Family Day

We went to the MN Landscape Arboretum this morning for an all-you-can-eat pancake breakfast featuring their maple syrup. There was a self-guided tour of the maple trees and sugarhouse. They had volunteers at the stations to explain things. I now know why maple syrup isn't cheap! We have two maple trees on our property and might attempt to tap them next spring and get a serving of syrup!

Mr. Nolan

Ms. Avrie

I had no idea that the sap was just like water. The only sap I know is pine tree sap. I guess that was what I was expecting.
1 gallon of sap = 1/2 cup syrup

Riding his tractor in the backyard this afternoon. The Big Cheese.

A wind-'em-down story. Which promptly wound them up...to play alligator in the big lagoon with Daddy. The big lagoon being the floor.

This Kid Cracks Me Up!

Evan and I had a DATE last night! We went to Buca and I got my favorite seafood linguine, which has mussels, clams, shrimp and calamari. I had the leftovers for supper tonight and the kids had Evan's leftover spaghetti and meatball. Nolan wanted to try my clams and shrimp. Pretty soon I had no clams or shrimp left. I'm very happy I have a little seafood lover!

Insanely cute breakfast idea for your toddler:

Fry up a quail egg. Serve with teeny tiny bacon strips, teeny tiny toast and a shot glass of orange juice. They'll think they've grown into a giant overnight!

Zoo Day

We met Great Grandma, Grandma, Grayson & Trevin at the Zoo today. The baby farm animals are here and so adorable. Nolan loved the baby lambs...he sleeps with a stuffed one. I liked the baby pigs...reminded me of my childhood.

I had my 16-week OB check today and everything is just peachy. Scheduled my ultrasound for April 25th. We can't wait to find out what this little bundle is. We already have a girl name picked out and can't seem to find a boy name so maybe things will be easy for us. Haha...that's never the case.

Goofing Off

Grayson and his cool shades!

Trevin & Nolan

Avrie was smitten with this bunny. She petted him for a good 10 minutes and didn't want to leave. He was so soft...I can see why fur coats are made of them!

Nolan driving the John Deere. He had to be torn away!

Signs of Spring!

This little bugger pushed itself up through weed barrier and rocks!

Lilacs

Pork chops with apricot chipotle glaze. Yum.

Happy Toddler

Fashionista

Avrie dressed herself this morning. She must take after her mother. One day last week I went to the Y in teal pants, navy t-shirt and baby blue sweatshirt. And I didn't care.

Elliot & Amanda Anderson

Vows

Daddy!!

Rachel Henderson

Mmmm, punch.

Yo.

Mr. & Mrs. Anderson

I'm bored.

Smoochy

Stud

Who knew fake snow could be so fun?!

Making a snowpile at Mom's feet. Great Uncle Dan told her to dump it in my purse. Luckily she missed.

Stealing the bride!

Heidi and Oliver

At least we smiled.

Can you smile for Mommy, Nolan?

How about you, Avrie?

Gift opening on Sunday night.

Something's funny. And this wasn't even the gift from the unknown giver. Okay, so nobody that was there even reads my blog. They got an awesome gag gift. A useful one. Haha.

Children -- FREE!

This long, long weekend has taken toll on the brats and me. We HAD to go to the grocery store this afternoon or we'd have almost starved. Nolan immediately demands a treat for being good the moment we enter the store. He immediately proceeds to be HORRID. I tell him he's not getting a treat because he's being naughty. At this point I have 3 things in the cart. He starts screaming bloody murder "I am good, Mommy. I AM GOOD". Yeah. So, because we needed to eat I kept shopping, much to the dismay of the other shoppers. Many sympathized with me but I did get a few scowls of "I should call CPS". Oh, and I'm carrying whining, kicking brat #2 under my arm. #1 screamed the entire time. Entire.

I hope to get some wedding pictures posted later tonight. If I haven't killed my kids and been hauled off to jail.

peek into me

Consider yourself tagged if you have a blog. Finish the sentence:

1. Maybe I should try harder.

2. I love the smell of spring. Dirt, wet leaves, grill smoke.

3. People would say that I'm opinionated. I honestly don't know what people think of me. I would love to know. I think. Ha.

4. I don't understand why someone would ever take up smoking. I tried it once or twice and it was absolutely horrible. Why would you ever continue?

5. When I wake up in the morning I kiss my husband goodbye and go back to sleep.

6. I lost my first engagement ring two days after I received it. Ahhh, the truth is out. The truth is so liberating. Almost no one knew this.

