Please oh Please

I am patiently waiting to see if they can be recovered. My computer has crashed, burned and then been partially revived. However, after noticing iTunes music is not at full force and if I try to synch iPod music it wants to erase everything, I noticed something even more disturbing.

My pictures are MIA - well at least half of them are gone and most of the Christmas pictures have gone to the black hole of computer land. It makes me very, very sad. I have memories here to share with you, share with very special people and to keep for the next for the future years.

Please, oh please, let me be smart enough to figure out how to retrieve the pictures. I will (somewhat) happily repurchase music for iTunes. I will be more diligent about backing up my computer.

Please, please let me be smart enough to hire the right person for the job if it turns out to be bigger than anything Big Poppy can handle. I am already smart enough to know this is beyond my capabilities.

Until then, I have this one to share.

And after some genius, Big Poppy or otherwise, recovers my pictures, I can finish my 2010 picture book and let you know how the month of December turned out for us.

Here's a hint, there were bouts of the stomach flu, pouting lips for non-exist fudge (a clear sign my family no longer loves me) and lots of family fun whether in the Frozen Tundra or the Icy Plains.

Wishing You A Magical Christmas

NYC

I don't know how to say this.

I love New York.

I loath New York airports.

The mobs of rude people, and I know you are not all from New York but seem to think you should take the stereo type of the New Yorker attitude to the extreme, are enough to drive me to a drink. Heavily. Ok, maybe it did drive me to a drink but not heavily - just one glass of wine.

What was I doing in New York? Flying home from our Orlando vacation of course!

No, I was not insane and tried to save a few bucks by not having a direct flight, however you probably heard on the news, the Frozen Tundra was hit with a rather large snowstorm. There were even roof collapses from the weight of the snow.

We were all set for a Saturday departure. Mother nature had other plans. We had a change to Sunday flights via Atlanta and Milwaukee. Those were cancelled. Monday comes and our 7 am flight was delayed to 9:15 and we were flying via New York.

Have you ever entertained a kid at an airport for way too long? I am not talking hours. I am talking days. There is a hotel located in the Orlando. For convenience sake we staid there. We thought we had a one day delay.

In reality, our extra stay at the airport was not all that bad. We had good food, a comfortable bed and plenty of moving walk ways which kept Little Guy highly entertained. He was also a big fan of the glass elevator and watching us mover closer or farther from the people outside. Weeeee. This can be said even before stepping into the elevator. The anticipation is that great.

Really, it was just the NYC airport that made our delayed trip home bad. Work may think not being there to get items done is bad and when I am up early and home late catching up from today, then I may agree. But, we did get see Little Guy for his first trip to NYC. Maybe next time he can even venture out of the airport.

NOTE: I'll wrap up vacation this week.

Baby, It's Cold Outside - II

Day two of vacation (or is it really day one since Saturday was a travel day?) started off cool and cloudy. I went for a quick wog -- somewhere between a walk and a jog -- and returned back to our place just as it started to rain. Now a little rain does not make me melt, I am not made of sugar nor am I green, but this did dampen my mood. Vacation rain does not make me happy. In fact it makes me very sad.

AuntJ and Big T were set to travel over to spend the day with us. While our place is larger than a hotel room, a two bedroom condo unit, it would feel very small if three adults and two young, energetic boys were forced to stay inside and play all day. One thing Big Poppy has told me about Florida, it may rain every day but it will not rain all day. I admit, I doubted this because of the cloud coverage and how cold it was outside. Fortunately, Big Poppy was correct. By the time AuntJ and Big T made their way over, the sun was out and while it was not warm it was no longer cold.

Big T and AuntJ were great little hosts for the day at Sea World and helped us plan out a good day.

It started with the dolphins.

As you can see, despite seeing the dolphins more often Big T was still happy to see them again. Little Guy's mouth and eyes are opened up in wonder and awe. What is hard to capture on camera (darn you point and shoot) is the pointing fingers and the "oohhh!" and smiles and laughter and the trying to jump into the pool with the dolphins. Little Guy could have stayed watching much longer, we stayed here for 15 minutes, and he was displeased when we moved on to see what else there was to see at Sea World.

