Izzy and Mom Day

I had the most wonderful day with this little lady.  Izzy got to choose every detail of the day, and she loved having a day just with me :)

We started our day at the movies.  We saw Despicable Me 3 at the new Shakopee theater, which has leather recliners.  It was heavenly!

We both love our popcorn, but a giant bucket was juuuuust the right amount for us to share!

We met up with Jeremy after the movie for lunch at Chili's.

And then we headed to Manic Ceramic in Lakeville to paint a project.  She picked a mermaid, and we had fun being silly and thinking of creative ways to paint her creation.

It turned out great!  We left it there to get fired, and will pick it up in about a week.  I just know it's going to turn out great!

We had such a fun day together, and I loved giving Izzy some special attention without her brothers around.  She does love her brothers, but everyone needs a little special time of her own :)  I just love this girl so much.  She is funny, spunky, silly, sweet, and so full of personality.  She bounces--literally bounces--when she is excited and happy.  I love her energy.  It's the kind that literally lights up a room.

We spent a little time on our special day talking about preschool, and she is a little nervous.  She has mentioned it a few other times, as well... even to the point of tears.  She said she's worried about making friends, and about whether she'll have anyone to play with.  I never NEVER never expected that Izzy would be apprehensive about school.  She has no fear for anything, but this is different.  It definitely catches me off guard to see some 4-year-old insecurities coming out.  I wish I could find the perfect way to reassure her, but I know she just needs to experience it ;)  I know she is going to make friends fast... we talked about how she just needs to be herself, and be kind, and invite other friends to play, and just have fun, and friendship just happens!  Stay tuned for her first day :)

BarBQ Days 2017

Nothing marks the middle of summer like Bar-B-Que Days!  It was a fun-filled weekend!!

The Bull Run was almost a family affair :)  Cooper and Izzy ran the fun run, and Jeremy and I ran the 5k.  Cooper and Izzy loved it, especially the part when they received their medals!

Cooper finishes the race!

Izzy finishes the race!

Proud finishers!

The parade was a hot one, but we scored seats in the shade.  Jeremy only had to put blankets out the NIGHT BEFORE!!!!!  We were surrounded by friends, smiles, and candy.

Izzy was pumping some iron, with a 'stress ball' shaped like a dumbbell.

We hit up a few rides and games, too.  Carson loved the big slide!

The big kids loved the Scrambler.

And they, of course, loved the games.  We only let them play one, but one was enough to get a large and annoying blow-up hammer and machine gun.  Oh joy.

Izzy actually chose a shaved ice over an ice cream cone!

Ready for fireworks!!  Jeremy and Sarah Biermaier and Matthew came along to sit in our usual spot on the baseball field with us.

Buddies!

It was an awesome end to an awesome weekend!

This is Us

So, it's true.  We like to live life on the go.  Especially in the summer, it is rare that we spend a whole day just hanging out at home.  But hanging out at home are some of my favorite times :)  Cooper and I had a great talk not too long ago about how bored is not a bad thing.  When we're bored, sometimes we come up with our best ideas... (he totally bought it!!)... so we practiced being bored a little bit this summer.

Carson is multi-tasking here... potty training while Cooper helps him brush.

This little dude has a flair for the dramatic, and he sure hates to hear the word "no."  So I've been snapping a few pictures of his freak outs.  I don't know why, I think sometimes I need to be reminded he's not completely sweet and innocent... And I also need a laugh sometimes.  He can freak out at the drop of a hat, about nothing NOTHING in particular :)

Here's a great example of what I'm talking about:

Front yard demo derby practice with friends.

Movie night snuggles

Exploring some new activities at the library.  It was STEM day, so there was something for everyone!

Carson loved playing with, sorting, naming, finding, and fighting the dinosaurs.

Izzy thought the butterflies were pretty cool.

And Cooper and Izzy worked with a new friend to build a tower to be over 40" tall.  It took them a couple tries to get it sturdy enough, but they were pretty proud!

Cardboard boxes became boats on this particular afternoon.  They even used hockey sticks for oars.  Cooper asked me to show him the 'real' way to row.

Carson loves playing babies.  It makes me smile, and I love telling him what a good daddy he'll be when he grows up.  He burps them, shushes them, gets them milk, and tells them, "It's okay baby."  It's adorable.  Sometimes he and Izzy really get into it, setting up the living room like a daycare, taking turns playing with the babies, and putting them to bed.