7. Life is full of s-word and surprises.

8. My past is behind me. Who knew I was so witty.

9. I get annoyed when my kids don't listen. They get annoyed when I don't listen.

10. Parties are nonexistent in my life. Unless you count Potty Parties.

11. I wish so many things. Most of the things I wish for I could have if only I would do #1.

12. Dogs stink. Seriously. I will not pet one unless there is a sink nearby.

13. Cats are hilarious. I hope to have an outside one someday.

14. Tomorrow is another day.

15. I have low tolerance for self-righteousness.

16. I'm totally terrified of something happening to my husband or kids.

17. I wonder what I could do if only I applied myself.

18. Never in my life have I been a bridesmaid. Thank goodness.

19. High school was too short and too long all at the same time. I wasn't there 11-12th grades...I did post-secondary. I miss my friends and yet don't make any attempt to contact them except on Facebook.

20. When I'm nervous I rub my lips together (like when you rub in chapstick). I had to do a taped interview for a job skills class in college. It was so enlightening. I rubbed my lips together the entire time. I wonder what happened to that tape?!

21. One time at a family gathering my cousin Cheri and I put on a play for the family. Everyone ignored us and had their own side conversations. We finally left and went to cry about it. It might seem trivial, but I still think it was really rude even if it was a lame play.

22. Take my advice: Watch what you put into your body. It will directly affect your health and well-being.

23. Making my bed only happens once a year. Maybe twice. Last time I did it I commented to Evan about how nice it was. It didn't happen again. Which is really sad considering we only use a duvet and no top sheet. All I'd have to do is throw it over the bed. Oh well.

24. I'm almost always down on myself.

25. I'm addicted to ABC.com.

26. I want someone to make me laugh until I cry.

Nolan-isms

This kid cracks me up. From the past few days:

• Evan took him with to the post office to send off our first round of business mailers for the season. The postman dude hands over $2 in change and told Nolan that there was just enough money left for Dad to take him to McDonald's. Nolan: "What's McDonald's"? YESSSSS!!!
• On the way home he's looking out the window of the truck. "Daddy, look! I see a duck and an elephant and a boy in the clouds"!
• We walk in the door to Grandma and Grandpa's house. They are remodeling. "Grandpa, who wrecked your house"? "We have to fix it RIGHT NOW".
• I walk into the living room where Tanner and Nolan are playing. I see that Nolan has no pants on and his underwear is filled with toys. Apparently they were playing doctor. I think I overreacted. But, seriously. Where in the world would they get this idea??
• Later during the weekend the boys are playing "pretend poop". They each took turns pretending to poop and then they'd look at "it" and judge it's size. BOYS ARE WEIRD. But I think we all knew that. I'm just blown away that it starts so early.

On a different note:

• It's snowing. It's supposed to turn to rain this afternoon and snow again tonight. Lovely. We're staying home. Without any food in the house. I had figs and cottage cheese for breakfast while the kids had the last of the leftover pancakes. Lunch should be interesting.
• Avrie continues to want to go potty. However, she pees in her diaper and then runs to the bathroom and wants her diaper off. I think I'll just keep letting her sit on it but I'm not going to get too proactive about it until I can send her outside with no pants.
• My sciatica has started already. Wahhhhhh. I dug out my Stork Support this morning. I suppose it doesn't help that I'm sitting slouched on the couch as I write this.
• Three late nights in a row have left Avrie crabbier than ____ this morning. Sin? That doesn't make sense. She's just insufferable.
• Nolan can't seem to find anything to keep him busy this morning. Because we have zero toys or books. Our house is so boring.

Baby Belly--14 Weeks

Definitely have a bump. I'm not full-blown into maternity clothes yet but it won't be long. Oh, and if you happen to make the photo big...yes that is marker on my belly. My husband has a thing for drawing on it. Avrie looked at it this morning and said "no-no, paper".

Avrie wanted to show off her belly too.

Subscribe

I feel like I'm so, so very late in the whole RSS Feed thing. Or whatever you call it. All I know is that my life just got easier. I refuse to admit how many blogs I have in my feed but now I won't have to click on them all to see if they've been updated. I used Bloglines. Get your hinder over there and SIMPLIFY!

I was supposed to have been putting laundry away. Tsk. Tsk.

On a different note, Avrie found a Sharpie and colored all over our bedroom wall and pillowcases. Under Daddy's supervision. We all know something like that could never happen under a Mother's care. Hahahaha.

Yawn...Fresh Air!

Little Miss mowing the lawn. If only it was that fun for us adults.

Showing off her ponytails.

