Happy Memorial Day!

J giving his best salute in honor of those who have served for our nation.

School's out and we found something extremely cute!

Jack's first year of preschool has come to an end.

I may be slightly whimpering as I type this. But, he had a fantastic first year, attending two different preschools (due to our move). Jack truly flourished in school as he truly gets excited about learning. Come September, my baby will moving to the second phase of preschool before he heads off to Kindergarten in one year. And that's all I have to say about that right now or this whimpering will turn into full-blown crying.

Age 3.5 years old

He was so excited about his first day at the nature preschool...can you tell?!? It is just about 9 months later and those shoes no longer fit him. Ugh...typing that makes my throat swell with emotion. This boy was excited to go to school to play (and play and play and play) and make new friends. This boy was not even sure what he would be learning or how much he was going to love learning.

Age: almost 4.5 years old

Jack did not understand this was his last day at preschool for the summer, but he did understand that there was going to be a Root Beer Float Social today that Owen and I were able to attend. Side Note: He was very disgruntled that I "made his hair crunchy" aka styled his hair. However, when I look at this picture I see a boy who has learned so much over this past year. He has learned to write his name, he knows all of his letters and most numbers (well, 1-20 anyway), he's learned about animals, dinosaurs, insects, seasons, earth, the ocean, weather, and his personal favorite space. He is starting to show interest to learning to read as he is constantly asking how various words are spelled. He enjoys projects that vary from cutting paper (could do this for a good 1 hour) to working out in the yard with his Daddy. He also loves hidden picture books, he lays in bed at night "working" on them until he gets sleepy. After a great year of learning, I think Jack is ready for a fun summer and I am ready for a fun summer with him.


Now are you ready to see what we found?
It's seriously cute.....

We found this fawn in our backyard on Monday night. Adorable, right?!
Pat and the boys went out to play and the Momma deer jumped up and ran off. As Pat walked closer, he found this fawn laying down in the brush. He is so cute, I just wanted to snuggle him and feed him and snuggle him some more. However, I wanted his Momma to come back and everything I have heard and read told me to leave him alone as the Momma is watching nearby. So, we did just that after taking some pictures (of course!). I was worried all night as to what was happening to the little cutie out their in the wild (aka our backyard). Well, the next morning as I was getting ready and staring out the window every two seconds, two little fawn babies (twins!) perked up and started walking around the yard. After a busy morning of school and music class, we checked on them when we got home and they were gone. I am telling myself that their Momma came back for them and took them to a safer location in the forest! Happy Ending!

Because I need to start somewhere.....

I'll just start rambling things.

1. We have lived in our house for two weeks. I finally just started unpacking my clothes and organizing my closet and dresser last night. They have been giving me the ugly stare for the past 14 days and I have been trying my best to ignore them. I'm not sure what's harder work, the ignoring or the unpacking? Well, I made some major progress last night and it feels good.

2. My two little boys are in this stage of finding pure joy in saying the human anatomy words that start with B and P. They egg each other on to stay these words and then they erupt into giggles about hearing them. How long does this last? Forever?

3. Speaking of my two little boys, I love them Oh So Dearly, so I won't name any names in our little window screen incident that happened literally 30 seconds upon moving into our house. It's never boring around here people.

 

 

3. I really want to make a "Summer To Do List" just like this one. Summers get busy, they always do! I want a referral point (filled with all of our wants) when we are searching for something to do because I don't want to get to August saying to myself, "But, we haven't done this yet!?"

via

4. Moving into our new house has been amazing and I am loving it, but that doesn't mean the process is without stress. Pat has had two travel for work the past two weeks, Jack and Owen both got sick with The Crud, I have boxes coming out of my waa-who, and a really (really, really) muddy yard to deal with. Last Saturday, I took off to spend a few blissful hours all by myself. I went to see Something Borrowed (great movie) and had a facial at a local spa (amazing). Pure bliss.

5. Jack got The Crud over Mother's Day weekend. Pat had previously made reservations for our family to have breakfast at The St. Paul Hotel for Mother's Day morning, but with Jack getting sick, it looked like it would not work out. But, the great husband that Pat is, he encouraged my mom and I to go to breakfast alone. I am still thinking about that delicious breakfast we ate complete with Mimosa and this huge caramel roll. Delicious food, zero interruptions and my mom made for a great Mother's Day celebration!

