Flashback Friday--Valentine Edition

I'm flashing back today on Valentine's of the past. I only have back to 2004 on my computer so we'll make do with that!





Valentine's Day 2004......the day my nephew Blake came home from Children's Hospital....a day to celebrate indeed. He was one week old. It was also the day that Todd's cousin Chad married Jessica, hence the fancy black dress.

Valentine's Day 2005. My two sweethearts. (I was pregnant with Aiden at the time and I remember being very nauseous that day)
Valentine's Day 2006. I tried getting pics of Aiden holding a heart shaped cookie cutter. I ended up making a cute card out of the second one, but I can't find it on my computer.

Valentine's Day 2008---we finished our kitchen remodel!

Valentine's Day 2008 The best part of last years' Valentine's Day.....we got our kitty Grayson. He was about 8-9 months old they were guessing at the shelter but we decided to celebrate his bday every year on Feb 14th. He has been such a joy.....he loves the kids, loves to sleep with them, is playful and funny, and is so warm and cuddly. I love curling up with him in bed. Love you Grayson!

Buzz Lightyear

TO INFINITY.......

AND....... TO SLEEP!

At naptime the other day, Aiden kept playing around. I guess getting into his Buzz Lightyear costume was exhausting because when I went in to check on him, he was sound asleep.

Mother/Son Date Night

Saturday night was the annual Mother/Son Date Night sponsored by the park district. This was my 3rd year attending. The two previous years Drew and Noah both went with me but Drew had no interest in it this year....he thought he was "too old" for it. You have to be 4 years old to attend so Aiden still didn't make the cut.....next year though. Here's my post from last years' date. I was excited to have this special date with Noah (Drew and I decided to have our own "date" another night) and this year was special because it was my nephew Blake's first time to go.....it was also his 5th birthday so what a cool way to celebrate!

Here's our picture together as we got ready to leave on our date.

When we arrived, the moms got a corsage and then we got our picture taken with our little guys. It kind of feels like homecoming. I thought this picture was cute but I was bummed because it turned out blurry.
They have a yummy buffet dinner every year with a sundae bar afterwards. Mmmm, very good, I always know the food will be delish!

Beth and Blake. Blake was being such a silly ham, it was cracking me up. I just love that kid.

Noah and I did one of our "self portraits". I wonder if Photoshop can erase that lovely 'shine' off of my face.

Noah's eyes are closed but still a cute pic of the cousins.

An accidental pic I managed to get of the two cousins dancing. Noah was so excited all day to dance but when it came time, he kind of hugged the wall. When I asked him why he wasn't dancing, he said "Mom, sometimes I just get a little embarrased". He finally came out of his shell more towards the end of the evening. Blake had no problem cutting a rug though. He was cute.

Here's my little wallflower.

We had a nice time and I'm hoping next year I can talk Drew into going so I can have one date with all 3 of my boys! Drew, Aiden, and Todd went bowling that night and had a blast. Apparently Aiden even beat them one game, having 5 spares in a row. They weren't sure how he did it, especially since it seemed to take a year for his ball to get down the lane, but he pulled it off. I wish I had been there to see his first bowling experience but I'm glad they had a fun night out also.

Ready for My Close Up

Zoe from I've Come Undone took part in this question and answer post that originated with the Immoral Matriarch. Basically the person will give you 5 questions to answer about yourself on your blog and then anyone that reads your blog can volunteer and you come up with 5 questions for them. I figured, why not, I was hard up for something to blog about. Then I got busy and pushed it to the wayside. (Sorry Zoe). I'm getting to it now, better late than never right?? And Zoe was pretty easy on me, nothing too embarrassing will be coming out of my closet today! So here goes:

1.So you are a Twilight fan. Which character are you? This was easy....back in October I took a quiz to answer this very question. Here's the answer

2.Do you prefer digital or paper scrapbooking? Is there a supply or line you can't live without? I prefer paper scrabooking and paper crafting, something about the hands on process is very therapeutic for me. I enjoy digital too although haven't gotten a lot of experience with it yet. It's fun but I already spend too much time on the computer, ya know? As for supply lines, I love them all but REALLY love Cosmo Cricket and Basic Grey for their awesome papers.