About two weeks ago I was speaking with a client who has two year old twins. She told me we could talk more the next day because she was on her way out the door to take the twins to Sesame Street Live. We laughed about her exciting life and how jealous I was not be going to Sesame Street Live. As I hung up the phone I thought to myself how lucky I was Little Guy has not shown interest in some childhood characters - yet.

Well there are Sesame Street shows at Sea World. We decided to go. I thought it would be a good introduction for Little Guy. Boy do I feel like a bad mommy now. Little Guy loved it. He stood on the bench in amazement, watching everything. Big Poppy and I have done plenty of things with Little Guy and have introduced him to many parts of life. However, Sesame Street or other characters have not been around us all that much (I may have a fear of create a couch potato that misses out on the activities of life).

I need to realize a little show here and there is not going to harm Little Guy. He deserves a little entertainment too.

Afterall, if Little Guy sees puppets every now and then, he may not be afraid of Shamu...or maybe a whale is something to be a little scared of.
 
AuntJ and I swapped kiddo's, Big T was a big fan of this aunt (yeah!). The Christmas tree light show held their attention (and ours) for the entire time. Little Guy is young enough that he was amazed every time the lights came back on or changed colors.
 

 
We stayed until the park closed to see the fireworks. It was cold. COLD. While walking around to find a good vantage point for the fireworks I spotted heaters. We found our spot. Big Poppy walked back a short ways to get himself a hot chocolate and a hot toddy for AuntJ and me. Between the heater, hot toddy and snuggling boys I was able to keep my blood circulation circulating.

Baby, It's Cold Outside - I

Big Poppy and I like to go on vacation. I cannot think of very many people who do not like vacation but I'm sure there are some out there. Living in the Frozen Tundra, when winter comes or after it has been dragging on a little too long we like to head to Cabo for a few days of S&R (sun and relaxing). While I am a big believer in trying new things, going to different places and having new experiences we fell in love with Cabo and decided if we could only vacation one place a year Cabo really isn't that bad of a place to be.

In reality, we normally have a couple mini-vacations (think long weekends) and a one week long vacation. I cannot wait to introduce Little Guy to Cabo but it just did not work out to fly off to Mexico this year. Yes, I am sad about this but poor us, instead of vacationing in Cabo for a week we decided to visit the Orlando, Florida area. We are fortunate and if at any time I sound a little whining about our vacation, I am not. What I may be is a little upset with a few things that have happened. However, rest assured, there are more smiles and laughs than anything else. I know we are blessed on so many levels... it all comes down to Little Guy.

Big Poppy, Little Guy and I were picked up by GrandB and GrandC on December 4 to head to the airport. The night before it had snowed. Alot. After Little Guy went to bed Big Poppy shoveled the driveway while I snoozed on the couch (Hey, at least I am honest about what I was doing and, in my defense, I had traveled for work Thursday morning and returned home on Friday. Traveling can be very tiring.). The snow was still falling as Big Poppy shoveled although it had slowed down quite a bit. By morning there was a fine layer of snow on the driveway but we had other items to attend to. Mainly getting to the airport.

We traveled to the main hub without incident and made it through security after a short wait or at least a short wait by today's security standards. There is this wonderful little thing with having a young child, sometimes the airport personnel pull you out of line and have you go through a separate line because they understand it takes longer to do things with a stroller, toddler and a carry on bag for his entertainment pleasure. Lucky us, we had one of those kind airport personnel pulled us aside. For anyone screaming unfair treatment, I have a few stories where we were not so lucky. This just helped even out some of the not-so-nice treatment's I have received (Lincoln, NE - you know who you are and that I can point a finger at one person in particular on more than one occasion -- yes, that does mean I have flown to Lincoln, NE more than once in my life -- but I digress).

The airport music is filled with holiday cheer and one of the songs I heard has been stuck in my head ever since - Baby, It's Cold Outside. The Frozen Tundra was just that as we left - Frozen. As a text message I received from a friend said:

It's freezing cold. FREEZING. COLD.

