We had Hayden's big birthday bash on Saturday! We were lucky two years in a row on weather. Granted it wasn't the 30 degrees it was last year but it was still like 20 with no wind....we'll take it! I think we had about 45 people here and feasted on cake/cupcakes, meat and buns, chili(made by my mom!), soup(made by Mike and Rae Ann!), chips and veggies. It was all so good. Hayden received so many wonderful gifts. He had a blast sledding, as did I! My body is a little sore today however. I pulled two kids up the hill most times I went up....that's a lot of work!! Carson has had a little cold(with a nasty barking cough at night...croup I imagine) so he had to stay inside and nap with Nana holding down the fort. He did indulge a little bit on Callie's cupcake too! Now for the pictures....

I was talking to my mom yesterday telling her I had nothing really to blog about. We've all had colds and for almost 2 weeks and just trying to stay healthy! So that was going to be my exciting post until....

I was driving down 6th street with my mom and dad and saw a SWLP truck in front of our house, so we go over there and there is a water main break and we have a mini geyser coming up next to the house, the yard is flooded and we have a brown lake in the backyard. I go in and down in the basement and we had a waterfall coming down the basement wall, at a rather fast pace. The basement also had a pool in it. It was great! So all of this was discovered at about ten to three, the SWLP guy had been there since 2. I had left at 11:30 and nothing was wrong, i would of noticed, really. At 9:45 last night the water still hadn't stopped. We found out that the water shutoff wasn't where it was suppose to be, the one we have is from at least 1889(when it was mapped for the city could be a least 20 years older than that) and it was broken off the box or something. No other shut off was working. We had 6 SWLP people there at a time. They just couldn't figure it out. Jason had to open this morning and drove past at 4:00(we stayed at my moms, no water and jackhammering all night wasn't really worth staying at home for) and said the water had finally stopped and they only dug in the street, which hopefully means that SWLP will be paying for our damage, which isn't too bad, yet. Hopefully we'll get the water undercontrol outside of the house so it doesn't push on the basement wall. So so far we've been lucky. Let's pray it stays that way. And my house is a huge mud hole! We weren't really caring about the dirt and mud when running through the house but its going to need a really good cleaning or a visit from Servicemaster. There is a lot of water, sand, mud etc in the basement. So that was our exciting day thats happened in the last 2 weeks!

Now Hayden is watching Diego and is happy because my mom and dad had "daddy's kind of cereal" and we had a bowl.

I was labeling the post and put in Winter Fun because this is the epitome of "winter fun"

Last week was a very odd week for us! Monday and Tuesday we had no school due to a potential ice storm that never really materialized. Wednesday was normal and then Thursday I had a staff meeting all morning and then I was off until Monday! So we took advantage of the long weekend and headed down to the cities for some fun and shopping! I got some good deals! Babies R Us and Toys R US both had 50% already Clearanced clothes so Carson got some cute pieces and outfits. I got some super cute Carter sweaters for only $4.00! They also had 20% off already Clearanced merchanise so I bought a bouncer chair because I had a coupon for an additional 20% off, so i ended up paying $14.xx for it! Ikea was having a special on Saturday for 400 thread count sheets for $9.99 so we thought we'd head over there Saturday morning. It was a ZOO! Just crazy! People really wanted cheap sheets. They said one per household, but people had their whole family standing in seperate lines with sheet sets. Oh well, we followed the rules and only bought one! Thats all we bought there too. I wasn't digging Ikea on Saturday. After that we went to Hopkins and meet Lisa, Nick and Jessica to see the play "Goodnight Moon". It was cute, short and perfect for little kids. Hayden really enjoyed it! Especially the tap dancing bears. After the play we all headed over to the Convention Grill for some supper. After that Hayden, Jason and I went to AdventureLand, a indoor playground. We went here before with my Mom and Dad. Hayden had a blast(so did Jason!) sliding, climbing, and playing with giant balls. My Mom and Dad were also in the cities for the weekend so we met up with them for some yummy Custard at Liberty Custard and went swimming on Sunday at their Waterpark hotel. I didn't, I went shopping with my mom! Hayden on Saturday night was swimming in our hotel pool. We decided to have him try swimming without his floatie, he did so well. By the end of the night he was swimming about 10 feet or so by himself above and underwater. He really favors swimming underwater. We were really proud of him! So that was a little highlight of what we did this weekend. Pictures are here:

