Finally!!

After almost 2 years we finally have carpet in Colton's Room! As you probably know we have wood floors throughout our main level including the bedrooms. Originally we had bought a throw rug but it wasn't big enough and didn't cover much of his floor. Well Saturday we bought a big area rug that covers almost all of his room and he loves it!! He sits in his room and plays now.. which he never did before becuase it wasn't cozy! Even I will go and lay on his floor and watch him play! We also did lots of organizing in his room.. and put his toys in bins at his level! He thinks it is pretty cool that he can take them out and put them away when ever he wants!
We had a good weekend, got lots of household chores done including cleaning the garage. It is amazing what kind of stuff you can put on Craigslist and people will come and get it! We got rid of all kinds of things. Actually we are waiting for a pick up of another thing tonight.. Frankie sold his Engine Hoist, we have no need for it and it just takes up space in the garage!! Sunday morning the 3 of us went to the Waterpark of America, and we had a blast. Colton went down the waterslides all by himself, which was awesome, but at the same time made me realize how grown up he is already! But he still had to go with Mommy down the big slides so I guess I am okay with it. Hope the weather continues to be nice.. I am so ready for summer to here!!

Gotta Love Videos

Well we learned how to take vidoes on our camera this past week and I just had to share a couple! The one of Colton dancing makes me laugh everytime, for some reason he insists on dancing in a circle and until he gets dizzy! And we have been spending lots of time outdoors soaking up some sun.. and Colton loves playing on his swingset!

Perfect Sunday!!

We had a great day today! We started out our day at the Minnesota Zoo. We went with Grandma Yvonne and Freddie and Melissa and the kids. We had a blast... Colton loves to hang out with his cousins! Mommy and Colton feeding the goats!
Freddie, Isaac, Colton and Elijah.. chilling on a pig!
Cutest Kids Ever!

Then we went back to Freddie and Melissa's house for lunch and to soak up some sun on this beautiful day! Colton loved playing in the sandbox with Isaac, although after two hours I think he had more sand in his diaper that they did in the sandbox.

Colton hanging with Eva on the hammock!

They had so much fun playing in the sand!When we got home this afternoon, Frankie had to go to an employee meeting and Colton and I went down for a 2 hour nap.. much needed after all that fresh air! Then when we woke up, we ate dinner and headed back outside! Colton and I went for a little bike ride! And daddy tried to teach Colton to ride his bike... although he is isn't quiet big enough yet!

Such a big boy bike... but it will be a while before he can actaully ride it all by himself.
We played outside until about 8:30 and then we had to come in and take a bath and get ready for bed! I got Colton all undressed in his room and sent him to the bathroom to take a bath. He went right into the bathroom, sat down on his Potty Chair, said Pee-pee and went potty in the potty chair for the first time! I was so excited I stared yelling for Frankie to come and see, and after high fives all around we finally got in the bath! I was the perfect end to a great day!

I love my boys!!

Well life has been crazy lately! I am working lots of overtime which is nice for the pocket book but it really wears me out. And last weekend I decided to pick up some hours at Red Wing Shoes ( not sure what I was thinking). Anyways, on Sunday we had a nice relaxing day. We had our friends Ian and Krisi over for dinner. They of course brought their two kids with, Aiden who is Colton little partner in crime and Avery who is only 8 weeks old (so I got my baby fill for a little while). Colton and Aiden are good buddies, although Colton still isn't the best about sharing his toys but we are working on it! It is so funny to see the boys together, they are spitting images of their dads, which means we are in for a lot of trouble! Ian and Frankie have been friends since grade school so it awesome that they both have boys now who will grow up to be great friends!

Then Tuesday was my birthday! Nothing too exciting, actually the day kinda sucked at first. I got stuck at work late and and everything that could cause problems at work was. I just wanted to go home. Well when I finally got home after 6pm, Colton and Frankie were working out in the garage. I pulled in the drive and got out of the car and here came Colton running out of the garage, yelling "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy" carrying a bouquet of flowers out in front of him! It totally make my day! Actaully the image of him running to me as fast as he could with a bouquet of flowers bigger than him will always make me smile! My birthday turned out to be great, we went out to eat at Olive Garden and then came home and watched the Wild (which could have been better)! Now I am looking forward to Sunday! Saturday I am going into work for 4 hours.. that is how crazy we are right now. But Sunday we are going to the Minnesota Zoo with Frankie's mom and Freddie and Melissa and the kids! It should be a good time, especially if the weather is nice!

First Bike Ride!

