Mitch turns 12, Grant turns 2!

On Sunday, we had lots of relatives over to celebrate the two brothers born a decade apart. We always enjoy celebrating these special days with lots of family. I didn't get many pictures and none of all the relies, but we had Great Grandma Rose, Great "Grandpa" George, Great Grandma Elsie, Nana and Papa Roger and Mary, Nana and Papa John and Jane, Aunt Kelly, Uncle Mike, "Aunt" Jenn, my Aunt Connie, my cousins Elizabeth and Jim, my Aunt Kathy, my cousin Christine, Jeff's Uncle Rick and Aunt Dar, Jeff's other Uncle Rick and Aunt Kris, and Jeff's cousin Bryan!... I think that's everyone. We were so sad that cousins Lincoln and Jayna, Uncle Jon and Aunt Terri were home with the flu :(


Grant's best attempt at a smile... he is really quite a serious kid, unless, of course, he is running, jumping, wrestling, or doing crazy boy stuff.

The Great Grandmas, having a serious conversation regarding Coumadin... aren't they cute!?

We were so blessed to have three Great Grandparents here to celebrate with us today. Grandma Elsie, all the way from Duluth and Grandpa George and Grandma Rose, all the way from Hibbing!

3 Year Pics

Is it just me....

or does this boy...
just...

melt....

your...


heart!

Who is this kid!?!, posing and coorperating for the nice photographer... Joel was just a barrel of sweetness during these pics (pretty obvious from the constant smiles and different poses he was willing to strike). Wow, I was blown away... and the result, pictures that we will cherish forever, even if his hair color changes and his curls disappear...

Moving on with it already...

So after buying about, oh... I don't know, maybe $60 's worth of pull-ups per month for nearly 5 months, I have finally determined that there is a reason these things are so expensive... and that reason would be that one is not supposed to be using them for sooooooo loooonngg. Last weekend, we went ahead and made the switch to underwear. Yes, there were some accidents, but for the MOST part, it's going well so far. #2 is a different story, and as far as I can tell he will be doing that in the underwear for the time being, but we'll figure that out eventually too. But afterall, the countdown to preschool is on, only about 3 months left for potty-training to be complete! Joel had out grown most of the underwear (that he has never worn) in his drawer, but enjoyed being a big boy and showing off his newest undies.

I also should have taken a picture of Grant playing outside after dinner tonight, with no pants on and THREE pairs of underwear over his diaper, in an attempt to be a big boy too. He was sooo proud of the "star wars pants" he had on... all three of them!

Last Weekend: Baseball and Boating

Last weekend was BUSY, and this is always clear (to me anyway) when Monday rolls around and the house and all the laundry is still dirty:)... it was busy, but fun. Mitchell's baseball team played their first games of the year in a tournament in St. Cloud. The team didn't have the greatest success, but I think they learned alot and got their first games out of the way. Mitch has a couple hits over the weekend, one of them about to happen in the picture below. Uncle Jon, Aunt Terri, Lincoln, and Jayna even made it to a couple of games and we BBQ'd at their place Saturday night. As usual, the boys had a blast playing with their cousins. As soon as we turned onto Jon and Terri's street, Joel said, "Ooooooh, Lincoln and Jayna's house.... I LIKE Lincoln and Jayna's house!!!".
It has been so fun to watch Joel lately, in his first attempts at really playing WITH other kids, interacting and having fun. He loved running around with these boys, chasing each other with super heros. So cute.

Sunday, while Mitch was playing more baseball, the little guys and I got a ride on Papa and Nana's new pontoon! It was our first time out on Lake Pulaski, a lake we drive by and enjoy every single day, but have never gotten to see from the other side. It was a beautiful day for a boat ride.

Birthday Boy! (post #2)

It's hard to believe it's been two years since this little guy blessed our lives. In other ways, then again, I feel like I've aged 10 years, during these 2 years. I wouldn't change it for anything ,but my, oh, my... the Joel/Grant combo has proven to be interesting most days... good thing they are so stinkin' cute:)

Favorite Grant quote of the day (besides the singing during nap from my previous post)... at his Dr. appointment this morning, doctor asks Grant "Where is Joel today?" Grant replies, "In the car", very matter of factly... Doctor looks at me, and I assure him that Joel is NOT in the car, just with his Grandma. I hope he believed me:)

Licking the frosting off the candles...

Papa John and Nana Jane were here to help celebrate!

Getting a bit of help unwrapping:)

Gift from mom and dad!

Birthday Boy! (post #1)

How great was it to finally wake up to sunshine on Mr. Grant's second birthday! We got to take a great outing to a great new park in Rockford to celebrate the day, and later on tonight we will have some cupcakes, singing, and presents of course. More pictures to come :) Now if I really wanted to be fair about documenting th entire day, I should have taken pictures this morning of the screaming child at his well-child check, where he got shots and a finger prick, and (obviously) was not very happy about either... poor guy. I have to admit, I felt a little guilty about taking him to the dr. on his actual birthday :(

A cute story from today... Grant had been lying in his bed for almost an hour during naptime today and I was still hearing some talking going on, so I snuck over to his door and peaked and heard Grant quietly singing... "happy birthday to me, happy birthday to Grant"... over and over. It was SOO sweet!

Another little boy at the park gave Joel a caterpillar.

Could NOT get to cooperate for this picture:)

Mother's Day Weekend

After 12 weeks of training and 12 weeks as a runner, I completed my first half marathon this past Saturday morning. It was a great experience, and I can honestly say I loved training for it and completing it successfully. There is just something about putting your mind to something and accomplishing it that feels great and fills me up. You can click here to see my results. I am #275, but it is my pace time of 8:47 that I am proud of. When I started running 12 weeks ago, running 2 and 3 miles at a 10:00 mile pace, I never would have believed this was possible. Fittingly, for Mother's Day I received a water belt for training, which I will undoubtedly need as I begin training June 1st for the Twin Cities full marathon on October 3 2010.

On Mother's Day, we enjoyed a nice visit from Grandma Benson and an unnamed kitty, that was literally probably born the day before and discovered in Grandma's barn on Saturday. The boys all watched Grandma bottle-feed and burp the kitty. It was SOOO tiny!

First Communion

This past Sunday, Mitchell received the bread and wine (body and blood), for the first time. His First Communion marks the near end of Sunday School and the beginning of 2 years of confirmation classes that will start next fall, on Wednesday nights. So come next fall, Mitchell will be attending church with us on Sundays and it is Joel that will be headed to Sunday School for the first time.

And no, it was not required, or even suggested that you use your initials on your banner, but we got a good laugh that Mitch just happened to be the only one that ran out of time while creating the banner, and had to short-cut his name to MRB, his initials. :)

Pitching and Hitting

Sorry the quality is not so good, but if you look closely, you'll see Grant pitching to Joel and Joel, hitting a couple of good ones in the mix :)

Choir Concert Time

The 6th Grade Choir performed this past week (they are a BIG group), and their singing was great, see Mitchell above singing his little heart out.

Two little monkey's on the loose in the auditorium after then concert.

Always happy, when running free!