So, you know how over at Lani's were were talking about binge/compulsive eating? Yeah, this cake will do that to me. But I have proof that I didn't do it alone:

Avrie had THIRDS.

Nolan had SECONDS.

We won't go into how many I had.

Oh, What a Day!

45 blissful degrees. I almost dug out the baby oil and the lounge chair. We walked down to the grocery store after lunch and picked up brats to grill for supper. I've already opened the jar of kraut and eaten about half of it. Nolan yelled at me and told me to save some for supper. He's my kraut lover. I gave Avrie a bite and she looked at me like a wounded dog before spitting it out. I can only dream about summer watermelon. Everything we grow in our garden this summer will be Nolan's idea. So far we have: watermelon, cherry tomatoes, potatoes, carrots and snap peas. I almost have him convinced to plant a big lettuce bed like I've done in years past. He ate a few pieces of lettuce the other night for supper and liked it.

He filled up countless buckets of water this afternoon.

Avrie fell asleep on the way home from the grocery store. Nothing beats a nap in the spring sun.

Our newest addition. Avrie found this kitty at Unique yesterday and wouldn't let go of it. It feels like real hair. Although it's a bit stiff. We paid $4...yikes. But there was a price tag on the bottom that said $26. Who would ever pay $26 for a paper mache cat!?

Nolan tries to get near and it's "ME MEOW".

I think huge 80's style sweatshirts should be banned. Exact same location where I spilled the boiling water on my leg. This is cocoa powder. Not exactly easy stuff to clean up! Happened the exact same way.

VICTORY!

We have a major accomplishment we'd like to share! Nolan called me into the bathroom this morning and he had taken it upon himself to POOP IN THE TOILET!!!! It was all his idea. He was pleased as pie, as was I. As a treat we went out to eat after preschool since he loves to go to "renstraunts". He ordered "1 mini-cheeseburger on a bun with ketchup and broccoli". He ate the hamburger with the cheese pulled off and the bun tossed aside. And two of my chicken wings. I didn't care! I even ordered him a Shirley Temple. Now that's a treat.

Oh, and to make it even better...he went AGAIN when we got home!! I'm hoping this is a gigantic step in the right direction! I'm one elated Mommy today. I'm trying to refrain from using too many !!!!'s. Evan makes fun of me.

Monday's Grab Bag

• What do toddlers dream about? This morning Nolan told me he went hunting with Pooh and Piglet and Tigger and Rabbit from the basement. They went in the scary woods. For fun. Not for heffalumps.
• Some of Avrie's recent words: meatball, chocolate, milk (finally!), prefacing everything with "me", which means "mine", ex: me melmo (elmo), read me, draw meow, stinky potty, pee pee potty, me potty, no dipey, undies.
• I am 13.5 weeks along now. We all heard the heartbeat on Friday and everything is measuring right on schedule.
• SAHM, WAHM, WOHM. Which are you and why? I stay at home for the well-being of my children. I don't want someone else raising them. I don't want them growing up in front of someone else. At the risk of offending, why wouldn't you want to stay home? Is it so you can be better off financially? Is it really worth it? Is it because you're a better Mom when you're not with your kids (that's very disturbing)? I admire families that make it work like this. I'm looking forward to going back to work after my kids are in school. But I will be home when they are home. And that's that.
• I would love nothing more than to have houseplants. We have no sunny windows. What kind of plants would work for me?
• We will find out the sex of this baby as well. Much to my sister-in-law's dismay.
• I need an outlet. What do you do for stress relief? Oh, and not exercise. Ha.

Morning Conversation

Nolan is drinking hot chocolate.

Mom: Is it too hot?

Nolan: No, I'm taking little sips so I don't burn my tongue.

Mom: Okay, good.

Nolan: Do we go to the doctor when we burn our tongues?

Mom: Nope, we stay home and it heals itself.

Nolan: Why?

Mom: Because our bodies are amazing.

Nolan: Do we go to the nursing home when we burn our tongues?

Mom: Huh?!

Newsflash!

Once again regarding POOP! It's a never-ending discussion around our house. So, this afternoon Nolan was in going pee and Avrie heads to the bathroom and takes her pants off on the way. She calls for me to take her diaper off and then pulls out the little potty and takes a seat. I head back to the kitchen to finish vacuuming. She toddles out into the kitchen a few minutes later with a big grin on her face. I check the potty for pee, which was what I was expecting. Poop!! Whoohoooo! I made sure Nolan saw and he was pretty impressed. I asked him if he thought he could try and he said "I will, but not yet". Don't get me started on his progress in that department. It would include a lot of symbols.