Ian's first tattoo

I got home last night and the first thing Ian said to me was, "Mommy, I got tattoos!"  Grammy Andrews sent a special Halloween treat.  I told him I would "give" him a tattoo after dinner and he couldn't eat fast enough!

At first he wanted to share them with Milo, but once he saw cool they were he insisted having all 8 of them on him.  His first sleeves - ha!  The simple joys of childhood.  I love them. 

I love scouting out new places and things to do in our area.  Thanks to livingsocial, groupon and the like you can find out about places that might otherwise remain unknown. 

Save money + new adventure = happy Mommy!

Saturday morning we packed up the boys and headed to the Runway Grill.  I had a voucher that expires 10/31 and I wanted to make sure we used it.  This restaurant is located at the Rocky Mountain Metro Airport and it is AWESOME!  If you have little boys (or little girls, but let's be real...I saw one little girl there and I am pretty sure she was only there because she has a brother.  Just sayin'.) this is the place to go for Saturday morning breakfast.  You can't beat the view and we all made it out with full bellies for under $20 (total cost before using the voucher - score!)

 View from our breakfast table - it was a bit windy or we would have dined on the patio:)

 I want a ceiling fan like this in my house!

It was a fun morning and a great way to spend a gorgeous day in Colorado! 

Milo fell asleep on the drive home, but woke up once we got home.  It was a quick nap, so we decided to take a walk in downtown Longmont.  There was a new store I wanted to check out and a woman from my business planning class had just moved into a new location so I wanted to check out her place too - Divine Divas.  Another place I recommend for cute, affordable funky items that you won't find anywhere else.  There were so many things I wanted to buy, instead I dropped a couple of hints about a possible gift certificate for Christmas;) 

Ian loves the fountain, even though there is no water in it this time of the year we always have to make a stop to check it out.  He also noticed that they replaced the art and thought it was hilarious that he got to say "Cheese!" in front of the mac n' cheese sculpture. 

The rest of our weekend was pretty low-key.  Picked up around the house, did laundry, and watched some Packer football.  Woohoo!  I love having the space in our basement to relax and spend time together as a family.  It is also wonderful because the boys can rummage through the toys and play to their heart's content, then come Sunday night we can pick it all up and have it tidy for the week.  A remodel worth every penny! 

 Lookin' for treasures...

 We got a Halloween package from Grandma and Grandpa Schneider - always exciting!!  Ian LOVED his wax moustache and insisted on "wearing" the bat decor.  We are getting pumped up for Halloween.  This Saturday is the Halloween parade in downtown Longmont.  It is supposed to be nice and warm, which is good because we have several inches of snow that need to go away!

 Never too young to put them to work:)

I got a couple of funny videos to share too.  Ian taught Milo this trick over the weekend!

Milo gets the dancin' gene from his Mommy!

Ian loves the Wizard of Oz and I love that he loves the Wizard of Oz.  The last few weekends have been spent lounging on the couch with one of my all-time favorite movies and my favorite oldest son.  I bet you can't guess his favorite line...



Happy Fall Y'all!

It's that time of year again!  It seems like only yesterday we were hitting up the pool every weekend, but in come the colder temperatures and the leaves are changing color.  I love fall, but am struggling to come to terms with the seasons changing this year.  I am not sure what it is - maybe it is because that means the end of the year is getting closer?  That snow is on the way?  That soon my baby is going to be 4 years old?  That I will be closer to 36?!  Who knows.  I just find myself wishing that the 80 degree days would last a little bit longer this year. 

I did get one last 80 degree day of the year on Saturday.  It was gorgeous!  Yet weird to be at the pumpkin patch on such a warm day.  It is hard to get in the mood for pumpkins and cider when it is so warm out, but I appreciated the extension of summer anyway. 

We met up with the Courtney's (sans Colin and Ava because Ava was not feeling well) at the Pumpkin Patch after nap time.  Jonathan, Heather and Peyton were also able to join us for a bit before it was Peyton's nap time.  Ian and Ella love the rides - who cares about pumpkins when you can fly an airplane, drive a car and slide down a huge inflatable fire truck.  Right?!

   

Milo hung out in his stroller just watchin' all the fun around him.  Next year he will be ready to fly an airplane and bounce to his heart's content in the bouncy castle, but for this year he was my wingman.  We talked about pumpkins, gourds, and mums.  Right before we left Ian decided he wanted to ride the train around the pumpkin patch and he asked if Milo could join him.  How cute is that?  I asked him to make sure Milo stayed seated, but that I thought it would be okay.  I almost had a tear in my eye as they rode away - they just looked so darn cute riding in the barrel together!

We had to get the annual how tall I am this fall photo.  Ian is going to hate it when I make him get his picture taken there in his tween years;)

Family photos!  It is so hard to get a photo of the four of us where everyone is looking at the camera and smiling, but somehow we were able to find success on Saturday.  Say cheese!