3.As the only woman in a house full of men...how do you infuse a bit of estrogen into their lives? Hmmm, that's a good question, I was always a bit of a tomboy....never liked pink, lace, and all that frou-frou. But my oldest has a crafty passion too so we share that and I have all 3 of my boys in the kitchen cooking with me. They love it and I look at it as good husband training for them.

4.If you could get with any member of NKOTB who would it be (husband gives a free pass)? Oh Zoe, I love you for asking this question. Jordan baby! The sound of his voice still makes me weak in the knees. (and he's easy on the eyes too)

5.As a busy wife and mother how do you make time for yourself? I'm not very good at this one but I am getting better. My husband is VERY good about letting me lock myself in my craft room, go shopping, taking a walk, whatever. I just don't do it enough. I really need girl time and haven't gotten out with my girlfriends for awhile so that is one of my goals to work on. My girls keep me sane!

Want to be a part of it? Follow these instructions:
1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me."
2. I will respond by emailing you five questions. I get to pick the questions.
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someoneelse in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

Flashback Friday

I spent quite a chunk of time the other night doing something I had procrastinated on for AGES!! Sorting all of my photos and putting them in chronological order to put in my albums. I used to be SO good about it, but got way behind. So behind, that my first batch of pictures were from January of 2007. So yes, I had two years worth of pictures....and did I take a lot! I feel like a huge weight is off of my chest now that that task is complete! I came across an old envelope of pictures and found these two that I absolutely love. The first is me and my baby brother Matt with our parents and the second is me holding Matt. I see so much of Noah in me in these two pictures. I know he looks a lot like my dad but never saw me in him until I looked at these pictures. It's nice to know a little bit of my genes got into my kids somewhere! My brother is stinkin' cute too....I can see a lot of his kiddos in his face in both of these pictures.

These pictures would have been from 1978.

Have a great weekend.

I See Beauty

I see beauty in my children every day, sometimes when I least expect it. And when I come across it, it humbles me. They open my eyes to things that I may never seen. They simply amaze me.

I see beauty in their sleep.

I see beauty in their art. (photo by Noah)I see beauty in their humble apologies. (Drew made this beautiful card for Todd one day after Todd got really upset with him over something he had done. It made me cry.)

A Finished Project

My SIL Beth gave me the "I Love Being Your Mom" stickers at Christmas and I knew right away which pictures I'd use with it. (it was also the inspiration for my new blog header) I also knew I wanted to do something that I could hang on my wall. This fits in a 11x14 dark gray frame that I have and I currently have it hanging at the bottom of my staircase. I had such a hard time coming up with the actual layout and getting all the right colors to work but I'm happy with the outcome. This picture isn't the greatest but at least you get the idea.

It's Never Too Cold......

For Ice Cream!!

Snowy Fun

We woke up yesterday to a surprising amount of snow, but the temps were sooo cold. It didn't stop us from getting in a little sledding though, who knows when we'll get a chance again. So we bundled up and headed out into the 10 degree temps and stayed amazingly warm. There were a lot of people sledding and it looked like a lot of the snow was worn down but we were still able to pick up plenty of speed. I love sled riding but hate to be cold but I kept toasty today going up and down the hills. I always feel like a kid flying down the hill, feeling that adrenaline rush. I got to ride down with Noah, Aiden and even Todd. It was fun.

Here's Noah coming down on the saucer sled.

Drew on his boogie board.

Me and Aiden.....I look like a dork....but a dork that's having a blast.

Todd and Aiden.Noah....well it's his snow angel at least.
A little video of Drew coming down the hill. I got in his way so he couldn't get all the way up on his feet as early as he'd planned. He had fun "snowboarding" down the hills. It made me nervous at first, but I got used to it.