These are the days.  These are the moments.  These are the memories I hope I never forget!

Summer Sports Wrap-up

July saw the end of summer sports for the kids.  Cooper had a blast playing t-ball with dear old dad as his coach.

The light blue team somehow played about 3/4 of their games on a dirt field--which was pretty lucky for them!  Cooper is so much better than last year!  He pays attention to the batter, he is a good hitter, he's getting better at throwing (catching needs more practice), and he just really, really likes to play.  It's fun to see him SO into it!

Mrs. Graff was an AWESOME basketball camp coach.  Cooper continues to love basketball, too.  He's getting much better at his dribbling!

Izzy and Cooper finished up swimming lessons, and Izzy is proud to have passed Tiny Tots!  She had to pose with her dolls... it literally took us a few minutes to set this picture up because she wanted to make sure we could see all their faces in the picture :)

And Preschool Sports is also done.  Izzy got a taste of soccer, kickball, and t-ball.  Her favorite was t-ball, which comes as no surprise to me, because she loves to hit the ball!  Her throwing and catching are coming along, and she'll get to play 'real' t-ball next summer.  I loved being her coach (but oh, my... it takes a LOT of patience to coach 3- and 4-year-olds.  Oy!).

Welcome to the World, Cora Belle!!!

Introducing Cora Belle Cole!  She is such a little honey!!

We got to visit her on the evening Missy and Phil brought her home.  We had planned to go to the hospital, but Missy decided to just stay one night... she was anxious to get home and get life started :)

A proud auntie!

Cooper couldn't wait to hold her!  He was so gentle and kept giving her kisses on the head.

Izzy was also excited.  I'm sure Izzy will teach her all sorts of important things she needs to know to be a strong girl in this world!

Carson didn't want to hold "Baby Cora," but he gave her plenty of kisses and used his soft high-pitched voice to say, "She's so cuuuuute!" and "Tickle tickle" to her toes.


The new mommy seemed to be doing great!  It was fun to see Missy have a brand new baby again--I know that little girl is going to be loved beyond measure!

Cooper and Mom Date

Cooper got an entire day ALL to himself.  100% attention from mom.  All.  On.  Him.

He chose bowling and arcade games to start the day.  He's actually a decent little bowler!

He really wanted Pizza Ranch for lunch, so we headed to New Prague and met up with Grandpa Randy.  Cooper loved goofing around with him.

And after lunch, we went to the pool together.  Cooper practiced a little swimming, but spent most of his time going down the slide and jumping off the diving board.  He also ran into many Kindergarten friends.  It was cute to see him so excited to play with some friends!

I can't believe how big Cooper is getting.  I can't believe he's going to be in FIRST grade already.  And I can't believe he's my boy!  I am so proud of the young man he is becoming.  He's smart, thoughtful, funny, sensitive, kind, inquisitive, and loves to be on the go.  I love that he also still snuggles with me sometimes, that he loves hugs, and I soak up the times when he holds my hand.  I can't bear to think of when the last time of that will be!!

Cooper, you're a pretty great little dude.  Thanks for being you, buddy!

Big Kid Day

I love that our summer is one that allows us lots of chances to play, relax, go on adventures, enjoy each other, and do things that we can only do in the summer.  This blog makes it seem like all we do is go, go, go... While it's true that we do a lot of running, I think we have a healthy balance of fun around home AND enjoying all that summer has to offer.

Carson went to daycare this day, and the big kids got to have a Big Kid Day!

Jeremy and I told them it was a surprise day.  They love surprises, and it's fun to hear them guess where we're going.  It always gives us good ideas for the next surprise!

We started off with lunch at Chili's.  The ordered pizza.  Surprise, surprise. 

Then Jeremy and I got to actually talk to one another for a while, as Cooper and Izzy played all around Chutes and Ladders park at Hyland.  It was really very odd being there and not chasing around the kids and watching them like hawks.  We definitely feel like we are starting to transition into the big kid phase of parenting!  (I'll dry my tears later)  They chased each other around, mostly stuck together, and had fun just playing.

After Chutes and Ladders, we thought stopping to cool off was a good idea!  We found a new splash pad in Eden Prairie.  It was small, but not crowded at all.

And naturally, a cold treat on the way home was just what we needed!

Smoothie Selfie!

I love that the big kids talk about their special days with so much joy.  I love doing this stuff with them!