Colton went for his first bike ride on Saturday and he loved it! We finally found one of those seats that attaches to your bike and after about a hour and half of assembly we went for our first ride! Colton was talking and laughing the entire time.... I on the other hand almost died. I have put some weight on since the last time I rode a bike not to mention Colton's 30 pounds. It was quite the workout! We are looking forward to this rainy week being over so we can go for many more bike rides!

Ah, cuddle time for mommy! Colton loves to cuddle up on the couch and watch a little TV before bedtime... and I never argue with him! He is still my baby, even though he is getting so big so fast!

Weekend at the Waterpark!!

We spent last weekend at the Grand Rios Waterpark in Brooklyn Park with my dad's side of the family and we had a blast. We our course did lots of swimming and played some Catch Phrase... and my team won like always. It was so much fun to get together with all the aunts and uncles and cousins. Colton had a blast in the water park, he especially liked the water slides!The Winning Team.. yes we always win!
Colton and Great Grandma Sand
Colton and Mommy on the waterslides!
Colton and Auntie Marissa
He was so worn out after day two of swimming!

We miss her so much!

It has been a hard week for us. On Wednesday night we gave Liberty, our 4 year Husky, to a new home. It was so hard to let her go but we know it is for the best. Lately she has become a little bit aggressive with Colton... I know she would never have hurt him but it still made us a little uneasy. So we started to spread the word that we would be willing to give her to a new, loving home if anyone knew of some looking to take her in. And we got a call from someone who heard about her through word of mouth. And the family seems awesome.. she is going to be treated like a queen there!! They have two boys, a 10 year old and a 17 year which is exactly what Liberty needs. She loves to play but with Colton she just wasn't sure how. So anyways, it is has been very hard not having her here with us but we know she is safe and getting so much attention! We still have Sampson our lab and he has adjusted better than I expected. And Colton is so young that he didn't really understand. But when only one dogs comes back in the house he always says Puppy Bye-Bye and then points to the front door so I do believe he knows she is gone. I still cry when I think about her becuase she was our baby, our first baby. And she was very much a part of the family. Her new family said they would keep in touch and send pictures and I hope they do so that we continue to know that she is being loved. Anyways, give your dog a hug... becuase you don't really realize how much you love them until they aren't around!

One of those weeks!

This week has been one of those weeks that just seems to never end. It has been a normal week but for some reason it just seems to drag on! Let's see on Monday Frankie started his new job. For those who don't know he accepted the job offer while we were on vacation! He is the new Executive Chef at the Science Musuem!! And so far he seems to be loving it. And the hours are awesome.. no more 15 hour days... he is usually home in time to eat dinner with the family (which is something that didn't happen a lot with the old job). Also on Monday Colton and I started swimming lessons!! We are in a toddler/parent class and he loves it. It is every Monday night for 8 weeks. We practice kicking and floating and we sing songs and play games... mostly it is just to get the kids comfortable with the water! And he is such a little fish! About half the toddlers in the class cried through most of the first session but not Colton. He was splashing and dunking his face in the water... and the last 5 minutes of class they get to jump in... that was his favorite part (he thinks he is such a big boy when he gets to jump in). So yeah to say the least Monday was a big day for us. Tuesday and Wednesday were late days at work... we were there until almost 6pm both nights. We have been putting in a lot of overtime lately.. but that paychecks are very nice so I don't mind! Then last night we actually got out of work early... so we grilled out and tried to enjoy the heat wave! The night was going great until Frankie checked our bank account and there was a $50 charge for Pizza in Kentucky!! So he called and sure enough someone had stolen our card number so we had to cancel his check card and hopefully there won't be anymore charges coming through. Being worried I was looking at our account a little closer and I found something funny. I went to Quiznoes on Wednesday to pick up Subs and for some reason they decided to charge me 6 times. So I have now paid $138 for 4 subs! I am still trying to get this problem sorted out becuase Quiznoes says they only have one record and only charged me once. So today at work I have made several phone calls trying to get back $110 that is rightfully mine.

I do have something positive to report from today: I won the Rising Star Award for February at work! This is what my co-worker said : Mandy has made incredible contributions with her increasing quality and productivity. She has also helped raise the overall team moral with her personality and dedication to the success of the team. She also personally motivates me with our friendly daily case count competition. Mandy is always willing to lend her knowledge of Lifecomm to ensure cases are completed by commission cutoff. It is always nice to be nominated let alone win.. so my day is going better. Also I get a $65 Visa Card for winning so I am going to buy myself something fun.. I am not sure what yet... although I really want the game Loaded Questions so I am sure that will be part of it!

Well I hope everyone else is having a great week and it's Friday so things have to get better from here on out!! Yeah for Weekends!! Gotta Smile: