Bells will be ringin....

Yesterday Cale and I went to Merle Hay Mall to ring the bell for the Salvation Army. This is the second year we've done this, and I really enjoy it. I bought some candy canes for him to hand out so he likes that too, as well as eating them!

Colby and I will be at Merle Hay Mall on Christmas Eve ring ring ringing the bell some more!

I'm such a wimp I had to pick a location where I could be inside.

Getting in the groove of things....Again!

Putting the angel on the tree!
Shawn's birthday-lunch at El Rodeo...Yummy!

The boys at the wrestling tournament in Waukee.

Colby at the Capital

Halloween-Colby, Cale, and Riley (a friend from the neighborhood)

It seems like I keep doing these blog updates where I claim we have been busy and I promise to do better. And this is kind of the same thing....sorry. So here goes.....

• The boys went trick or treating with Dad and some other friends from the neighborhood, it was unseasonably warm. I remember having to put my winter coat under my costumes when I was little. It was so nice. Cale was Aang from Avatar (a Nick cartoon) and Colby was a Minnesota Vikings player.
• Amy and I went to see Dolly Parton at the Civic Center, it was an awesome show! She is one talented lady, and soooo funny. She sure looks great for 62! Amy and I had a great time, it was sooo much fun.
• We implemented "date night" with the boys. Each week Shawn and I switch boys and we get some one on time with each of them. This picture is from when Colby and Shawn took a trip to the Iowa Historical Building and the Capital.
• The boys started wrestling in November. Dowling Catholic School has a Mat Club for ages 4 through 8th grade. They practice on Sundays and Tuesdays. The weekend following Thanksgiving they participated in a tournament in Waukee. Colby got 3rd place and Cale got 4th place. They seem to be loving it!
• Shawn's birthday was last weekend, so after the wrestling tournament we went to El Rodeo for lunch with his family. Gotta love a cute guy in a sombrero!
• Last night we put up our Christmas tree. The boys had so much fun getting out all the ornaments. Every year we get a new ornament and its always fun to look back from past years. Both the boys wanted to put the angel on the top so Dad lifted them up for a little team work. As you can see even Maggie wanted to help, she is wearing her Christmas bow.
• I'm now 20 weeks along, 1/2 way there! This week we go to the doctor for our ultrasound. We should be able to find out if we are having a BOY or Girl, although my guess is BOY. Which is perfectly fine, I know how they work. I'm just praying that we have another healthy baby. Our lives are so blessed and we can't wait to add another little miracle to our family. I love being on this end of the camera!

I promise to keep up this blog better, just as life promises to slow down a bit. If only there were more hours in the day.

Library Elf....

I have to share this great new web service I found. Its called Library Elf . It sends you email reminders when your things are due, or if you have items on hold to pick up. They will even text you.
I know sometimes things get crazy and the due dates slip my mind. If like my family, you have multiple cards, overdue fees can add up.
Sign up is quick and easy, and most importantly FREE!

Ouch!

Today I had made doctor appointments for Cale, Colby and I to go for get flu shots. My OB highly recommended that I get one, and the boys are also in the high risk category so we all went to our family doctor this afternoon.

Cale also needed to have his yearly check up so I scheduled it for the same time. He was weighed (35 pounds) and measured (40 1/4 inches), 40% for both on the growth chart. When we got there they were both aware that we were getting shots, unfortunately Cale didn't know what he was in for. He had to have four immunizations, plus the flu shot, and have his blood drawn. So 5 pokes. He was not a happy person, can't say as I blame the guy. Ouch! He looks like a pin cushion. The nurses felt so bad, they gave him candy and stickers, but I don't think he is up for forgiving them yet. The bad news....they could only give him 1/2 of his flu vaccine, because of his age, so he has to have the other 1/2 next month. I think Shawn gets to take him....

Beautiful Fall Day!

The weather this fall has been absolutely incredible. I hate hate hate the cold, so this has been awesome. I'm thinking about hibernating when the winter finally does hit.

Today I think it was around 75 and tomorrow is forecast for 76....woohoo! We took advantage of the nice weather to get some much needed yard work done. As much as I had hoped the leaves would just blow away it was clear that wasn't going to happen. Shawn and I went outside and mowed, raked, bagged and got a good portion of the leaves taken care of. That is until we ran out of bags. Tomorrow I'll head out and pick some more up and try and get the side and back done. The bad news is the neighbors still have almost all of their leaves on the trees, so we will probably have to do it again.

Cale came out and helped me with some of my plants. We were working on cutting them back. I explained to him that since we had a freeze they had died, but if we cut them back they will grow again next spring. We were working away, of course he loves this part, the cutting that is. He says you know what we need.... Aqua Globes. Then the plants would get there water and not die. Okay maybe he watches too much television, either that or he is following after his father, he used to be, still is :), a sucker for those gadgets. Too funny....