And so, as I boarded the plane I am thinking a little smugly to myself "in a few short hours I will be in Florida, the sunshine state." As I was seated on the plane, talking to Big Poppy and entertaining Little Guy I was under the illusion that while Orlando has off season and winter months that low 70's would feel like a little piece of heaven (more to come on this false illusion). After all, Baby, It's Cold Outside here in the Frozen Tundra not the sunshine state which will give us the warmth and sun we desire.

The ice was so thick at the airport we were delayed, after everyone had boarded, 15 minutes in order for a larger truck to make it's way over to our plane to help push us back from the gate. Then it was time to de-ice the plane which was another 45 minutes, again after everyone had boarded the plane. Then we were off! (QUESTION: Does anyone else find it humorous and frustrating that even though our flight took off just about exactly one hour after the scheduled departure time the flight was considered an on-time departure because the airplane door was pushed away from the gate on-time? I wonder if I could pass that kind of customer service onto my clients and set my own prices.)

We landed safely, always a good thing, collected our bags and retrieved our car rental with ease. Finding our hotel was also relatively painless and our vacation had started.

Sunday (December 5) brought a new day. Big Poppy made us breakfast (tasty!) and Big T and AuntJ drove over for the day. After a bite to eat for lunch we headed over to Sea World. Fantastic! Little Guy was so excited to see everything....stay tuned...I have to get dressed to start our next day. The boys are waiting on me. :)

Millionaire Drawbacks?

This morning I was checking on my nephew (I both hate and like Facebook. I like that I can see pictures of those far away but hate how it the means of communication for some people - which is why I log in every 4 months and ignore "friend" requests people who would ignore me on at the party or on the street and this means, in my haste I have probably ignored real friends because I just don't look at the requests...but I digress), he had tubes put in his ears yesterday. Our homepage is MSN which is probably fairly common.

Now what do you think I saw as one of the scrolling headlines?

8 drawbacks of being a millionaire

Seriously!?!

Well MSN and Katie Adams, I think if given the opportunity, I would take on those drawbacks.
 

Santa's Helper

18 Months & Growing

Last Friday Big Poppy, Little Guy and I spent the morning together - at the doctor's office. It was Little Guy's 18-month appointment. It use to be going to the doctor was uneventful but not, Little Guy is showing he is 18 months and is not a fan of strangers. Even when a cute nurse looks at him Little Guy was about ready to burst into tears and needed a great big hug from Mommy or Daddy (which I was more than willing to take...hmmm, maybe we should go to the doctor's office more often).

At each check-up visit we are sent home with sheets of paper that help Big Poppy and I evaluate if Little Guy is on track. There are some items that seem fairly standard such as:

• Walks fast
• Throws a ball
• Stacks blocks

Check, check, check.

Then we notice some gray areas or maybe I should say, some areas that make me wonder.

• Guard against falls - Does this mean I should put rubber foam on all of our floors?
• Supervise all play near street - Does that mean if it is in the backyard I don't need to supervise?
• Don't share cups - Are water bottles ok? Do they not realize how much Little Guy wants to drink from whatever Big Poppy and I are drinking from, especially our refillable water bottles?

I guess, it could just be me. While it might seem like common sense to me not to let Little Guy play in or near the street, it might seem perfectly logic to the next person which is why we have the oddest warnings are items.

All in all, Little Guy is a healthy, normal little boy. At one time he had four to ten words but these days he pretty much says three words.

1. Ball - at all times he wants a ball
2. Jtr - he still loves his puppy however the "e's" in Jeter don't quite make it out of Little Guy's mouth
3. Peese - this word is spoken after several (think double digit) reminders when he wants more of something ("What do you say?" times 15) and is of course followed with a cute little smile letting you know he knew what to say but really did not want to

Little Guy is still growing which is a good thing. I do not think he would like to have stopped growing so young.

Vitals at Eighteen Months
Height: 33 3/4" (90 percentile)
Weight: 26 lbs 9.5 oz (50-75 percentile)
Head: 47.5 cm (50 percentile)
Click here for the vitals at fifteen months.