6. So far, I have unpacked five junk drawers from my last house. Really Nicole, what were you thinking? You needed five? 

7. Our family was in charge of baby duck and chick care at Jack's preschool last night. Oh my, what a cute experience it was! Jack had no fear as he wrangled the babies all up and put them in their kennel for their nighttime feeding and sleeping.

Can I have this cutie, please?!

 O-Bubs was only kinda into the babies. 

He kept saying, "Momma, I neuuvous, I scaauued."

8. In case you were wondering, my little chocolate Dachshund can be found sunning himself on our deck at all times.

9. Owen looks up to his big brother so much. He wants to play what Jack plays, he tries to emulate him constantly and he loves (love-loves) to make Jack laugh. I caught this moment with my camera and it makes me smile.

Jack was crossing his arms while watching the train go by, so Owen followed suit. 

When Jack caught a glimpse of this, it made him giggle.

10. Are you on Pinterest yet? Trust me, you will love it! I can send you an invite if you want to join in on the fuuuuunnnn!!!

We Moved!

We moved into our Forever House about one week ago. 

We have been busy little bees working away at our hive ever since.

Internet got set up over the weekend (finally..thank you very much!!) so now I can get back to paying some attention to my blog (and other people's blogs as well). However, as I look around my house at all of the millions of things I need to do, I start to suffocate from that feeling called overwhelmed. 

One day, one room, and one box at a time...right?!?

In the meantime, we have been doing a little of this...

and a little of this

and more of this

and some of this

and playing in that (mud!)

and LOTS of this

and a whole lot of this too (watching the train go by).

Photo by JM Photography

Thank you Jack and Owen for choosing me to be your Mother.

I am truly blessed.

A Thursday List.

1.  In honor of Cinco de Mayo, I had big plans to make a Mexican Fiesta for dinner complete with these, but a U-Haul showed up on the driveway and there was packing to be done. Instead we took the boys out to dinner because I didn't have time to make dinner  to celebrate tomorrow's move into our new house. We said "Cheers" as we all clinked our glasses together, the boys with Root Beer and Coronas (my fav!) for us. Speaking of Corona, sure wish I would have thought of these.

2. This bub tells me everyday, he most definitely "does not need a nap". Well, today his Momma needed one and 30 seconds into snuggling we were both fast asleep with Max under the blankets between us. I guess Jack does need a nap every now and then!

I love that he is hugging his Captain America costume while he sleeps.

3. Me: Jack, what do you want to be when you get big like your daddy?

    

    Jack: Mommy, I want to be a Superhero. But first I need to go to flying school so I can learn how to    fly because Mommy, I don't know how to fly yet. 

   Me: That sounds fantastic Lovey!

4. Jack got the Stuart Little movies from the Easter Bunny. Owen calls him "Tuart Littewl". They are a big hit with the boys, however, when we watched the first one Jack cried when Stuart's fake parents came to take him away (think...the movie Annie). He had big alligator tears and his lip started quivering as he asked me, "But Mommy, why did they take Stuart away from his Mommy and Daddy?". Good pick Nicole!

The boys with their Daddy watching "Tuart Littewl".

4. Owen was hit with the "way too long of a winter, cooped up in the house too long with not enough fresh air and sun" Crud this week. He seemed out of sorts towards the end of the weekend and then BAM!, he got a fever on Monday that brought him down hard! He is better today, but still kinda fussy...okay really fussy. My trusty coping skills known as deep-breathing and number counting were not even working today. Please refer to number 2 on how I made it through this day semi-sane.

Photo by JM Photography

5. The sun and physical activity also helped immensely. Thank you Mother Nature!

6. Oh and looking at the Mother's Day goodies the boys made for me at daycare helped too!

So sweet!

7.  Jack: Owen, should I read you a book?

     

    Owen: Yeah!

    

    Jack: Okay Owen, I know my numbers, but I don't know how to read words yet, so we will just look at the pictures together, okay?

    

   Owen: Yeah!

