Boating Adventure

We had an impromptu opportunity to join Uncle John and Aunt Michelle on their new boat on the St. Croix River, this boat has been a dream of Uncle John's for a long time and after all the fun Andrew had he made add it to his list of dreams too! Andrew especially loved going down into the cabin area because it was like having his own play house on board...it was a gorgeous Fall day and we are SO appreciative to John and Michelle for sharing this fun adventure with us...we hope we will be invited back again next summer (hint, hint!) I think you will enjoy the goofy pic that Andrew took of Uncle John too!

Carving Pumpkins!

Well the time has come to carve those amazingly huge pumpkins...and here is how they turned out. Andrew enjoyed sorting out the seeds from the rest of the slimy center so that we could try and grow pumpkins in Daddy's garden next summer!

Apple Orchard

It's that time of year again...and we have so far every year gone to an apple orchard and this year was definitely my favorite trip because Andrew was VERY involved in the picking of the apples and enjoyed the entire visit! We had a wonderful trip as a family and Andrew was thrilled with his apple choices! We have had alot of fun making apple crisp, apple bars and just enjoying them fresh!

Pumpkin Fun!

This year Andrew is definitely more into the Fall themes including the fun of picking out pumpkins, which was a special treat for us this year because our friends who great amazing pumpkins in their garden allowed us to come pick some out...as you can see the kids had a blast and the pumpkins are HUGE! What fun they will be to carve and decorate the front of the house with!

John Deere Fun and a Parade!

We were blessed to be included in the fun of riding in the hay wagon behind a great John Deere tractor for the Rosemount Leprechaun Parade, it was a BLAST! We had so much fun going through the parade but even more exciting was Andrew was allowed to drive one of the John Deere's all by himself! It was a fun day with great friends - here are some pics!

Look out fish, here they come!

This summer is Andrew's first year of fishing even though he requested it last year. He and Daddy went and bought all the necessary gear including the Cars Lightning McQueen fishing pole, because who could starting fishing with anything else? So much to my surprise Andrew is quite the fishing pro already, he has yet to have an outing (except where there were no fish) where there not fish that were caught! He averages about 3 catches (and releases) per trip with Daddy. Andrew quite frequently request to go with Daddy and they seem to be really enjoying themselves. Daddy has not been quite as successful in catching fish, but in his defense he spends alot of time being the GREAT daddy that he is and helping Andrew (ie; baiting the hook, reminding Andrew to real in extra line, taking the fish off the hook, rebaiting the hook...and repeat!).

I was finally invited along this past week to check out the scene...and here are some pics from the evening...look closely you will see the fish! They blend in a bit with the background (oh and they aren't super huge but quite impressive I think!).

Allowance for a Camper?

So we decided that now that Monkey is 5 and is desperately wanting some new toy every time we come near a toy section of a store that is was time for him to start earning an allowance...and Mommy is ready for him to work more on some chores! So he has a set of chores that need to be done daily and once those become the norm then we will add to the list, so far so good! Monkey is realizing how far (or not far) a dollar goes in the lego section at Target...so far he has not been upset about it which I am so thankful for.

In line with thought, we were driving home from running errands one day and Andrew spotted a 5th wheel camper in the Sam's Club parking lot, and he quickly said "we need to get a camper!" (this is not a new conversation, ever since enjoying the Ottosen families motorhome, he has desired to own a camper - thankfully we have been able to just enjoy theirs to date. So my response to him was "well they are very expensive so I don't think we will be buying a camper", and his response was "grandpa lou could buy us a camper" (the humor here is Monkey has yet to figure out that Grandpa doesn't party with money that easily!) So I responded "well that's alot of money I don't think Grandpa could buy that for you" and Monkey said "well he will just have to do more chores and get more allowance!"

These are the moments that I don't know how I keep the van on the road due to internal laughter exploding in my body!

So I told him he would need to call grandpa about that...and so right then and there we dialed grandpa to let him know Andrew needed a new camper! No worries Grandpa we aren't expecting a camper...but thanks for sharing in the humor. Andrew did get a camper for his birthday from Uncle John and Aunt Michelle - it is the lego version and it is SO fun...so that will need to suffice for now!

Preschool Is Done...

Wow it's so strange to think that preschool is now over, didn't that just start? The picture above is of them receiving their memory books which a fabulous compilation of their projects they did throughout the year, Monkey loves and cherishes his and so do we.

Andrew is very ready for summer vacation but is still confused by our new "schedule" or better known as "where are we going in the morning mom?" We have been non-stop busy already so I think summer will whoosh by too quickly. Here are some pics from Monkey's final program at school he was his usual non-participatory self which is frustrating but we are praying he grows out of it! They sang some wonderful songs and recited the Ten Commandments (or at least most of the kids did - grrr!) Oh and also a pic of Andrew's "girlfriend" Peyton, he is terribly smitten by her and I can't get enough of his "over the moon" grin when he talks about her. She is such a wonderful sweet and smart little girl, and we are thrilled they will be in Kindergarten together next Fall - just hope my sweet boy can focus with her in the room!