Insert picture here - well, for some reason I cannot upload pictures right now. I'll be back soon.

Ice Cream

Ice Cream

You S'cream

Little Guy S'creams.

He is a big fan of ice cream.

Little Big Poppy

Little Guy really loves his daddy and must be next to him (ok, on some occasions Little Guy does want his mommy). This past weekend we had the first snow fall of the year. Big Poppy went out to shovel. Of course that means Little Guy needed to go out and shovel.

We were not ready for such a helper in the snow and did not have a shovel Little Guy size. In case you were wondering, a broom ball stick works just fine. It is a slow process but the snow will move.

However, when the cheeks and nose are red and snot is running into his mouth, Little Guy still is not ready to come inside.

My Little Big Poppy wants to be out with Big Poppy.

Once he determines the tears are not going to let him back outside, Little Big Poppy will wait right by the door. I guess he is hoping Big Poppy will sneak him out to help again.

Mr. Clean

Earlier this year Big Poppy told you how Little Guy is in charge of vacuuming.

I am surprised and happy to say Little Guy still loves the vacuum.

When the vacuum comes out, Little Guy jumps out of his chair (how many guys do you know like that?).

Notice the new carpet?

Little Guy is ready to clean in no time. The vacuum attachments are brought to the furniture for a quick clean.

Little Guy is ready to move for more cleaning.

Once he is satisfied with the state of the furniture, Little Guy heads over the main show.

Do you notice the toys "hidden" under the side table?

Once the work is done, Big Poppy wraps up the cord to take the vacuum back to the closet. However, Little Guy always wants to clean more.

Those are not tears of joy the vacuum is going bye-bye.

I mean, he is M-A-D when the vacuum gets put away. During this weekends cleaning, when Big Poppy took the vacuum to the closet you could hear stomping. Foot stomping in frustration/anger the vacuuming was done. What guy do you know who really wants to clean this badly!

Still unhappy about the vacuum put away 10 minutes later.

I hope the drama around putting cleaning supplies away lessons over time but I am sure looking forward to having the only 15-year-old boy who likes to help the family clean.

It will last that long, right? :)

Bat of a Good Time

Did you survive the ghosts and goblins on Sunday?

We barely survived with all the scare tactics of the neighborhood children.

Halloween was a little different than last years party. For the most part it had to with having a Little Bat. He sures like to climb up on everything and spread his wings to fly.

GrandB and GrandC came over again this year. We had some blood punch and zombie pizza's and dogs, but the spread was not laid quite as nicely as the previous year. However, we did have some Halloween cupcakes with bone toppings - an addition from last year (and Little Bat tried his best to eat only the frosting).

Having the trick-or-treaters come to us again this year was quite fun for Little Bat. He would get very excited when they came to the door. To each and everyone he gave them a polite "bye-bye".

Little Bat with GrandB and GrandC.

In between treaters, baseball was played (I know, we are still very disappointed about the Yankees and Twins).

Little Bat waiting for the perfect pitch from Big Poppy.

All in all in was a Bat of a Good Time.

Little Bat was not patient for the camera this time around but I was having a good time.

In case you were curious, Little Bat stayed in character all night. He decided to be a nocturnal creature Sunday night!

Winds of Change

The winds of change are blowing our way.

Or maybe the winds are just trying to blow us away.

At any rate, there are some fun and exciting changes taking place is the house that Big Poppy built.

Little Guy is in transition. This is his final week of "infant" care and has been spending this week split between the older infant room and the toddle room. This next move means he gets to play outside every day. It also means no more sippy cup - well at least at school. I am not quite sure if I am ready for a big boy cup and the messes it brings. Then again, I am betting it will be like everything else. Little Guy will start to notice Big Poppy's cups do not have a top. Heaven forbid Little Guy does not do something exactly like Big Poppy!

