3.28.2011

This weekend...

This little boy turned
ELEVEN months old
{un-believe-able}
 We went to Mankato for the weekend to visit the Selly clan
and celebrate with a baby shower for their little lady due to arrive @ Breck's birthday!
{but for mamma's sake...tomorrow;)}

It's ALWAYS a good time visiting such good friends!
We eat at good restaurants {The Tav}
Catch up, play games, laugh
and it's ALWAYS so hard to say goodbye {can't wait till they move closer in the near future}
Thank you for such a good time! OH. and for spoiling Breck!

and like always...i forgot to take pictures {to busy visiting}
but Ryan took about 1,000 of Breck so I will post more later
and MAYBE I can sneak in the Selly baby bump ;)

Eleven months old
21.6 lbs
my little blondie boy
with "pretty" blue eyes he loves to "wink" at the ladies
BUSY is an understatement.
doesn't walk...runs
"talks" by screaming, spitting, grunting
snuggles and gives kisses
a nice little boy
love, love, love him.

And this month he is officially WALKING
prefers it over crawling
gets up on his own without pulling up from furniture


Wrestling...

is one of his favorite pastimes!
If ANYONE lays on the floor
he immediatly attacks them by

pouncing  
attacking

wacking

rolling on them!
He is ALL boy
rough and tuff!




These boys...

P
L
A
Y


H
A
R
D
and play so nice together {most of the time}!

My pretty boy...

So I made these headbands to give as gifts.
{Ellery wanted one to go with her Easter dress}

{and this poor boy, just got stuck trying one on for his mom}
Although he forgot he had it on and kept it on for over an hour!  And on top of it...
lately he has been blinking his eyes and titling his head {flirting}
He is going to kill me for this picture in 10 years :)
{if his dad doesn't do it first}

3.23.2011

Lately...

 this little guy and his eight little teeth want to bite everything
including his mom's knee, arm, finger, and back...
TROUBLE.

So I gave him a spoon to bite on!

Plus he refuses to let us feed him with a spoon these days
it's all finger food.
MESSY.

Today at lunch he kept looking at his spoon like this so we {me, sister, & kids}
came up with what he was thinking: It went something like this!
"hello spoon, not sure how to use you so I'm just going to bite you"
was way more funny at the time..i promise!!

At night, Mr. B has been getting fussy early.
He goes to bed around 7:30 pm and even that time is to hard to keep the little guy awake till.
He gets FUSSY :( {wants to snuggle, doesn't want to snuggle, wants to a bottle, doesn't want a bottle, up, down grrrrrrr}

So tonight he got to run around naked!
oh boy was he happy
{for a minute or two}
:)

and on WEDNESDAY...

we did this....

played with my cousin's who had NO SCHOOL
{this is Calvin trying to get up higher with his tower of Lego's to get away from Breck..next thing you know Breck was on the couch next to him}

the boys wrestled all day long
{notice we all stayed in our p.j's for most of the day}

Then some play time outside
in fresh SNOW?!?

Sticky, fluffy, white, snow!


|
ALL because of a snowstorm on the 2nd day of SPRING!!!

on MONDAY...

it was SPRING!
Nice weather,
snow melting,
saw the {brown} grass
we were all happy!
Breck & I went outside to play and I forgot that last time we had been outside  for a walk/ to play, he was a little guy @ six months so it was all new to him!
He would stop in his tracks and listen when he heard the birds, then laugh.

He LOVED the snow!
I would put him in the middle of the driveway and he would wonder over to the small piles of snow and start digging.

Then he would eat it, laugh, dig, eat {repeat}

Then I would put him back in the middle of the driveway and he would...

walk back to the snow!
I think we are going to have a FUN, busy spring and summer with this boy!

more crazy hair day pictures!

because I can't get enough of this hair-do's!
He was born with dark hair with side burns...
then it was a Mohawk..
then it was an Afro in the back...
and NOW...
THIS!

It's  missing in the front...

mullet in the back...

long on the sides...

sometimes curly...
sometimes frizzy...

And Always A Big Mess!
Makes me laugh
I think he needs a little grandma Shirley trim
but Jerod disagrees {I think he wants him to have "hockey hair" already}


3.22.2011

my sister

IMY SISTER!
  I

3.18.2011

Red Friday's....

This is a great story
and the meaning of Red Friday's!

Will You give this to my Daddy?
Last week I was in Atlanta , Georgia attending a conference. While I was in the airport, returning home, I heard several people behind me beginning to clap and cheer. I immediately turned around and witnessed One of the greatest acts of patriotism I have ever seen.

Moving thru the terminal was a group of soldiers in their camos. As t.........hey began heading to their gate, everyone (well almost everyone) was abruptly to their feet with their hands waving and cheering.

When I saw the soldiers, probably 30-40 of them, being applauded and Cheered for, it hit me. I'm not alone. I'm not the only red-blooded American who still loves this country and supports our troops and their families.

Of course I immediately stopped and began clapping for these young unsung heroes who are putting their lives on the line everyday for us so we can go to school, work and home without fear or reprisal.

Just when I thought I could not be more proud of my country or of our Service men and women, a young girl, not more than 6 or 7 years old ran up to one of the male soldiers. He kneeled down and said 'hi...'

The little girl then asked him if he would give something to her daddy for her...

The young soldier, who didn't look any older than maybe 22 himself, said he would try and what did she want to give to her daddy. Then suddenly the little girl grabbed the neck of this soldier, gave him the biggest hug she could muster and then kissed him on the cheek.

The mother of the little girl, who said her daughter's name was Courtney, told the young soldier that her husband was a Marine and had been in Iraq for 11 months now. As the mom was explaining how much her daughter Courtney missed her father, the young soldier began to tear up.