We got a call from Monica as we were leaving the pumpkin patch and they said it was the perfect time to for us to stop by.  We headed over to their place so the boys could meet Clara.  Ian was so excited to meet her and seeing him interact with her was lovely.  Milo was more interested in the cat...who was not so interested in him:)  I was able to pry him away for a photo and Ian agreed to be in the photo as long as he could "stay cooking".  ha!

The new (and improved!) Black family

Christian, Monica and Clara Black

The newest little thing in my life...

She is here!  Our friends, Monica and Christian Black, welcomed their beautiful baby girl to the world on Sunday.  Let me introduce you to...

 Clara Evelyn Black

7 lbs. 6 oz.

20 inches long

October 9, 2011

9:21 PM

I was able to sneak away from work on Monday to meet her.  Let's be real, I don't care what was on my agenda I was making room to meet this little bundle of love!  She is so tiny and sweet.  By far the highlight of my week thus far. 

 I can't wait to introduce Clara to my other favorite little things too!

 Ian loves to help in the kitchen.  We spent all last weekend making freezer meals for the Black family (perfect timing I would say).  I love having a helper in the kitchen, I just wish I had a different kitchen.  The layout is horrible, the cabinets are falling off, the flooring is heinous - covered up by an equally heinous rug, one drawer has screws coming out of it in order to keep the drawer front on, the color palette is mauve (gross!)...I could go on and on.  Point is:  I despise our kitchen and yearn for the day when we can get a main floor makeover.  Unfortunately, I don't see that happening until...well, never.  So that being said, I am so thankful to have Ian as my wingman in an otherwise dreary room in our house.  He makes me forget about all the things I don't like about our kitchen and reminds me that anything can be good as long as you have a friend alongside you!

Peyton is walking and talking, then walking and talking some more.  She is a girl on the go and she wants to tell you all about it!  She gives the best hugs and kisses an auntie like me could ask for.  Her smile is so sweet and her giggle is contagious.  It is so much fun to see her interact with the boys - these 3 are going to give us a run for our money:)

Milo - my favorite little big man!  He loves playing peek-a-boo and tickling.  On this particular day, he was all about tickling Peyton's feet while she was texting her BFF's.  ha!  Milo's smile melts my heart.  He has taken some steps, but still not walking.  He looks at Peyton like she is a freak as she walks across the room, probably thinking to himself "How do you do that?!"  He loves the bathroom - the tub with or without water, the game of how much toilet paper can I roll off the tube, and making sure he is there to "help" whenever anyone needs to use the restroom - some day he'll understand no help is needed in that department.  Ha!  He would stay in there all day if he could.  Too bad I can't give him some cleaner and sponge and tell him to get to it:) 

Farm vs. Circus

Last Thursday, I went on my first preschool field trip!  I took the morning off so I could join Ian and his preschool buddies at Miller Farms. Casey and I took Ian there last year before my maternity leave ended, so we were excited to be able to go back this year. We picked onions, potatoes, carrots, beets, celery, corn and were able to round up several pumpkins and decorative gourds (my favorite!).  We had so much fun and it was nice to get to know the kids/parents/teachers a little better.  We had some time to kill after the hayride, so we stayed to play a bit longer.  I wasn't going to rush this Mommy and Ian time together!  Plus, my favorite thing at the farm is the giant pillow that you can jump on.  Best 10 minute workout ever, friends.  I was SO sore the next day it wasn't even funny.  Okay, it was a little funny.  Pathetic how out of shape I am though.  
                 

                               

                                                     

                          

This past Saturday, we joined the Courtney family for the Piccadilly Circus in Ft. Collins.  It was our first circus so we weren't sure what to expect or how the kids would react.  The "big" circus was also in town, but we thought starting small might be best.  The tickets were affordable and now I know why...once they get you in the door you pay out the a** for everything else.  When am I going to get the hang of this?!  Anyway, $5 for a pony ride and $5 for cotton candy then we were ready for the show to start.  They had some good acts.  I am sure no one will be surprised when I say the motorcycles in a cage were Ian's favorite:)  It was a great place to start and not overwhelming at all, which was nice.  It just made for a very long day.  Ian fell asleep on the ride home, not even 10 minutes after we pulled out of the parking lot, and slept all night long.  Milo was chatting all the way home, but didn't hesitate to pass out once he got a clean diaper, PJ's and his blanket.  I would say a good time was had by all!

                      
                      

                        

                      

Sunday was game day!!  Packers vs. Broncos - we had Maggie, John, Uncle Jon, Aunt Heather and Peyton over to watch the game.  Everyone pitched in and we enjoyed chili, cornbread and brownies/ice cream for dessert.  I didn't want to get too cocky, but I was pretty sure this game was going to be a slam dunk.  Another win for the Pack - GO PACK!