The fierce independence all kids like to display is also coming our way. On those rare occassions Big Poppy and I do tell Little Guy no we are rewarded with Little Guy letting us know how he feels about the situation. I do admit I find it comical to see the frustration or tears over minor things. It is even funnier when Little Guy realizes that approach is not going to work and he shoots you a look - you know the look. The one that says: I'll get my way some how. Just you wait and see.

Yes, the wind is definately blowing change our way. I wonder what else will blow our way.

Could it be Little Guy's Halloween gear? Will he fly in on a broomstick, magic carpet or wings?

Not Now

There are the rare occassions when Little Guy is not an angel. I am almost positive there is something wrong with his ears that causes him not hear what we are saying.

Take a look below. At the 17 month mark I tried to get a nice picture of Little Guy and Jeter.

I heard Little Guy loud and clear.

Not Now!

Let the Guessing Begin

Are you ready for the ghost and goblins?

How about all the candy that will flow in and out of your home?

Little Guy has his creepy crawly all picked out.

Can you guess what he has in mind this Halloween?

Weekend Fun

Did you have this much fun?

Going to swim class.

Big Poppy and Little Guy are in the center.

Going to hockey with good friends.

Happy Mom and Little Guy are ready for hockey, however there were some in shorts, at a HOCKEY game.

Going to an apple orchard.

Low hanging fruit is tasty.

Happy to be on the great pumpkin hunt.

Little Guy was very happy to look for his perfect pumpkin.

Searching for the pumpkin that fits you just right.

Big Poppy and Little Guy search the pumpkin patch for the best one to bring home.

Not being afraid of walking for miles to find a pumpkin to bring home.

Little Guy kept on moving looking for a pumpkin that spoke to him. Does anyone else find it funny we went to an apple orchard to get a pumpkin? We did pick up some apples.

Finding the best pumpkin to bring home.

Little Guy tried to get a bigger pumpkin but really liked the ones he could pick up to show Big Poppy.

Did you have that much fun?

Just Like Brett

I might be just like Brett. (For all you Vikes fans, guess which team he will officially retire with before heading off to the hall of fame.)

As I was saying, I might be just like Brett.

We are both on the other side of 30 although I can honestly say I'm in my younger 30's (at least for a little while longer).

We both like to hear people love us and want us.

We both enjoy fall sports, so much so that perhaps we are playing past our prime.

I had this thought on Saturday at our co-ed football game. Or maybe my similarity to Brett popped into my mind yesterday. If my memory serves, and it may fail from time to time, on Saturday I had a feeling I was more like Peyton. In the huddle, determining who I would throw the ball to (I'm not a great QB but in a forced gender play I can get the job done and, well, we had a few too many forced gender plays on Saturday) and knowing when I was going to connect for a first down or a touchdown. I imagine, there are times when Peyton just knows, this is going to be a big play.

A comparison to Peyton's play may be a bit of a leap but after my embarrassing and shameful showing on the softball field on Friday (it caused Little Guy to cry), Saturday morning was the perfect confidence builder. I got the job done and then some. As we speak recruiters are checking on my college eligibility...or maybe not. But I had a great game and was disappointed Little Guy missed my redemption (Big Poppy and Little Guy were at the college football game with a friend and his son).

And then yesterday, my bubble burst. As I trying every way possible to stretch my arm and shoulder it dawned on me.

I might be just like Brett...the Brett of today.

We are both moving a little slower. Recover times take longer. Throwing shoulders need to be warmed up prior to a game.

Yep, Brett and me. Getting old together - sorta.

Got to Love October

A person really must love October. There are birthday's, anniversaries, excuses to eat candy and so much more. Anyone who does not love October must live a state of depression.

One reason to love October is the post season.

You know - post season baseball.

While we we are not quite there yet, on Sunday we made it out to the final regular season home game with GrandB and a loving family friend. We went there to watch one of our favorite teams.

It was a little chilly and Big Poppy bought Little Guy these:

However, Little Guy has to be just like Big Poppy.

Big Poppy was not wearing gloves therefore Little Guy would not wear gloves.

Something Little Guy would wear is a new hat (as you may have guessed, Big Poppy was wearing a hat).