When this temporarily single mom was done explaining her situation, all of the soldiers huddled together for a brief second... Then one of the other servicemen pulled out a military-looking walkie-talkie. They started playing with the device and talking back and forth on it..

After about 10-15 seconds of this, the young soldier walked back over to Courtney, bent down and said this to her, 'I spoke to your daddy and he told me to give this to you.' He then hugged this little girl that he had just met and gave her a kiss on the cheek. He finished by saying 'your daddy told me to tell you that he loves you more than anything and he is coming home very soon.'

The mom at this point was crying almost uncontrollably and as the young soldier stood to his feet, he saluted Courtney and her mom. I was standing no more than 6 feet away from this entire event.

As the soldiers began to leave, heading towards their gate, people resumed their applause. As I stood there applauding and looked around, there were very few dry eyes, including my own. That young soldier in one last act of selflessness turned around and blew a kiss to Courtney with a tear rolling down his cheek.

We need to remember everyday all of our soldiers and their families and thank God for them and their sacrifices. At the end of the day, it's good to be an American.

RED FRIDAYS ----- Very soon, you will see a great many people wearing red every Friday. The reason? Americans who support our troops used to be called the 'silent majority'. We are no longer silent, and are voicing our love for God, country and home in record breaking numbers.

Our idea of showing solidarity and support for our troops with dignity and respect starts this Friday - and continues each and every Friday until the troops all come home, sending a deafening message that.. Every red-blooded American who supports our men and women afar will wear something red.

By word of mouth, press, TV -- let's make the United States on every Friday a sea of red much like a homecoming football game in the bleachers.

If every one of us who loves this country will share this with acquaintances, co-workers, friends, and family. It will not be long before the USA is covered in RED.

The first thing a soldier says when asked 'What can we do to make things better for you?' is.....We need your support and your prayers.

Let's get the word out and lead with class and dignity, by example.

WE {Breck & I} are going to participate in this!!
OUR goal: every Friday wear RED

This picture  is from when Ty & all the other troops came home from Iraq in 2008

Supporting Our Men & Women

By Wearing Red

Every Friday!
pssssssssssssssssst...pass it on!

3.17.2011

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Facebook status:  celebrating St. Patty's Day with my little leprechaun!!
And it's true!
He's  been a little under the weather for the last couple days, but woke up this morning with a smile on his face meaning he's feeling much better. We don't want to push our LUCK and over do it since we have plans to visit friends for a thirty'th birthday party this weekend, so today we are going to have a fun day at home baking, decorating, and waiting for the kids to get off the bus!
To their surprise we will have decorated with green balloons!  and for snack grasshopper pudding! {Check out my cooking blog later for details on this yummy easy dessert} Tonight we have dinner plans at my parents house.  St. Patrick's Day is a big day on my mom's side of the family {Lundon's 100% Irish} with years of traditional get-to-gather to celebrate...this year: a no go :(  pretty bummed out, but will still celebrate at mom and dad's with cabbage & Reuben sandwiches. I'm not 100% convinced or thrilled about this meal, but I will try it and if I'm not feeling it dad said he would make me a grilled cheese sandwich ha!  I'm bringing my famous strawberry cake {will post this later too on my cooking site}  After dinner I am going out with some girl friends for a little green beer to top off the night! 
This morning Jerod came out wearing an orange shirt.
I said "really"
He said "i don't have time to change"
I said "oh alright"
He came back out with a green sweater on! ha ha!
I had problems this a.m trying to find something green for mr. b to wear...either to big. to small. or not green. hmmmmmmm. we'll see what I can put together {would hate for him to get pinched}

Happy St. Patrick's Day!


the boys enjoying our snack!
 
our "grasshopper st.patty's day snack"
mini bowl is Brecks!


Kids finding the Oreo surprise!
 



The kids making green milk {Ellery} water{Calvin}
Ellery says "his is so much greener then mine"
I remind her that hers is mixed with white {milk} and his is mixed with clear {water}
Oh what fun!

3.16.2011

a funny story

I wish my blog posts were this funny! I follow dooce and her stories always have me laughing!
this one actually made me drool because I was laughing so hard, so I thought I would share
if your bored and just browsing the Internet!! check it out!

this is what happens when....

your baby is feeling under the weather
{hopefully due to teething}
and
he refuses to take a nap
{he becomes silly}

Lovely day for a birthday party....

planned by my neice and nephew
at my parents place on Sunday afternoon!
 Ellery planned the menu

Grandpa's meatloaf suprsise!
For those of you who don't know...its a special meatloaf that g'pa makes with a suprise in the middle!
including:
a baked potato, saurkraut, mushrooms & onions, mac n' cheese, and my special one pickles!
Sounds strange {i know} but it's delicious!
 

Then it was time for dessert(s)!
Ellery & Calvin made a giant chocolate
chip cookie...
Stacie made cupcakes....
and mom had Cadbury mini eggs!
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm


 Then time to play!


The kids messed up the house...

The boys played pool...

And the ladies clean up....








Grandpa was busy playing pool and forgot about wallyball...so off he ran!
Too bad he got stuck in the driveway: pulled out and ran into the snow bank! ha ha!
Always entertainment at the Smith house!




 Unexpected gifts
{especially when your just turning 22 right:) }
included this purse/diaper bag from the Jones family
from Thirty-One
and this awsome make up bag with my initals on it from my parents from llbean!

LOVE
LOVE
LOVE!


It wasn't a party without balloons!
Then home we went...
Breck was pooped out and took a long nap
Jerod and I worked on house projects
then an afternoon walk!
Great Sunday! Great Party!