wanted to be up dancing every time a song was playing (the whole thing is a musical, by the way). So he was up on our laps jumping and screaming (in delight) for over half of it. He did end up getting tired and cranky after intermission, but it was still a really good time.

On Saturday Aunt Shonda and Uncle Kevin came over for the afternoon to celebrate Christmas with us. The boys had a lot of fun with them, but couldn't wait until after lunch to open presents. When the presents were opened the kids played with Shonda all afternoon and I had some quality time with Kevin and Madden. The only problem was, I got blown out on my own turf. Until next time Kevin!

That night we went to downtown Minneapolis for the Hollydazzle parade. We met our friends Chris and Emily and their boys Caleb and Eli at the MOA and took the light rail down there. It would have been a great trip except Adam decided to SCREAM the whole way there. I'm not sure if there is anything worse than a train full of people looking at you and there isn't anything you can do but let him scream it out. Oh well. He calmed down when we got there and the kids (and adults) had a great time.

On Sunday, Aunt Annie and Mike came over to play. Annie with the boys, and Mike with me and Madden. We had lunch together and hung out all afternoon.

Christmas Tree

We got our tree last week.

Tuesday

Yesterday was a pretty eventful day. In the morning we went to play gym so Brayden could get some exercise and play with his friends.


We stayed there for a few hours, and then went to the Mall Of America. KFAN was having a Toys for Tots drive and broadcasting there all day. Brayden brought a toy and dropped it off with the marines. For donating a toy, they let us pick a prize card from a box and we ended up getting an autographed Gus Frerotte mini football. Not to exciting. But then Bernard Berrian showed up to do an interview. After he finished, he came down to sign autographs, so Brayden took his ball up and got that signed. At least he got one good player's signature.

Happy Thanksgiving

We spent the weekend before Thanksgiving in Wisconsin on the farm. It was the opening of the gun deer season so I hunted with my dad and uncle. I saw a doe, but missed my shot. My mom had a big dinner with all our family on Saturday.
We got back home on Tuesday, and on Wednesday I spent the day getting our Christmas lights on the house. It only took six hours, but it looks pretty good.
On Thursday, we went to Susie's parent's house for Thanksgiving dinner. After dinner, Brayden helped Grandma Jeanie put her Christmas tree up and decorate it.
So, that sums up a pretty busy week. I hope you enjoy the pictures.

Snow In November???

Well, I guess that's normal, but, man, two days after tee shirts and shorts. I don't know how long it will last, but Brayden and Adam had fun in it this morning.

Pumpkins

I forgot to add the pictures of this years pumpkins. Brayden had so much fun carving them this year with his little dull knife.

Sorry

OK, so throughout October I've either been extremely busy, or extra extremely lazy. It was such a great month for our family. We threw two birthday parties, one for me and one for Brayden. Brayden and I went to my parents farm to help make firewood for the second weekend of the month, and the last weekend was our Halloween Spooktacular (not really, i just like that word). It went by so fast that before I knew it, I was over a month behind on our blog.
I'll put a few slide shows in this post. First is my party. I turned 29 this year. Susie threw such a great party. Friends and family from the area were there, and my college friends and their families from Sioux City came up for the weekend too. The party lasted from noon till I passed out, and the next morning we took all the kids swimming at the hotel our friends stayed at. After brunch we went to Nickelodeon Universe at the MOA for the afternoon.

I forgot to take the camera when we went to Wisconsin, but I don't know when I've seen Brayden have more fun. He loved riding the 4 wheeler and tractor. He got a kid's chainsaw from our grandma Peggy for his birthday, so he was out in the woods cutting small branches off the firewood my dad and I cut.

The weekend before his birthday, we threw Brayden a party. He had some friends come over and they played and played till they couldn't walk anymore. Brayden got a lot of great gifts and hasn't stopped playing with them to this day. Right now is the most interested he's been in playing with his toys and using his imagination. It's nice how he can now entertain himself and his little brother Adam. Every night they have a half hour laugh off before bed. I think my abs are getting tighter from laughing at the two of them setting each other off.
The night after his party, we went to Chuck E Cheese with Russ, Katie, Justin, and Emily. The kids had a blast, but it's amazing that 600 tickets can just get you a crappy pencil case.

So, after the parties, we celebrated Halloween. We took the kids to the zoo, where we met some of Susie's friends from work. They had treat stations set up though out, so Brayden got to trick or treat there before we went out on the town.
On Halloween night, we went to Farmington and Trick or Treated with Chris and Caleb. Susie, Adam, Emily, and Eli stayed back at the house. Brayden did really well this year, but he got tired out about halfway through the houses, he made it all the way last year.

So, that was our month. I would also like to say, congratulations to our new President-Elect. Now we just have to wait another 76 days for the trash to be taken out.

Birthday Parties

Over the weekend we celebrated Susie's dad's and sister Annie's birthdays. At Annie's party, Mike's nephew Preston was there. Brayden had fun making a new friend.

Brayden's Potty Present

We finally have Brayden potty trained after months of begging, pleading, and bribing. We promised him a big present if he didn't have any accidents and it actually worked. We went out a few weeks ago looking for a power wheel or something he could drive around, but we couldn't find one we liked.
We went home and looked online and found a Caterpillar front end loader/backhoe peddle tractor at Northern Tool. We drove to the store to get it, but found out they didn't have one in stock. Brayden was devastated. The guy told me it was online only, but he looked on his computer catalog and found 279 of them at a store in South Carolina (nice distribution). He was able to get one sent to the store but it would take a week or so. So you can guess how the next week went.

Morning, Day 1: "Is my tractor here yet??"
Bedtime, Day 1: "Will my tractor be here tomorrow?"

Morning, Day 8: "When will my tractor be here!!!"
Bedtime, Day 8 "Will my tractor be here tomorrow?"

Throughout the week he had the Northern Tool catalog in his hands looking at the pictures and showing everyone who came to visit.

So it finally came, and Brayden wanted to ride it out of the store. He couldn't because it was boxed up, so I told him he could when we got home. We got it out of the car, and out of the box and saw about 150 pieces and 10 small bags filled with nuts and bolts. "Ok Brayden, you can ride it tomorrow."

September is Here

August is finally over!!! I'm not saying it wasn't fun. We took a trip to Lambeau with Brandon, Beth and Jameson. We also had two long trips for family weddings in Wisconsin and spend a lot of time on Grandpa and Grandma's farm. We put some work into our house getting ready for winter. We trimmed our trees to save our roof when the snow comes and insulated our pipes to save energy for the boiler. Now it's time to relax. Wait a minute, Susie goes back to work on Friday!!! That means I'm home alone with the two little monsters. Oh well, guess that's my job.
Adam finally started sleeping through the night, and his crying fits have gone from four hours down to one, which is nice. Brayden is having a ball with his little brother. I've never seen a kid so interested in a baby. He pretty much wants to be involved in everything (except the diaper changes). Speaking of diapers, we finally have Brayden potty trained. He has an occasional accident here and there, but other than that, we're very proud of him.
We have no big plans for September, so the boys and I can hopefully get into a groove and get used to not having mommy around all the time (sigh).
Anyway, here is a slideshow of all the highlights of August, enjoy.

Stay At Home Dad

I tried to send this over e-mail a few days ago, but it turned into a catastrophe (at least some people couldn't open it) so I'll put the video here.

Trip to Lambeau Field

Justin's Birthday Party

Adam Michael's Baptism