Shout Out!

Today I took the boys up to a restaurant in Lakeville, MN that a few people have recommended to me. The name of it is "Baldy's BBQ" and I'm officially in LOVE with BALDY! Not the food (Yes, that was AMAZING) but the guy himself. We walked in, and Johnny insisted on opening the door for me. I walked ahead to the register, and when I got there, I heard major panic, and then screaming. Johnny had gotten his pinkie stuck in the hinge side of the heavy door, and was trying not to scream, and then it got so bad he did. I RAN over, got it out, and took him outside the restaurant, because he was going bananas. Picture this- I've got Andrew on my hip, my high chair cover in my other hand, purse on my shoulders, and a kid going nuts....and it's only about 5 degrees outside! Johnny's pinkie is TOTALLY dented, and he's got a blister on one side of it. It's messed up. Two guys, around my dad's age, that were sitting there, ran and got ice from the machine and ran out to help me. They were SO nice!

Then Baldy and his co-worker come out. Baldy has a huge bag of ice and his friend told Johnny he could have a free pop, and would that make it feel better? ( It wouldn't, and ANYONE that knows Johnny knows that if you bribe him with junk food, that usually makes it ALL better!) Anyways, Baldy was trying to take Johnny's mind off of it and said, "Nice hair, you are bald...it's just like mine!" Johnny told him "I did it for Luke, who has cancer" and then Baldy started asking about it and he thought it was so cool that 100 kids shaved their heads for Luke! After we sat down, and things calmed down a bit, Baldy came over and handed Johnny a shirt and a $50 gift card for Luke and his family. On it it says, "With Prayers and Blessings- Baldy!" HOW NICE! What a great guy! I'm doing a shout out on my blog to get people there! GREAT place with good food, and a kind hearted owner!

Check it out; http://www.baldysbbqmn.com/

What's New?

Hmmmmm, what's new? Let's see if I can think of anything? Well, Erik resigned from his job today after accepting a new job in Ohio. I went to Ohio last weekend and looked at about 30 houses in person, and 170 on-line in the past few weeks. I found a great house, put an offer in, and they accepted it. (All this while Erik was back in MN with the kids!) We leave for vacation for a week, and then when we come back Erik moves, and I follow shortly afterwards! The end of the "forty days of lent" are sneaking up WAY TOO QUICKLY!

I'm excited about the move, but will miss our town terribly! There is NOTHING I didn't like about MN (Besides the LONG WINTERS). The people here are the nicest you've ever met, my neighbors are the BEST, and the town was perfect! Oh, did I mention my sister lived about a mile from me? That rocked too!

Since we've moved ten times in the past eleven years, six of them being across the county or to another country,you must be wondering...WHY ANOTHER MOVE! Here's the two basic reasons; Erik had a long commute time to work every day, and with his long hours, it made for very little family time during the week. He missed out on most soccer games, concerts, and activities with the kids. Our new house is 7 minutes from work, and will allow us to be together as a family during the week again. He also is going to a much larger, stable company! If he stays where he is at, a move to NYC would be in our future. Been there, done that, and NOT going back!

I think this will be a good move...but have spent many, many nights going over it in my head. I hope things go smoothly and the kids adjust well, as they have in the past. We bought a house with enough room for guests to come and stay comfortably. Hint, hint, wink, wink, nudge, nudge! Wish us LUCK as we embark on this new adventure! I'll keep you posted!

"Locks for Luke"

This past December, Luke a third grade boy at Curtis and Johnny's school, was diagnosed with cancer. His mother is a teacher at the school as well, and it really hit the school community hard. Tonight was a birthday party/fundraiser at school called "Locks for Luke!" Over 70 people paid to have their heads shaved! One of the most inspiring people there was a little third grade girl, who has raised over $1,900.00 in pledges to shave her head! She collected some of the pledges on-line and some going door-to-door. Here is her website if you are interested: http://www.giveforward.org/LocksforLuke/

Curtis and Johnny were all for shaving their heads. Above is one of the before pictures! To read more about Luke on his Caring Bridge website go to: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/lukedavidschoenbauer

Standing in line with 70 other people!
Including FIVE girls!

Johnny getting ready! The whole gym was packed and everybody was looking on!

