Ahhh ...

A day of mowing ...

... followed by some riding ...

... then carefully selecting and lining up vehicles ...



... should always end with a cold one on the deck!

What a Weekend!

We got so much accomplished this weekend! Saturday morning, Brian dug a trench around the outside of the deck so we could lay landscaping pavers, while Sam and I purchased some plants to plant after we installed the pavers. While Sam was napping, Brian and I installed most of the pavers, and Sam 'helped' when he woke up. He was such a good boy this weekend, and loved being outside helping Dad and Mom.

On Sunday, we put down the preen and then planted the 12 plants we bought. We would still like to plant about 26 more -- but who's counting? -- and we're planning to do that next weekend.

Today, Brian was able to stain some more of the deck. The only thing left to stain are the stairs and the main floor.

Oh yeah, and I painted around the new laundry room doors while Sam was napping.

And Sam 'helped' me mow the lawn. He got a bubble lawn mower last year for his birthday, and we finally opened it this weekend. He had a blast and it kept him occupied so we could do a lot of the yard work.

All in all, it was a very successful weekend. We also celebrated Sam's birthday, watched the Memorial Day parade and attended a Memorial Day program at the cemetary. Oh, and we did have a chance to relax on our deck for awhile, too. :-)

Early Birthday Celebration

We decided to celebrate Sam's second birthday this morning instead of waiting until his actual birthday on Wednesday. We figured we'd be rushed on Wednesday morning, and we are planning to go to Chuck-E-Cheese in West Des Moines that night, so we opened presents this morning. And, we got to have DOUGHNUTS! He was loving every minute! This was the first time he really understood how to open a present and it was fun to watch him. He received: Curious George stickers, a dinosour, talking Mickey Mouse (see him kissing Mickey in one of the pictures), sidewalk chalk, three books (one about TRUCKS, Dr. Seuss's ABC book and Are You My Mother?). But I think his favorite gift was the Matchbox cars! He jumped up and down when he opened them, and wanted to play with them right away. Of course we took them straight outside to the deck and played all day with them!

30 Weeks

Here is another prego photo of me, this time at 30 weeks along. I'm feeling good, and we got a lot done this weekend, which makes me feel even better! Sam was born at 38.5 weeks, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed this little guy will be early, too! :-)

Our Budding Architect

Sam has always enjoyed stacking things. His most recent hobby is stacking his cars -- onto anything. Here is one of his latest and greatest.

Circus, Circus!

Yesterday, my mom and dad took their five grandkids (and me) to the Shriners Circus in Des Moines. This was Sam's first circus and I was so curious to see how he'd react. As soon as the lights dimmed, he started saying "bye" and didn't want to stick around to see what would happen next. As a two-year-old, he was probably a bit young to sit still for the 2+ hours, but he did a pretty good job. Plus, he loved playing with his cousins.

His favorite parts of the circus were: the pigs that slid down the slide; the balloons that the clowns had; and the motorcycle on the high-wire. After each of those acts, he yelled out for "More! More! More!"

Afterwards, we got to go to McDonald's and play at the PlayLand. He thought that was tons of fun. Since he had some older cousins with him, he was able to finally go to the top and slide down. He thought that was pretty cool.

Then we got to stop and see Grandma and Grandpa Yori on the way home. We hadn't seen them since before our Colorado trip. It was fun to play basketball with them and show off his somersaults.

All in all, it was a great day. He was completely exhausted when we got home, and nothing felt better than lying in Daddy's arms.

P.S. I'm still trying to figure out the settings on our new camera (see Colorado trip where we broke our old camera) so these pics are a bit blurry. Unfortunately they are the best ones of the whole day.

Garage Sale Haul

Yesterday was the citywide garage sales in both Story City and Gilbert. By 9 a.m. I was finished shopping and had pulled in almost 20 shirts and 10 pairs of shorts for the kid. I went to the same houses as last year; they have boys a little older than Sam and everything's always in great condition. Plus he now has new stuff for his "big boy" room, which is going to have a car/airplane/bus/anything-with-wheels theme. Oh, and I broke down and bought three toys. I couldn't resist. He loves his new grill (he calls it a "daddy") and his bus.

Paybacks ...

You know the old saying, "Paybacks are a b*%^&"? Well, today Sam got his payback. A couple months ago, he bit his best buddy, Garrett, at daycare. Apparently, today, Sam decided he wanted to play with the toy Garrett had. And Garrett had finally had enough of Sam, and bit his arm! It didn't break the skin, but you can totally tell he'd been chomped on. (The pics are a bit blurry due to the unability of a two-year-old to sit still and hold his arm up for a picture.)