I tried to let Little Guy know that it is OK to wear a little warmer outer gear in October. It means fall is here and post season play is just around the corner. Many a fan pulls on a hat when it comes to October baseball.

As you can see, Little Guy was over it. Watching a team lose is never fun.

I wonder who he is going to cheer for on Wednesday....

Night Time

This past Saturday Big Poppy, Little Guy and I went to our first night football game.

The air was crisp but not cold. The fans were supportive and fun. The view to downtown was awesome.

Big Poppy may look tired to you and me. Well, let's be honest. He was tired. While I knew we planned on leaving at half time (a night game is rather late for Little Guy) I am not quite sure if we left because of Little Guy or Big Poppy.

Now, we need to figure out how to get a W...I guess, hockey season is just around the corner.

Catch-up Time

It's been a while and let me tell you something. A lot of fun things have been happening. The great thing about fun...it's fun. The bad thing about fun, I get too caught up in the fun to take pictures or let everyone know what we are doing.

I should be out for a little run but the wind sounds cold, the sky is black and the wind sound cold. Did I mention that already? Sure, the treadmill could work but ... I'm thinking a great excuse on why to skip a morning workout ... I don't feel like jogging this morning becaue the wind sounds cold. I'm sure that means the wind would be blowing quite a bit on our treadmill too.

The last time I was here there was a quick run down of Labor Day weekend. Remember to breath while we catch-up. Also, just to note, by no means do I think we are any busier than any other family. I really do not know anyone with time to sit around watching the paint dry. This month has just had more packed into it than normal. We do our best to give us time as a family to play, talk and chill out together. Go - go - go is not the best idea all the time, at least in my opinion. I do like my couch, well, really I like to sit on my couch. I would love a new couch however that is a story for another day.

Big Poppy, a couple times a year, goes to Missouri to golf work with his biggest client. He during the day on September 9 and returned September 12. While he was away, Little Guy had his first swimming lesson. We got up bright and early Saturday morning, swim lessons are at 8 am, to dress, have a little breakfast and then make it over to the swim school. The dressing rooms are very bright and colorful, don't you think?

Swim class was great. Little Guy was a little shy with all the extra people around (there are six small classes going on at once which is a lot for a little boy who does not want to miss a thing). After getting use to all the other classes, Little Guy focused in on our group and had a lot of fun.

After swimming lessons, we rushed home to shower and change. We were off to a football with a friend and her son. The mom's were in one color and the boys were in the home town favorite colors. I went to college with Wendy and we busted out the old school gear. Both to my astonishment and my dismay, I am a home town supporter, the little school won.

Sunday was a big, big day for Little Guy. Big Poppy was not a fan of me cutting Little Guy's hair so we went to have a big boy haircut. It was not excactly the experience I thought it would be. Little Guy is normally very laid back, happy and has a winning smile. From the moment he sat in the chair Little Guy was over it. He let everyone know this current situation was unacceptable and he wanted out.

Even on the ride to lunch with GrandB, Little Guy let his sour mood over the whole thing shine through. It took a few hours before he liked me again. Next time, Big Poppy gets to be the bad guy.

Big Poppy made it home, safe and sound, and Little Guy was very happy to snuggle up next to him Sunday afternoon after the tourture of a haircut I put him through. After Little Guy was sound asleep, we started moving furniture. Tuesday was the big day of the carpet install. The entire upstairs and the living room would have fresh flooring and I was excited.

But, before Tuesday carpet install we needed to clear out all of the rooms. Thankfully Danno helped with a couple of the heavy lifting items. We had everything squared away for Tuesday, well almost everything. On Monday, the guys came to move the pool table from the "pool table room" (I have no other word to describe the game room because the room was built around the pool table) to the basement and garage.

Tuesday was my favorite day. When I arrived home from work with Little Guy it was like a new home. We have a few more things we want to update and change but this carpeting was quite a transformation in the feel of our home. I may regret chocolate carpet considering how often you need to vacumn with a white fluffy puppy (love you Jeter) but it will be worth it every time Big Poppy brings out the vacumn.