On Sunday Hayden, my dad and I walked from Loon's Foot Landing to Mn Point on the ice. We wanted to see the Old Lighthouse. My dad and Brandon went there last summer walking from Park Point(a long hike by the way!) We had such beautiful weather and I was itching to take pictures we grabbed the chance. With Hayden, a sled, a few bottles of water and 3 memory cards we were off!
Watch the Slideshow for our journey!




We had lots of fun and Hayden was such a trooper. I really got some great shots too! Today we drove by the landing and it was a soupy mess. We were lucky enough to go on Sunday because nobody is going anytime soon!

What a week! I can't believe Friday is here already.

For Hayden's party i never did really recap very well. The weather was in the 30's and 40's, so nice. I even went without a jacket for a while. We had a total of about 47 people though out the day. Everyone was at least up at the sledding hill if not on it! Its great fun watching adults go down the hill, too bad i couldn't see them on Monday morning trying to get up! We had no injured either, whew. Hayden got to try out skating for the first time. He did pretty good, he fell down a lot but didn't get discouraged, which is what I was most worried about. He really wants to play Hockey, but I told him that he needs to learn to skate first. When we finally came inside Hayden was wet down to his undies, thats wet. He received so many nice gifts! He's having a blast with all of them.

Sunday for the Super Bowl Hayden and I got ditched! But we sat at home and played games and puzzles. We did have the game on in the background. We also went with my Mom and Dad to Barnes for a little drive.

This week has been busy with lots of little things. I've been tired at night and going to bed around 9:30 and 10:30, but it feels so good!

This weekend we have the first of the Weddings for the year. My cousin Katy's wedding is on
Saturday night. Hayden is going to dance with his Nana, and he is wearing his "work shoes" for dancing.

Weather is suppose to be nice again this weekend. I hope everyone enjoys!

Here are a few photos from the birthday party on Saturday. We were beyond lucky and had the nicest weather of the year! We had tons of fun, lots of sledding and Hayden tried out skating. It was a great day!

More pictures can be found in Jan09 album!

I hope everyone had a great Christmas, we did! Hayden is now officially 4! He is making sure we all know how to act and talk like a 4 year old. (You Don't talk to a kid like that, I'm only 4!, When you were 4 you were naughty too!) Christmas a very long few days. Hayden got so much stuff. We have been building, coloring, putting in batteries etc.
He also had his 4 year well child appointment. Doctor Maria loves Hayden! She was there the night he was born and always remembers he is a Christmas Baby. She was impressed by him(aren't we all!!!) and said she thought Preschool wouldn't really be necessary except the social aspect so only 1 or 2 days a week, part time. I agree with her! He is the perfect size of your average 5 year old. Last year he was the perfect size of your average 4 year old, so i guess he is staying on track. She said not to worry about his size because his BMI was fine. Hayden and Dr. Maria carried on a nice conversation about him, his daily activities and so on. It was really cute to listen to him talk to another adult.
This week Hayden got his first pair of Ice Skates, he unfortunately haven't been able to take him yet, its cold! He is very excited and just wants to go. My friend Sarah is up from Arizona so we have been spending time with her and Breckin, so much fun! I bought out Old Navy's Maternity clearance at .97 a piece. Jason has been working a lot lately but has the next couple days off. We are going Ice Fishing on Thursday(I've never been!) and doing something else on Friday as a family.
In Baby news this little guy has been a mover and shaker. I am excited to see him again on Tuesday. Jason and I have some names narrowed down that we both like! Emery is one of them but we think we have one that might stick and not sharing yet! But middle name suggestions are welcomed!
Have a Happy New Year! Our plans are pretty nonexistent! Oh well we don't care! =)

All of sudden Christmas is here.

