Polar Cubs Camp 2016

Colton and I spent the day at Polar Cubs Camp and we had a fabulous time!  The weather was perfect, upper 30's!!  We enjoyed so many fun activities including building a survival shelter in the woods, throwing Tomahawks, Sled Chutes and Tubing, Council Campfire, Mushroom Ball, friendly games of "Knock it Off" and Broomball!  We enjoyed a delicious camp lunch of burgers and waffle fries in the mess hall (for any who have been to a Scout camp you know what I mean by delicious, I mean you are starving so you would be willing to eat just about anything that they serve you)!  I had so much fun with the other parents in our pack, we truly have such a great group of parents and we know how to make an 7 hour day of Winter Camp one full of laughter and good times!  I really do enjoy attending this events with Colton.  When I am 80 and struggling to get around without assistance these are the memories I will look back and know that I lived a great life and that my boys and I enjoyed so many awesome adventures together!

 

Five

Five years ago today I was blessed to become a mom to another son!  It is a day I will never forget.  My heart doubled in size the day Mason was born.  I really do think he was the missing piece, he completed my life.  I already had one son but now he was a big brother thanks to this amazing new addition to our family!  Mason has developed into such an amazing kid.  He is so outgoing, loves going to school, has such a passion to learn, he is very caring and above all his a high energy, crazy, bounce off the walls and keep mom on her toes kind of boy!  He has no fear, always willing to try to new things and do anything and everything that his big brother is doing.  He is incredibly smart, he soaks in everything and even comes up with stuff on his own that just makes me look at him in awe!  He loves to build legos, is newly obsessed with Star Wars, he still loves playing with his trains and he above all he loves to snuggle up on the couch with his mama and watch cartoons or movies!  I hope Mason will want to snuggle and be my baby for many more years to come.  I still struggle to accept that is 5 years old, I still remember that moment that he was placed on my chest for the first time and here we are with him being so independent!  I love you to the moon and back Mason! 

 

Perfect Winter Weekend

So the past couple weeks have been terribly cold and we haven't really done much because well the air was just painful.  This weekend was a perfect Minnesota Winter weather weekend and the boys and I made the most of it! 

Friday night we met their cousins and Auntie Melissa at a local community center for a couple hours of water fun.  The boys had a great time swimming, hitting the water slides and jumping off the high dive over and over again!  We even had a couple firsts for the boys.... Colton jumped off a high dive for the first time and Mason went down a big body slide all by himself for the first time (he was finally tall enough)!  The boys were exhausted after 2 hours of swimming and all three of us were in bed by 9:30.

Saturday we started the morning with me getting a haircut (it was finally time to get rid of all the damage/split ends) and the boys spent a little time with their Grandma.  Then we decided to enjoy a little ice fishing as the weather was so nice.  We even took Colton's best friend Mitchell with us this time.  We didn't can't any fish but we still had a lot of fun.    On the way home from the lake Colton convince me that Mitchell needed to sleep over, couldn't argue with him at all.  We headed home and decided to grill out for dinner!  Yup, that's right, I grilled us some amazing steaks in January!  

 Sunday morning we woke up and enjoyed a big breakfast together and then it was off to church/Sunday School.  Afterwards we hit Sam's Club to order Mason's birthday cake and then made another stop to get Mason's hair cut.  Once home I did a quick photo shoot with Mason (he turns 5 in two days so I had to get in a little photo shoot)!  And then it was time to get on our winter gear and head over the fire hall for some sledding and snowboarding.  We were at the hill for over an hour, the weather was just too perfect to go back indoors.  Colton is getting quite good at snowboarding and he makes it look easy that I thought I would give it a try... ha, I was quickly reminded that I am way too old to be doing that!

We ended our night with dinner and finished up Mason's first research project.  Yup, he is in Pre-K and they had to do a research project on the animal of their choice.  Mason and I are now experts on Komodo Dragons in case you every need some information on that animal. 

This was truly such a great weekend.  I got to spend every minute of it with my boys and we weren't rushed or stressed to do anything.  We just did what we wanted when we wanted!  I wish every weekend could be like this, sometimes like gets so crazy so when I get a weekend that isn't completely booked up and we can just make last minute plans I get excited cause that is how life should be - so much more fun when you aren't always rushing to the next big event!

Ice Fishing

I took the boys ice fishing last weekend and they loved it!  This was a first time for both of them and a first time for me in a long long time (I used to go with my Dad when I was little but haven't been in about 25 years)!  As we started the long walk out to the ice house the boys had plenty of questions, they really just didn't know what to expect.  Once we got into the nice warm ice shack and got them each sitting on a bucket by their own hole they were more than ready to catch some fish.  Colton caught a Crappie all on his own within about 10 minutes of dropping in his line, he was so proud!  Mason didn't do quite as well but did eventually catch one with some help from me.  And then he was ready for snacks, fishing can be boring when you are 4 years old.  They lasted just over an hour for our first trip which I thought was pretty good.  And they both have been asking when we get to go again so I guess that means they liked it! 

Happy New Year!!

Well 2015 is over.  It was a year of change, a year of growing, a year of acceptance and a year to embrace what is and not try to worry about the things out of my control!  As the end of the year approached I was trying to decide if I should go out and celebrate or stay home and ring in the New Year with my boys.  Well you guessed it, I decided to say Goodbye to 2015 and hello to 2016 with those who mean the most to me!  Both my sisters joined me, my niece and nephews were here, my parents stopped by for a while, two of my friends who have been for me the last year like I could never have imagined (they are the parents of one of Colton's best friends and have quickly become amazing friends of mine as well) and their kids joined in the fun too and Clint came over to witness the craziness that is my family!  We enjoyed snacks, drinks, party favors and of course the noisy streamers at the midnight countdown!!  It was the best way for me to say Goodbye to 2015, I was surrounded by those who really made a difference in me getting through 2015 and the same people that I know will be by my side for the good times to come in 2016!  Happy New Year Everyone!

 Of course we had to have a Sparkling Cider Toast to end the night!  This kids really do make life a lot more fun and this New Years Eve Celebration was no different!  Love them!