There was touch up painting and curtains hung (another thing I cannot get enough of, I can hide the ugly blinds now). A speaker was moved (thank you Big Poppy!). Most of our furniture was put back by Friday and the rest occured when Danno came over to help with the heavy lifting.

And the pool table. Now this was a gem I was not expecting. When they moved the pool table back we had it refelted. I now believe the felt on the table may have dated back to the early 1800's. The new felt is so clean and crisp. Had I know how easy and somewhat inexpensive it was to refelt a table, I would have done this a long time ago. It completely changed the look of the table and I no longer hate it. It was so ugly and icky before. Now it actually looks nice.

Now let me give you the quick recap of Friday. Work, pool table, furniture...oh, yes, I ran over to Mack's house for a little party with Danno's Girl and after they left Les and Travie arrived to spend the weekend with us along with Travie's brother and sister-in-law.

Which means September 18th and 19th was spent like this: Saturday morning, up and off to swim lessons and upon returning grabbing Les to be my personal cheerleader for a co-ed football game (in the future Big Poppy and Little Guy will come to cheer) while Travie, Big Poppy and Little Guy searched for Vikings helmut's (YUCK!) for Les and Travie's two boys. When we all met up around lunch time, Travie's family had arrived and we were off to the home of the juicy lucy (as seen on tv). Then we came home to watch some college football, played a game and more family came over for a quick minute before they went out for a few drinks. Big Poppy and I stayed home, picked up a bit and put Little Guy to bed. When they arrived home, most went to bed and we yacked a bit with Les before I sent her to bed for the second night in a row (she needs her sleep). Sunday morning everyone was up early and we were off for pre-game breakfast. Our guests were going to the Vikes game (we were asked but I did not want to spend good money on a team like the Vikings...but I willl go sometimes, just not this time). We came home, picked up, watched some football, GrandB wanted to stop over to see Little Guy, we went for a walk and then made supper. The disappointed crowd made it home in time for the Manning Bowl II but did not last long before they were ready for bed. Monday Les and I went for a jog/walk to catch-up and then everyone was off and we were back to reality of our own work day.

Which brings us to this week. It has been slow in comparison. A little playing. A little laundry. And now we are at the weekend again (Friday's are a good thing).

It's been nice catching up.

Labor Day Weekend

I know. I know. It's been a while. As Little Guy gets more and more mobile (there isn't anything he won't try to climb) I find myself running around more and needing to do some household necessities at night and for my sanity, working out in the morning (except for this morning...my throat will not allow me to breath and I'll be gargling salt water very soon).

Anyways. I wanted to give you quick glimpse of our weekend.

Saturday brought some family to town. We just saw them in July in Chicago so it was a real treat to have them with us again so quickly. While Big Poppy, Ranger, Syd and Soy went to the baseball game, Little Guy, Aunt and I stared at a blank wall.

After we had enough of the blank wall, we hopped into the car and made sure Big Poppy had some work to do when they returned from the baseball game. (Ranger was a little upset and unable to be put to work.)

There is one less blank space on our walls. And for those of you who don't know, we did not normally have blank walls. Right before we Little Guy warmed our hearts we had the popcorn ceiling changed to a knock-down ceiling. Everything had been moved out of our home. We repainted and the pictures we had just were not us (I may not have had the best taste 10 years ago when it came to furniture or picture selections). I have been slowly finding items that we like without spending a small fortune, although there is a painting I am in love with and I may have to break down and spend a few hundred dollars on one picture. I'm not there yet but I'm getting there.

Did you think I would make Big Poppy stand there all day to finish out the space?

The weekend also consistent of more baseball on Sunday. Some of us longed around (some more than others).

There were parks to be played at.

Some of us could not get enough of the slide. And here I thought kids liked swings better than slides.

Some of us threw a fit when we had to leave the park.

GrandB and GrandC came to play with Little Guy while the rest of us enjoyed seeing Wicked. One critic was heard saying this play was better than Syd's school plays.

At in the end, when the family left, we were all sad to see them go. Once again, Little Guy had a bad night sleeping after they left. I guess he missed them already.