We got our tree last week. Hayden loves turning off all the lights and just sitting and watching it in the dark. I use to do this at my mom and dad's house growing up. I'd wake up in the middle of the night and just look at the tree. Ours could be like 2 feet higher since we have 10 or 12 foot ceilings in the house. But I will not complain!

We haven't had to much excitement around here yet. Just getting ready for the "Most Wonderful Time of the Year". Hayden does has a big of an obsession with Rudolph the red nosed reindeer. Good thing Santa knows, I have a feeling Hayden will be getting a singing, one for Christmas. Hayden sings the Rudolph song and I need to get it on tape, its really to cute.

Jason's store is getting the new McCafe in the coming days. The store has gone a huge remodel to accommodate the equipment and is looking rough at the moment, but just wait cheap lattes are worth it!

We are having a small birthday party with Grandparents and Great Grandparents this week. We are planning on having a BIG party in Jan. or Feb.. We are going to have a sledding/skating party, since we live just across the street from the park and warming shack. It should be fun. We are just trying to decide if it will be to cold in Jan. But since its been so cold this month maybe it will be a little warmer next.

I haven't been able to take many pictures lately. I am so sad. But hopefully today we can get outside to do that. I miss it!!!

Whew. Thats just thinking about this whirlwind weekend. We had a blast down in the Cities doing so many new and fun things!
Friday:
-Aitkin: Fishhouse Parade. Very redneck and a blast.
-Blaine: Adventure Park. A indoor playground that is big enough for Moms and dads to play in with the kids. Or Nanas or Emilys or Brandons. We will definitely be going back.
-Night Trains in Minneapolis. Hayden loved these model trains and went around and around the track. Even though he couldn't touch he loved this. He just watched and moved on to the next step and watched again.
-Dinner at Porky's and Holy Land in Minneapolis.
-Swimming at the Hotel.
Saturday:
-Denny's Bakery stop!
-Science Museum. Hayden saw the Dinosaurs, as he is fascinated by them lately.
-Lunch at Mike's Butcher shop. Super yummy beef sandwiches. No sauce needed.
-Elves and the Shoemaker at Old Log Theater. Hayden seemed kind of restless but he is still talking about those "silly, sneaky elves". I guess he did like it!
-Christmas Festival in downtown Excelsior. We rode on the trolley, saw Santa, Reindeer and walked around the little festival. Reindeer I don't think are the friendliest animals. Hayden was excited to see Santa.
-Minnatonka General Store stop! Didn't buy much but got Hayden cool chopsticks made for kids.
-Macy's 8th floor display. More Elves! And trees with faces. Also another Santa sighting. Hayden even gave Santa a hug.(After screaming, flinging himself back into the stroller, Santa giving him a button, Santa pulling him on to his lap and then it was all good after that!) Ohh, a little shopping after in Macys.
-Driving through Phalen Park seeing a Christmas light display. The lights jump and act out little scenes and actions, very cute!
-Dinner at a yummy pizza place. It tasted like Iron River's. yum.
Sunday:
-Swimming at the hotel.
-Mass at the Basilica.
-Tour of the Basilica.
-Scandia Bake Shop stop!
-Minneahaha Falls for some pictures.
-Dropped Brandon and Nana off at the Science Museum.
-Papa, Emily, Hayden and I driving to Menomonie to drop Emily off.
-Driving back! =)
-Pick up Nana and Brandon.
-Had dinner at the Weinery.
-Dropped Brandon and Papa off at the Vikings/Bears game.
-Nana, Hayden and I went shopping at Macy's in Rosedale, World Market, and Kohls.
-Picked up the boys.
-Got gas. 3 gas stations later, due to the fact the first 2 were out of gas?!?!?!
-Home at 12:30 am.

It was a long fun weekend. I have a ton of pictures. I'll post the rough copies of them all and the edited ones will show up later! I hope everyone had good thanksgivings and safe travels!
Michael and Laura come home a week from Saturday! Hayden is pretty excited.

Ice Fishing! Hayden, Jason, and Papa Smith went Ice Fishing on Monday. They sadly did not catch anything but still had lots of fun! Pictures to prove it!

Now for the fun! On Saturday Hayden and I went to the movies! I have never taken him to a movie other than the OmniMax. It was fun. On Saturday mornings our movie theater shows a children's movie at only $2.50 a head plus you get a free bag of popcorn. What a great idea. I didn't feel bad if Hayden was wiggling or being a tad loud, even though he wasn't. I highly recommend this to anyone! For only $2.50! I don't even know how much it is to go to a movie but i know its over $7.00 great deal! Hayden loved it too! We'll be going again. Also on Saturday it was beautiful outside so we got out the sand toys and played in the snow. We had fun! We also walked to the park since Hayden wants to go everyday. Its not as much fun as he thought. We also climbed a big snow mountain and Hayden slid down it like a little seal on his belly. Very Cute! We had lots of fun in the snow. I forget that it actually is fun to play outside in the winter!

Shoveling, Hayden's favorite winter past time. Oh just wait Hayden!

Hayden playing ball in the snow.

Hayden made this "zoo" at Angie's House. He was VERY proud of his masterpiece.

This weekend was spent cleaning and packing. But we managed to sneek in a few hours of fun!












Pulling Nonnie up the hill

Well we are home from a great weekend in Brainerd. We stayed Friday night at the "WaterFall Hotel" (Holiday Inn Express-Waterpark). Hayden was lucky enough to get some waterparking in. He knew once we hit Aitkin where he wanted to go, all of the sudden we were driving around Aitkin and he said "I want to go to the Waterfall Hotel." I don't know if he associated Aitkin with Brainerd or what, but we hadn't told him we were going there. Smart Kid! He swam like a little fish and went up and down the water slides a couple dozen times. We stayed in a Kid Suite and Hayden got his own bunk bed. He loved it! He kept telling us he was going to sleep in his own bed. We went to 2 drive through Christmas light displays. One was at the "This Old Farm" where Paul Bunyan Land moved to 5 years ago. It was beautiful. However Hayden fell asleep and didn't see anything! Then we went to the Brainerd Arboretum. It was a mile of lights to drive through ranging from Teddy bears to Santa Golfing to Nativity and bells. It was amazing. It was so good we went on Saturday night too! Hayden got to see this time. I tried to get pictures but they didn't come out so great! If they do this next year we will be going again.
Saturday we moved on to Cragun's. We ice skated, played in the snow, and made a fire in the fireplace. We love Cragun's! We swam Sunday morning and built a snow sculpture, a Christmas Tree with beads and a snowflake topper! We won 1st place, out of 1 team, us! We still would of won! Hayden didn't really participate but when we weren't by the tree he kept asking "Where is our Christmas tree?" We rode on the Horse pulled Trolley too! We had lots of fun!
I am going to post "Our Year in Pictures" either on the side bar or a separate post so be watching for it! Happy New Year's to everyone. I know we were blessed with another great year i hope you were too!

Merry Christmas

We hope everybody has a Very Merry Christmas. We were lucky enough to celebrate 2 of our 8 Christmas parties this weekend. We had great fun at both of them. We travelled to Grandma Sandmon's house in all the snow, on Sunday, it only took us an hour and half to drive the normal 45 mins! Saturday we celebrated with the Routh's. A very busy day chatting with lots of people. Friday was my birthday and celebrated with Sarah and Casey with dinner and games. Jason bought me a leather Coach Bag! I have been wanting one forever. I also got Exchange cake from my Mom and Dad. Mmmmmmmmmmmmm, nothing better than Exchange cake. I have a few pictures of all the fun! Here are a few things we did this weekend.

• Hayrides
• Presents!
• Eating
• Jessica
• Playing in the Snow
• Singing
• Fun, Fun, Fun

Well we made it in to December! And just over a year with the blog!! Hayden and I decorated cookies last night, just the whole slice and bake ones. And i had an idea. I would love everybody's favorite, easiest!, cookie recipes. Or great cookie ideas. Either email me or leave a comment! I would love to get a few!

Boy do we have snow! I love it! So far. I also think i have developed an allergy to my Christmas tree. I have had a Sinus headache only when i am home since we got the silly thing. I LOVE real trees and will stick it out, but boy does it make it hard to enjoy! Hayden was so much fun decorating the tree. He really got in to it at first. He put ornaments all over. He picked out his favorite, a little pillow and pretends to sleep on it. Silly Boy. He has not once bothered the tree since we put it up. One little ball found its way in but thats all!

Thats but all thats going on lately. Christmas shopping, cleaning have taken up a lot of time! I can't find the perfect christmas card picture either. So that means Hayden is going to have to pose lots for mommy! Have a good week!

Wow what a busy weekend. We had a very nice Thanksgiving. Busy, but good! We headed to the Cities on Friday morning. We had lunch at Psycho Suzi's Motorlounge. It was very cool and great food! I would highly recommend this to anyone who wants something out of the ordinary. The pizza was yummy! The Black Bean Chili was AMAZING! We headed to the hotel and hung out a while. We went to Maverick's in Roseville for dinner. Its kind of like Arby's but much better and not a crappy chain. Fresh roast beef and homemade soups! We attempted to go look at Christmas Lights but we only slightly succeeded. Emily and Brittany joined us after that at our Hotel. We went swimming too!

On Saturday we headed to the Science Museum. My mom and dad went else where and the 5 of us kids went and saw an Imax film about Greece and looked at the neat exhibits. We then walked the couple blocks and met my mom and dad at Cossettas for some pizza. Hayden then crashed fast asleep and we drove down to the Old Pioneer Press building where we rode the elevator equipped with its own Elevator Operator. Very cool! I doubt we'll ever be able to do that again. The building was very cool too! I love architecture. We had take out at a yummy BBQ place right by Minnehaha Falls. We then went shopping at World Market and Michaels. I loved World Market and had never been there before what a variety!

Sunday we went to Turtle Bread Company. Then to Wild Rumpus. Hayden had lots of fun with the little front door! He liked the cats and even pet them. He really liked the Chinchillas. The books too! We stopped quickly at Creative Kidstuff and bought none of their overpriced toys! Then we took a quick Trolley ride with Santa. This was the highlight of the trip for Hayden. He LOVED the Lake Harriet Trolley. Smiles the whole time. Whistles, Tunnels, Tracks, and rocks everything he loves! We then just barely made it to the Children's Theater for A Year with Frog and Toad. Hayden sat through the whole thing and loved it. I think he would love to be on the Stage. He loves to sing and dance and loves attention! The show was very cute! I love the Children's Theater! We then went to Macy's and saw the Nutcracker on the 8th floor(not 9th like i previously stated). Hayden was SO good standing and waiting in line he seemed to like it too. He did not like Santa and threw himself on the floor screaming. Oops! Maybe next year. Then we went outside and watched the Parade. Hayden sat on my shoulders. He waved and saw the front of the first float and then he was out, cold. Snoring in my ear. He was very tired! Only my son could sleep through a Marching Band 3 feet away!

We had a great weekend and look forward to a normal week! Christmas tree tomorrow hopefully! Its snowing right now, i hope it keeps up! Have a great week. Thanks for checking on us.

Baby Bob

Well we are all shoveled out! Boy did we get snow. We have almost 6 foot high snow drifts and banks in our yard. Jason shoveled shoveled shoveled yesterday. I only did a little bit! Hayden played outside, but he wasnt as fond of it. Too much i think. It was nice to finally get out of the house! I hate being trapped in here! Hayden was a lot of fun these last few days. We sang his new favorite songs, Itsy-bitsy Spider, Twinkle Twinkle, and Nana's Song(you are my sunshine!). We colored, glued, and cut. Fun but messy! And he kept wanting to cut my picture, so we had a Little lesson in hands to our self. He found my old Cabbage Patch doll and walked around with it all day thursday, it was Hayden's baby. We had to be quiet when baby was sleeping and kiss baby and wrap baby up. Baby went on truck rides with Hayden, on Hayden's sit and spin, and shopping around the house in the grocery cart. Baby had fun. I asked him what Baby's name was and he thought for a while about it and then said Lily, ummm no Lily Angie's baby. So i named off a bunch of names and the one liked best was bob, so we have Baby Bob. He is in a lot better mood lately! Yeah for us! He is starting to get better with letter recognition too. If i have clothes on with writing it comes and points out all the letters he knows. Which mainly are H, O, M, E, P, and A. Not many but we are starting. Last summer we were at Lisa and Nick's property and Lisa's friend Sarah and her daughter Sydney were there. Sydney is almost exactly a year older than Hayden and Jessica. But she knew her letters and i was AMAZED! I thought she was a genius! But i think Hayden will be there too by then! We have just keep on working. Today Hayden and I were playing choo-choo trains and i had the great idea of building a hill for the trains! Its fun, Hayden loves to put them down and they fly around the track fast! Wheeeeeeeee Hayden says! I hope everyone is all plowed out and everything! Have a great weekend.
Hayden and Baby Bob out for a ride

Hayden and Baby Bob

Hayden all dressed up and ready to go

Yuck! More Snow!

This weather is horrible! Well i couldn't get Jason to stay at the HIE, but he ventured out to WalMart and bought a bunch of stuff to keep me happy, hopefully for the next few days. The wind off the lake is wicked. I tried to go out and get something out of the car(to which i found the window open! Thank you Jason!!!) But it literally took the breathe out of me. When Jason went out it wasnt snowing only blowing a little bit. He said Walmart was a zoo! But now i haven't seen much go by for about an hour now. At noon they said it wasnt even bad yet just wait! But i am thinking that about 7ish it will be really bad! We gave Hayden a bath and put clean jammies on him, he asked what's this. I've never had him stay in his jammies all day before! So we are stuck in our house until who knows when! We have movies, food, and our super cute son. What more could we ask for!!!
Here's just a winter picture! Hayden first time Sledding.

Oh Yeah! No Buffy Still!!!!!!! It's been over a week!

Well it was a interesting weekend. It was hard because Hayden has been rather naughty. But we know what that means, he is not feeling well. He hasn't been eating or drinking very well either. Sleep, who needs it! Jason and I now know that having a newborn is not in the near future! We were SOOO sleep deprived. I like sleep too much! He also has been throwing mondo tantums. Me thinking as me, thinks that he doesn't know how to soothe himself anymore because that was what Buffy was for. Daddy doesn't think so. I gave in a couple times (Don't tell Jason!!!!) this weekend begging him to take his buffy, but he won't take it. He has been officially Buffy free since wednesday morning. I feel bad for the guy! Those Daddies are mean sometimes!!!! But i guess we know who the weak one in the family is, me! I told Hayden that we gave the buffies to baby Hudsen and baby Lily (Lilly??) and he is very okay with that! But we spent the weekend pretty laid back. We got to go play in the large amount of snow! That was fun, Hayden had a blast. Please hope and pray that Hayden isn't going to get really sick and gets better at sleeping! Have a great week!

My skater boy

Auntie Em took this picture! I love it!!! We had lots of fun today! We did lots. This is Hayden at the ice skating rink. I didn't get skates on him but he did go on the ice with his boots. I had him all bundled up for the first time in everything! He did good. Brandon went on some Kitty Kats that you can rent, boy did someone get jealous. He told Papa "My Turn" about a thousand times and looked over where they were sitting. Broke our heart! Papa did let him sit on them! I have pictures that i will upload soon! We went swimming too! and to town. We squeezed a little Elmo in too so Mom could take a little rest! It was sad that our fav restaurant in town was closed. Its called the Barn. If you are ever in Brainerd go there! They have all homemade pies, great soup, and Maid Rite sandwiches. Yum yum! Even Jason liked them. Well were are off tomorrow to Christmas with the Sandmon's tomorrow. Wish us a good trip home, its just the two of us! Happy New Year too!