The BIG 5!

Well it's official and sadly has been for over a month, Monkey is now 5! Unbelievable to me really however Monkey is very very clear about how old he is. He had a great party with his friends and here are a few pics of the fun!

We are in countdown or is that up?

Well it's only two days until Monkey turns 5, he is in countdown to the BIG day! Tomorrow we take heavily frosted and sprinkled (thanks to Monkey) funfetti cupcakes to share with his preschool class...I apologize in advance to all the mommies who inherit those sugar laden preschoolers tomorrow! So as Monkey is in countdown all my mind keeps thinking is FIVE...how did we get to FIVE years old? So in my head I keep trying to add up how we got here so fast.

Last Friday was my turn at school to volunteer and be the librarian for the day, it is a day that I enjoy immensely especially when Monkey's class arrives and I get the most excited "hi mommy!" and a GREAT BIG HUG in front of all of his friends...I know it will end so I am enjoying every single one!

Anyway...the story I was reading to the 3 classes last week was All By Myself. It was about a baby elephant who wanted to get his leaves to eat all by himself without his mommy...well any of you who know or love a preschooler know that they want to do everything "All By Myself". I am just reviewing in my head how I went from the mom who just prayed for the day that Monkey could hold his head up by himself, and roll over by himself, and crawl and walk by himself to now being the mom who has the preschooler who declares he is big enough to be dropped at the preschool door all by himself and head into school all by himself.

I have great joy in how Andrew is learning and growing these days but sure wish I would have videotaped every moment of the last FIVE years so I could do a review and figure out when did I push down the "fast forward" button of life.

No doubt there will be more posts this week of all the fun festivities...including the first big friend birthday party on Tuesday....anyone want to help me corral the 5 boys on Tuesday...awwww come on! Anyone? Actually I am probably more excited than Monkey right now and I just hope he has the best day ever! Here a reminder from where it started.....what an amazing gift and blessing he has been from the very very very beginning...I love you Monkey!

Fishing...well sort of!

So on Saturday we finally had a sort of not so busy day and Daddy has been promising Monkey that for his birthday he would buy him a fishing pole, so off they went to find the perfect pole. They returned with a fabulous Lightning McQueen fishing pole which of course needed to be initiated...however the only trouble was that Monkey was insistent on needing to go fishing with Uncle John! We think not only is it because he enjoys his time with Uncle John but also because he owns a boat which Monkey thought was necessary for fishing! After much coaxing Daddy and Monkey set off to a couple local spots to see what they could catch...however the first spot proved not a good location and the second probably would be better at a future date, so according to Monkey they caught "Zero" but he is anxious to try again! I sure hope for my sake they continue to pursue the catch and release plan for fishing!

Grandma's Quilts

Well Monkey has been privileged since birth, well so am I to be perfectly honest! He and I have always slept with homemade quilts either made by my Grandma O or now by Monkey's Grandma O (which he refers to as Grandma Ginnie). Grandma Ginnie has kept up an important tradition of homemade quilt making and Andrew is the proud owner of a few already. Well one of the nights prior to our Disney trip as we were tucking Monkey into bed and trying to make sure he was warm enough that he would sleep all night (not requiring Daddy to visit shortly to recover him so he would go back to sleep)...we decided to pull out the heavy guns in other words pull out a full sized quilt vs. a kids quilt in hopes the extra coverage might work. The quilt we grabbed is one made by Grandma Ginnie and is pink and green to match the Laura Ashley comforter that used to adorn my full bed...so I thought there might be some protest over this pink quilt but the reaction was quite the contrary. Monkey's reaction filled my heart and my tear ducks both, Daddy spread it out over the bed and Monkey said "wow look at that it's beautiful!", "Did Grandma Ginnie make this new quilt for me?" I told him no it was a quilt she had made for me but that he could use it. I asked him though if he wanted Grandma Ginnie to make a new big quilt for him and he emphatically said "yes!" I love that he values the tradition of the quilts in our family and even more so that he loves Grandma Ginnie for her talent and love in her quilts! Monkey then pulled the quilt right up almost over his head (just like Mommy) and exclaimed "oh it's so cozy". How very very sweet it was!

Disney!