People were cheering for the boys when they announced their names on the PA system!

Curtis was SO excited!

Halfway there...

The crowd was watching and hooting and hollering!

The final product!

Andrew's not quite sure what to think!

The line of people waiting to get their haircut! How neat to be apart of a community that pulls together when people are in need!

Luke, the Birthday Boy!

Some of the group that got their heads done!
(Johnny is on his right, and Curtis right behind him.)

A girl that donated two long ponytails....and then had her head shaved afterwords!

Curtis and Johnny cheering on the teachers who did it!

Mrs. Kazor the secretary organized this fundraiser, and was the "Main Event!"

She had her head shaved as well!

We topped off the night by sharing an ice cream sundae for Luke's birthday!

What a great night. It was hard to stand there and not get a tear or two in your eye every once in a while while you looked around the gym! Really made you go home with a warm feeling inside!

Please keep Luke and his family in your thoughts and prayers. It's a long road ahead for them, and with four kids, and a foreign exchange student, life just doesn't stop for his parents when cancer strikes.

Gym Time

Our FAVORITE thing to do in the winter (Not to mention one of the ONLY things to do in our town) is to go to the gymnastics club for open gym.

Andy is in his GLORY!

My friend and I were prego at the same time. She had her third girl six weeks before I had my third boy. Future BFF's!

Hard NOT to walk on the balance beam when you have FAT FEET like this!

Lefty LOVES gymnastics!

Don't ya just want to kiss him!

Lefty wanted me to post this! LOVE him!

Winter Walk

We are getting hammered by another snow storm as I write this. So, after I dropped the boys off at school, Andy and I went out for a walk. He LOVES being pulled in the sled and gets excited when he hears a crow or sees a squirrel! When I got home, the schools called and I had to go back and pick up the boys because of the bad weather. Now, I am enjoying the beautiful snow fall, and the quiet afternoon ahead of me....NOT!

Happy Birthday Megan!

This Thursday, February 11th, is Megan's 28th Birthday. We decided to celebrate a little early this weekend, since no one had anything planned. I had some BIG shoes to fill, when it came time for making a cake!

Curtis and Johnny made signs....
(I LOVE that Curtis calls her his "Fairy Godmother!")

And I made the cake.
Ok, I lied, brownies with frosting and SORRY attempt at decorating it!

We had a taco bar, and sang!

Andy was loving it...

And so was Mere!

Mother and Daughter
They don't look alike or anything?

I found this neat candle at a craft fair. It's an empty bottle of wine, that was sawed off and sanded down. Then they poured the candle in. I'm not sure if I could have found a better gift for Meg!

Andy made sure she had a WILD and CRAZY night!
It was a fun time for all of us!

On another note, do you think my boys are excited to go to Disney at the end of the month?
Let the Countdown BEGIN!

Turkey Dinner

The grocery store in our town gives away free turkey's in November for Thanksgiving, if you earn enough stamps. I know it's hard for all of you to believe that I have pretty hefty grocery bill, but I do. I had already earned a few turkey's and did not have anymore room in my fridge. So, I gave Kyle my left over turkey card and he was going to combine it with HIS card, and get an extra turkey to keep in their fridge. In January, it came out that he never turned the card in to the store. So, he called me up and told me that if I worked my "magic" with the managers at the store, and weaseled out a free turkey, he'd cook me a meal! A meal that I don't have to cook= GAME ON!

After all the drama that unfolded back when my kids were sick a few weeks ago, how could the manager possibly say "No" to me? So, I went in to the store, and told them the truth. I told them that I had NO problem asking for the free turkey 2 months later, because I'd do anything to get someone to cook me a meal! They were all laughing and gladly handed a 23 lb turkey over to me for free! Above is Kyle enjoying his dinner! He paid up VERY quickly and it was delicious!

Meredith and Andrew enjoying it too!

Megan was nice enough to decorate her house and made cupcakes to celebrate Curtis' 6th Birthday!

The Turkey!
One word, "YUMMO!"

The boys didn't have any fun or anything?

Even little Andy was loving it!

Just can't get over how BIG he is getting SO FAST!Today was "Wacky Tacky" day at school.
There was one four year old who thought he was pretty dang cool!