I LOVE listening to them talk and play together!

8. I want one of these and one of these. I want to make these and these. I must make these and eat them all!

9. While perusing over here, I saw this rug and I have been in love ever since! Better start saving. Oh and have you seen her kitchen refab...amazing!

10. Super cute free printables found here and here and here.

11. My Aunt and Uncle rescued a puppy recently. They put together this beautiful video about their life with Lucky, which may have induced tears to well up in my eyes. If you or anyone you know ever has the thought or the chance to rescue an animal, please watch this video as it may just convince you to do so! It will not only change your life for the better, but the animal will be forever grateful!

12. Happy Friday! Our Next Chapter begins today!

Sunday Evening Random

1. One day last week, I looked in my fridge to contemplate what I could make for dinner. I was hoping to try a new recipe (exactly what, I had no idea) and I was hoping to make something springy (as the snow was falling down for the third time that day...really?!?). I found a pound of chicken breasts and....

four containers of organic lettuce. All expired and gross.

What the....?
Sheesh!

Anyway, that same day I saw a new recipe pop up over at Pioneer Woman. It was for Grilled Chicken with Feta, Fresh Corn and Blueberries, which fit both my original criteria for that nights dinner. I scanned the fridge and despite the above gross lettuce, I had everything I needed to whip it together. This salad is deeelish! The flavors of feta and corn and blueberries all mixed together is pretty close to perfection in my book. 

2. My adventurous Mother took the boys and I to a place we had never been, Minnehaha Falls. This park is an absolute gem in between the cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis. We will definitely be making many more visits there as we all were in awe! We had such a blast exploring nature while listening to and playing in the water. Thanks Mom!

3. After seeing an Eagle (eating away at a dead deer carcass..of all things) on almost every drive to Jack's school (two times/week) and then watching the Live Eagle Cam (very cool!) with the boys, they became very interested in these majestic birds. So again, my adventurous Mother took us to the see this famous (locally) Eagle's Nest near where she lives. We got there at the perfect time as the Momma Eagle was perched on a tree limb scanning her surroundings. We watched her for about 10 minutes and then as we were leaving she swooped over the water and flew back into her ginormous nest. I'm not sure the boys could even grasp how amazing it is to see what were looking at. We are all about making memories over here and it must have been a good one because the boys have talked about that Eagle several times since!

phone pic

4. Speaking of creating memories, we made another doozie while at the park a few days ago. We were on a nature walk through the nature preserve that lays adjacent to the park. The boys and I walked up to the water to gaze at the hundreds of worms that had collected in the creek. About ten feet away were two geese sunning themselves in the water. Upon seeing the geese, Jack asked, "But Momma, what will those gooses do if we are by them?", which I ignorantly replied back,"Oh Jack, no need to worry, those geese won't do anything...we are not even that close to them." So wrong I was.

We stepped one inch closer to look at those beautiful worms (boys LOVE worms) and the next thing I know, here comes one of those geese running straight towards us with his wings out, mouth open and hissing. I screamed so loud, grabbed the boys and ran as fast as I could while pushing them to run faster. They instantly started screaming and crying. My poor little bubs were so scared (hearing mommy scream and seeing mommy scared took the situation to a whole other level)! Anyway, the goose lost interest, but I didn't really look back too long until we made it far (far, far) away from that area. The boys were hysterical and begging to leave, but I didn't want them to scared of this park (we go there often). We sat for awhile hugging and talking through what had just happened and once we got back to the slides and swings they were semi-over it. 

I actually was laughing to myself as I then pushed Owen on the swing, thinking that I must have totally over-reacted about that goose. But, from what hear I most definitely did not (thank goodness) as geese can me vicious. Since then the boys affectionately call that park, The Goose Park. Making memories people!

5. That same day, Jack did perfect the skill of crossing the monkey bars though!

6. And Owen remembered his love of swinging!

7. Only 4 more days until these will be our new numbers!

8. Dear Weather,

    You are just one big Debbie Downer.

     Sincerely,
                      Annoyed

9. I may have gotten a slight fever last night, induced by snuggling my good friend Kim's sweet, little munchkin!

Look at her face! How could I not?