Well this year proved that last years fabulous trip to Disney was no fluke! We all had a wonderful time, we just wish they could turn down the outside thermostat about 10 degrees so we wouldn't be quite so toasty while we were there. Monkey was of course entertaining while being entertained! He surprised us by loving Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (if you look at the ride you can see them coming around the bend), he is definitely a roller coaster fan! There were many "firsts" this trip including meeting Buzz Lightyear and Woody from the movie Toy Story. There was no need for Monkey to be told to "smile" for these photos he was thrilled and it confirmed that his birthday party these of Toy Story is right on track for this year! Another first was riding the Star Wars ride with Daddy (not really mommy's kind of ride...too many flashing lights for her...of course Monkey thinks it's because she is scared of Star Wars). As like the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad the Star Wars ride was not just a one time thing but instead multiple trips were involved to ride both. Yet another first involved the water slides at the resort this year Monkey graduated to the BIG water slide that is a tube slide in the dark and as you can see it is quite lengthy, if asked he will tell you this and the airplane flight were his favorite parts of the trip. Both Daddy and I were a bit concerned when Monkey asked to go down the slide ALL BY HIMSELF...which meant he wanted no one to escort him to the top of the slide, or wait with him...it was agonizing waiting at the bottom of the slide for him with no real indication of when he would shoot out of there but indeed he did it ALL BY HIMSELF! And he was more excited than I think I have EVER seen him, he was literally spinning circles in the water repeating "I did it, I did it, I did it". It was fun to see him conquer yet another big milestone! He of course spent alot of time enjoying the other water slide but this year with a new twist NO LIFE JACKET! I don't have pictures of that because it was after I put away the camera besides it was too much fun watching him come down, goggles on, nose plugged (well all the way until right before he would go in the water) and then plunge all the way in, swim up and swim over to us - thank you swimming lessons you have totally paid off!
So yet another first was something Monkey has requested since we were at Disney last year and that was to attend the fireworks, frankly last year we were all so beat by the heat that we weren't awake nearly long enough to stay up for fireworks but this year we not only went to Magic Kingdom for the Wishes fireworks but also Hollywood Studios Fantasmic fireworks - what a wonderful time we had especially when the lit up Tinkerbell went right over our heads at Magic Kingdom - memories we will NEVER forget!
So just a few more cute pics from our trip! Including Monkey acting with the Green Army Men from Toy Story...what a riot to see our sweet boy having fun with the entertaining Green Army Men!

Today I decided to try a new yoga dvd at home...and Monkey was along for the fun! He first was sitting on the couch while I was on the floor instructing me whenever I wasn't doing exactly what the lady on the dvd was doing "mom you're supposed to put your leg down now, mom you are supposed to use the other arm now". So instead of him being my new trainer for yoga I talked him into joining me on the floor and giving it a try too, he initially resisted but then joined in. He kept saying "we are doing awesome aren't we!" He was so chatty I couldn't keep up with the instructions from the dvd but I certainly had a wonderful time with my sweet wonderful son. I think next time I'll try it solo since I am pretty sure I missed out on the "relaxing" portion of yoga, however I wouldn't trade the tremendous memory we made today.

Last Friday Monkey had a very fun sleepover at Grandpa and Grandma's the ones with all the trucks as he refers to them as. It started out as them helping out Mommy because she had a party to do and then it became an even more fun adventure. Monkey also was able to go to his Uncle and Auntie's house and was able to ride four wheeler while his fuzzy cousin Diesel trailed along. So this is the background of the story that I really want to tell which is when Grandma picked Monkey up at preschool he felt compelled to be chatty during their travels to her house so he was filling her in on all the fun at school that day....which by the way he usually tells Mommy nothing without her dragging it out of him...but again not the point!

Grandma relayed the most endearing account of Monkey telling her how much he knew about why Jesus died on the cross, and where Jesus lives now in heaven, and that Jesus had been in a tomb but the stone was rolled away and he was gone. I cannot tell you how full my heart is that my sweet boy is learning the most important thing to ever learn and that is that Jesus died for us so that we can live eternally one day if we choose to accept Him as our Savior. What JOY I have in my heart to know Monkey has a heart for Jesus!

So tonight as we were tucking Monkey into bed, Daddy leaned over and kissed me on the cheek and then again on the cheek...and per our usual I try and hand off one of those kisses to Monkey for Daddy - however when I leaned in to do that Monkey said "Don't do that or I will tell your husband!" Tee hee...so funny!

Just yesterday monkey was yelling for Daddy to come up stairs from the kitchen, when Daddy tried to convince him to come down the stairs he said he could not because "it" was too heavy, when Daddy asked what was too heavy, he said the book was too heavy so he needed Daddy to come upstairs, when Daddy asked why, monkey said "because I want to read this book and I don't know how to read remember!" Ha ha....

Well the time has come for a new technology for me to try and capture more of the wonderful moments of our "monkeys" life, he is simply too entertaining to not be documenting these moments for future and for fun now!