We had so much fun and already decided that with the next snow, we are taking the boys to South Park to sled ride. They are ready for the big hills!! (and so am I!)

It was the perfect day. We came home, the boys put on PJ's, we had hot chocolate and we spent the rest of day relaxing with TV, reading, and board games. Todd had a soccer game in the evening but other than that, we just enjoyed our special time.

Aiden's First Skating Party

The boys had their school skating party last night. They have two of them every school year and we always try to make at least one of them. Last night, we decided to take Aiden along and try to teach him how to skate. I never even thought of it with the other boys at this age, but then, they didn't have two older brothers that loved to go skating. Aiden was a Rock Star on skates. We hadn't even gone 1/4 of the way around the first lap when he yells. "Let go guys, I can do it" So Todd and I let go, he flailed a littled and ended up doing splits. But after that, it was all systems go. He actually did better when he wasn't holding onto our hands. We had his wheels tightened too which makes it much easier. He was off and rolling!

We kind of caught Noah unaware here. Notice the deer in the headlights look?

Mommy and Aiden sharing a special skate.

We had to play a little skee ball.

Here's a little video clip Todd took of our little skater. He loved skating when they turned the lights out and had the disco lights on....it was fun to skate over all the different colored lights. I also caught him dancing to the music a few times and it was to cute.

I didn't get any pictures of Drew.....he refused of course. We did get video of him and Noah doing the Limbo though. It was the perfect evening for the 5 of us. The older two had a blast with their friends and Aiden was sooo well behaved. He loved skating and hanging out with the older kids. The boys' friends kept coming over and talking to him, he thought he was so big.

I Think I Need A Makeover

Drew drew (that sounds kind of funny!), this profile of me for a Scout project. I know I'm not gorgeous or anything but I sincerely hope I don't look like this. I questioned the large dark mass on my nose and was informed that was my nostril. I guess I didn't realize they were so large and cavernous. I've always thought Drew could draw really well but either he didn't pull it off this time or I need something done to my face! :)

My New Friend

Last night Noah had a soccer game. There was this little girl there that was a year to a year and a half old. She was an absolute doll. We had only been there a minute or two and she walked right over and climbed into my lap! I looked over at her mom and asked if that was ok, I didn't want her to think I was taking her child or something. She said yes as long as I didn't mind. Mind?? Absolutely not. She was so cute, I was in heaven. She ended up spending the whole game with me. She played with Aiden some but kept coming back to me. Her mom and I thought it was hilarious. I thought I'd have to bring her home with me. We got to know each other though. Her name is Reagan and her dad is one of Noah's soccer coaches. Her mom went to school with my brother in law Scott. So they weren't complete strangers. It was just funny because this little girl had never seen me before. Her mom, Jenna, joked that Reagan was really shy. I was in 7th heaven with her. She shared her snacks with Aiden so we said we'd bring some to share the next game. Who knew when I went to the soccer game that I would make such an adorable new friend?? I'm looking forward to seeing her again!

One On One

When you have multiple children, it's often hard to find one on one time with each one. Between work, school, sports, and other activities, life gets busy. Todd and I try to make special time with them when we can but sometimes it's hard. This past weekend we were both lucky enough to have some special times with the boys. Saturday morning Drew and I were going shopping to buy food to cook for Saturday night. He suggested we go to Caribou Coffee. What a great idea. It was so nice having alone time with him and talking with him. We even did a little shopping after our errands and had a great time. He's getting so grown up and I know these times may become fewer and farther between as he grows up. Saturday afternoon, Noah had a soccer game and it was during Aiden's nap. Since I had missed his first game, Todd stayed home with the boys and I got to go by myself to Noah's soccer game. Afterwards he asked if we could go to Hobby Lobby (he's planning a Valentine's party for us like Drew's Christmas party) and then we went to McDonald's for ice cream. I loved that it just happened that I got special time with each of my two older boys that day. I love being able to focus on just them. Saturday night my Aunt Cindy and Uncle Joe came over for dinner and to play some Wii. We all had so much fun and it was nice to have that special time with them also.

Saturday night I finally gave in and let Aiden sleep without a pull up for the first time. He had only wet his pull up once in the last month or so, so he is ready to give them up, I just was holding back because you know who would be the one getting up changing wet sheets during the night. Moi. Todd told him if he kept his underwear dry all night, he would take him out for doughnuts sunday morning. Of course he stayed dry like I knew he would so he and daddy went out for breakfast early Sunday morning. Aiden was so excited and was so cute going off with daddy. On Monday, I had to work and the two older boys were playing at Grandma and Grandpa Klauser's so Todd and Aiden got some more special time together. They ended up going swimming at the Y and just happened to run into my Matt and Beth and kids there.

It was nice this weekend because Aiden and I are alone during the days so we get plenty of special time but it's harder for me to get it with the older two. Todd works during the day and is busy with the older two coaching their sports and helping with Scouts so he doesn't always get the time with Aiden. We were lucky to have had those little special moments this weekend. It's all worth it, especially when we're laying in bed and Aiden wraps one arm around each of us and says. "You guys are the best!"



I found this quote on the Unity blog awhile back and just loved it so I'm posting it so I won't forget it. It's something we should all live by, definitely something I need to work on.


If you don't like something, change it; if you can't change it, change the way you think about it.
~Mary Engelbreit

Flashback Friday

I haven't done a Flashback Friday for awhile so I thought I'd do one today. I'm sure you'd rather see some cute pictures of kiddos from years past than hear about my pulled muscle in my thigh from soccer last night or how during the short time I played goalie, I took a shot to the crotch (again) that was so hard it flew me through the air, landed me on my butt, and knocked the wind out of me. They stopped the game to make sure I was ok. I really wasn't but what else could I do?? I hopped on up and kept playing even though a part of me wanted to hide out on the sidelines and cry a little. LOL Talk about 'taking one for the team'. Sheesh. We played a college girls' soccer team so you can imagine how good (and strong!) they were. We did lose but not by much. Once again we had no subs and they did which always hurts.



Anyways...... I was trying to decide what to flash back on and thought I'd look at pictures from January's past. I found some really cute ones from January 2006 so here goes.



I love this picture of Noah and Aiden. Noah just looks like such a proud big brother, doesn't he?

Drew was a proud big brother too.

This was a picture Grandpa Ken took and it's just too cute. I love how his little arm is propped up on the couch.

I decided to do a photo shoot of the boys one day. I just love this one of Noah. His eyes are so big and bright and he has the cutest smile.

This was back when Drew actually liked getting his picture taken and would even pose and ham it up for me. Now it's like pulling teeth to get his picture.

I don't know why, but this picture cracks me up.

When taking pictures of 3 month olds, you kinda just have to take their little lump of a bod and prop them up somewhere.

My little bald cutie. He was follically challenged for quite awhile.

I'm off to enjoy my afternoon. Aiden is spending the afternoon with Grandpa Ken and I don't have to pick the other boys up from school until 3:00. Yippee!!! Then I get to finish my afternoon off with a massage at 4. It was a gift certificate from Mother's Day for crying out loud. What took me so long to use it?? It's good timing though because I have me some sore legs!

I'm Just Sayin'

I survived my first soccer game last night and I'm not battered, bruised, or sore. Ok, well maybe a little sore. But not near as bad as I had thought I'd be. And I wasn't the oldest girl on the team either. There were two other girls that I went to high school with that were older than me, but of course they were in much better shape than me too. To those of you that doubted me.....HAH! I can do it. I've still got it! Well, kind of. Yes, I'm 36 years old. Yes, I haven't played organized soccer since I was 14. Yes, I'm not used to running for an hour. But you know what??? I had an absolute blast. I played fairly well for someone that was pretty rusty. And.... get this.....I played goalie. WTH, you're saying?? Well, we didn't have many players show up so we had NO SUBS, which means I had to play the whole game. I'm in no shape to run that much so when I was about to pass out, I switched to goalie to catch a breather. Now, I have no experience playing goalie and as aggressive as I am in competitive sports, I always thought I'd be a complete wimp at goalie. I actually kind of liked it!! I took some hard shots to the body, but I kept more balls out of the goal than I let in, so that says something. I have to say I'm pretty proud of myself. I did something out of my comfort zone, went into a situation where I wasn't sure I would know anyone and not sure if I could even still play, and I'm happy I did it. It meant a lot to me that Todd and the boys came to cheer me on. One of the reasons Todd was so anxious to see me play was that he'd never seen me run before. How freakishly funny is that?? We've been together 15 years and he's never seen me run! LOL! I ran! And Todd, watch this, I can skip too, and walk backwards, and hop on one foot. He's a bit more comfortable now that I won't hurt myself and I think he was a little impressed. And how wrong is this......I have no soccer gear so I wore my 9 year old's soccer shorts, socks, and shin guards. I can wear a boys' size 10/12 soccer short, sad huh, yet surprisingly awesome. My next game is Thursday night......and I'm ready!!! Now where's my Ibuprofen.......

I'm Getting Organized and Decluttered!

I've been working (verrrrry slooooowly) at getting the house in better shape. Since summer, we have taken countless boxes of toys and clothes to the consignment store (and have made good money because of it!) and countless more trips to the Salvation Army. It feels so good to see those boxes go out the door and out of the house. Problem is, Christmas came and there wasn't room for everything, so we've started going through things again. There are also lots of places in the house that haven't even had their first run through.



I'm going to have some help!! Thrift Decor Chick is having a party....an organizing and decluttering party. This girls website rocks.....she is creative, crafty and can make the CUTEST decorations for her home..... and is thrifty about it. I love her (plus she's a New Kids fan so she has to be awesome right??)





Today my big goal is just mopping floors and getting supper in the crock pot since I work and Noah and I both have soccer. Tomorrow back to getting the house in better shape!

Gettin' Back In The Groove

Life is getting back to normal. Todd and the boys are back in school. Aiden and I are back in our weekday routines and I have had absolutely nothing to write about this week. I think I'm in a funk.

Here's some random nothingness from my week.

***My coffee pot leaks water every time I use it.

***Aiden has somehow learned the word "hate" and uses it about 200 times per day which is making me crazy.

***Aiden keeps telling him I make him crazy. Whatever kid, I think it's the other way around.

***Drew woke up looking like Tina Turner this morning. I think it's time for a haircut.

***Facebook sucks the life right out of you.

***My house is finally starting to look halfway normal after the Christmas bomb went off in it.

***Rock of Love Tour Bus is even a bigger train wreck than the previous seasons. If Brett Michaels thinks he'll find love the 3rd time around, he's nuts.

***My cat still loves taking baths.

***Twilight comes out on DVD March 21st. Do you know what I'll be doing that day??? :)

***AND New Kids on the Block have announced they'll tour the states again this summer. Woohoo!! Girls, start saving your money, we're taking a road trip again!

I'm saving the best for last.....the best part of our week:
***My sweet beautiful niece, Ellie turns ONE today!! Happy Birthday sweetie, we can't wait to celebrate with you!!

Sometimes A Mom's Gotta Brag

Yesterday Drew had one of the most exciting soccer games ever. His team was winning for a large part of the game and then the other team tied us. With less than 5 seconds left in the game......the other team scored the winning goal. Yes, I would have liked to have said it was our team that scored that beautiful last second winning point, but even so, it was an awesome game for both teams. The part I have to brag about???? Our team scored 5 points.......and THREE of those points were scored by my Drewdles. He was awesome, the points he scored were awesome, I was so proud. That kid can play some serious soccer. One day Todd laughed at me because I said that when Drew gets the ball, magic happens. Ok, so maybe I'm a little biased, but I don't think anyone will argue that the kid can play. How many can score 3 points in one game???

I get so excited watching my boys play soccer and have been itching to get back into the game. Yes, I used to play once upon a time. It was before my hubby knew me so he's having a hard time wrapping his brain around it. Let's see if I can show him that I've still got my skills. Ok, let's just see if my 36 year old body that is seriously lacking in exercise can run for 50 minutes around a soccer field. Yep, I joined a women's indoor soccer league. We'll be living at K&L Arena a lot these next couple of months because Todd, Drew, Noah and I will all be playing indoor soccer. It will be a lot of fun as usual and good exercise.

Christmas Party

Christmas was absolutely wonderful this year. Christmas Eve my whole side of the family got together at my parents new house. It was the first get together since they had moved in so it was extra special. Christmas morning the boys were so cute, they were so excited to go in and see what Santa left them. I made the early birds hang out in our room till all of the boys were up. The Screamin' Banshee was a hit of course!!! Aiden was thrilled. All 3 boys were excited with what Santa brought them. Unfortunately we had so much fun, that I didn't get any pictures of the boys opening gifts. That's why hubby shouldn't be in charge of the camera! Later in the morning we headed to my parents for brunch with my family. It was so nice being in the new house and having plenty of room for the family. Christmas evening we spent at my in laws house and had a nice meal and gift opening there. We all got spoiled as usual and the boys were so fun to watch. It was truly one of our best Christmases in my opinion. The day after Christmas was my birthday and my boys treated me like a queen. Each of the boys had planned on taking me out to eat for a meal. Since Drew wasn't feeling well, Todd ran and got us our Starbuck's for breakfast and Drew and I cuddled up in my bed, ate/drank our Starbuck's and watched a couple of episodes of Ghost Hunters that we had DVR'd. It's one of our little special things to do together and having breakfast in bed with it was even more special. I was even allowed to give him some hugs and kisses. For lunch, Noah took me out to lunch at Kelly's. While I was at the salad bar, he went to the waitress and told her it was my birthday. After we ate, she brought me out some cheesecake and Noah sang "Happy Birthday" to me. It was so special and just melted my heart. If I could have filmed that, I would, it was so incredibly cute. That evening we went to my parents and my mom cooked me my birthday dinner. We had a fun relaxing evening over there with my family. A perfect way to end the day.

The next day of course, was the big Christmas Party Drew had planned for us. He worked so long and hard, I was overwhelmed when I came down to the basement. I took a ton of pictures to show you what all he did for his family.

Here was the itinerary he handed us when we came down. (in the fine print at the bottom, it says "will be open longer if no one is 'board' at 3:30")

This is one of the Christmas decorations he bought with his own money.

He set up a reading corner with some xmas books.
He made snowman sugar cookies and peanuts mixed with mints for us (along with the great sign in the background!)

Coloring/puzzle pages he printed out for us.

See those streamers?? He's been working on them for months using strips of paper and making paper links. He bought the garland.

The craft area.

We made these adorable candy cane reindeer!

We played Christmas Jingo, musical chairs and watched The Polar Express. It was so sweet and so special. I could tell he put so much thought and time into this party for us and that meant more than anything. It's at times like this that I can see what giving, thoughtful young men we are raising and I am so proud of them. Thank you Drew for our special day!

Oh, and remember how Drew thought we should wait and save all of our gifts for each other until the party?? Well, on Christmas morning he said we could go ahead and open them all and he would just save his gifts for us for the party. That really made me melt because I knew that meant we would all get a gift from him at the party but he wouldn't get a gift at all. That just goes to show that Drew knows what Christmas is about.....giving not receiving.