Life in Minnesota

Bubble Up Pizza

2011-09-17T11:28:00.000-05:00

About a month or so ago my sister and mom introduced me to Pintrest. It's a neat site and is growing pretty fast so their platform is a bit slow (and annoying at times) but its great to find recipes or other decorating ideas.

Anyway, I've become horribly addicted and have found some great recipes. Here is the original recipe but I've changed it a bit. The main thing, instead of baking in a 9x13 and using two cans of biscuits, I'd use one can and bake in an 8x8 or something similar because the middle didn't get done and was still a bit doughy, yet the outside was completely done.

If you want to make a double batch, I would bake in two 8x8 dishes, rather than one 9x13 pan to ensure the middle cooks and the edges don't burn.

Ingredients (for an 8x8 dish)
1 can refrigerated biscuits
1 jar pizza sauce (15 oz) - I used 2 jars as Joe likes sauce
Mozzarella or pizza blend cheese
1/2 ground beef/italian sausage
diced pepperoni
sliced mushrooms

Directions

Preheat oven to 375
Cook meat until no longer pink.
Slice "toppings" (mushrooms, peppers, onions - whatever you choose)
Cut uncooked biscuits into quarters (or smaller)
Combine biscuits and pizza sauce in bowl. Add meat, half of cheese and rest of toppings.
Transfer to 8x8 greased pan
Top with remaining cheese
Bake at 375 for 25-30 minutes or until biscuits are done

I really, really liked this recipe. I started thinking and you could totally do a taco version which I'm going to try next time.

PS - If you want an invite to pintrest, let me know and I'll send you an invite.

Lemon and Goat Cheese Pasta with Asparagus

2011-09-13T13:28:00.000-05:00

I love pasta, always have and pretty sure I always will. I also have grown to love goat cheese so when I came across this recipe, I had to try it and of course had to muck with it.

Ingredients
1 box pasta
1 bunch thin asparagus
1/4 cup olive oil
1 lemon for grating
2 tsp fresh chopped tarragon
4 oz log of goat cheese
1 package chicken sausage (found where the hotdogs are. we used apple champagne!!)
Salt and pepper to taste
Lemon juice (optional - I didn't need it)

Directions

Chop asparagus into 1 inch pieces
Grate 1 lemon
Cut up chicken sausage and saute in pan until heated through and browned
Cook pasta according to directions. With 3 minutes left to cook, add the aspargus to the pasta.
Cook 3 more minutes
Drain pasta/asparagus and reserve 1 cup pasta water
In a large bowl, combine olive oil, lemon peel, tarragon and crumble in the goat cheese
Stir together and add pasta/asparagus and chicken sausage with some splashes of the pasta water
Stir until goat cheese is melted. Add salt/pepper to taster. If needed, add more water/lemon juice (I didn't add more lemon juice).

As we were eating this, I started thinking what else I could have added - roasted red peppers and mushrooms were the first to come to mind. Joe would have used two packages of the chicken sausage. Experiment - let me know how it turns out.

Blueberry Lemon Scones

2011-09-10T15:08:00.003-05:00

Every morning as I drink my coffee at work I'm wishing for a muffin or something but am too cheap to stop and buy something. I came across this recipe and thought - what the heck, I'll give it a try. Since I've never made scones before, I stuck super close to the recipe except for the rolling out on the counter part. My dough was so incredibly sticky that I just scooped the dough out of the bowl and patted out on the baking sheet. I was a little nervous on how they'd turn out but they were delicious.

Ingredients
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3 tbsp sugar 
1 tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup (1/4 lb) butter, cut into pieces
1 grated zest of a lemon
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 large egg 
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries (if using frozen, don't thaw them)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400F.
In a large bowl, blend flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
Add the butter and lemon zest and blend until the mixture is crumbly
In a small bowl, whisk together the buttermilk and egg.
Add to the flour mixture and stir a few strokes; add the blueberries and stir just until combined.

At this point it says to pat out the dough but I have no idea how they did that since mine was so incredibly sticky. Instead, I greased the largest baking sheet I had and used a spoon to scoop out the dough which I patted into a circle.

I baked about til the tops were golden - I forgot to set a timer so I seriously have no idea how long. Maybe 20 or 30 minutes?

Anyway, they were actually really, really good and I'm looking forward to eating one with my morning coffee.

Homemade Pizza

2011-09-07T12:42:00.003-05:00

Growing up we used to make homemade pizza all the time using the pizza crusts that came in a tube. I loved them and still love pizza but have always thought making any sort of dough was too hard. Kneading? How do you do that properly? How do you know when the dough is done rising?

A friend told me she uses this recipe from the Smitten Kitchen. I actually found a similar recipe from Penzy's with the only switch being beer instead of white wine. I've made quite a few pizzas now and it is so good - this will definitely be a staple during the fall/winter months when I don't mind the oven heating up my house.

The measurements below will give you one large pizza or two mediums depending on how thick/thin you roll it out. You can freeze half the dough and use at another time.

Ingredients for dough
3/4 cup warm water
1/4 cup white wine (I used white cooking wine)
1 packet active dry yeast
1 tsp honey
2 tsp salt
2 tbsp olive oil
3 cups flour

Directions for dough

Whisk wine, water and yeast in a bowl until yeast has dissolved.
Add honey, salt and olive oil and stir.
Add flour and work it with your fingers until it comes together. I've had to add one or two more tablespoons of water to the dough so it isn't dry
Sprinkle some flour on the counter and knead the dough for a minute or two.
Quickly wipe out the bowl you mixed the flour in. Coat the inside with olive oil. Put the dough back in and cover with plastic wrap
Let rise for up to two hours or until it's doubled. To tell if dough is risen: Stick two floured fingers in the dough. If the indents stayed, it's done.
Once the dough has risen, gently deflate dough on a floured counter
Roll it into a ball and sprinkle the top with flour and cover with plastic wrap again.
After 15 minutes, dough is ready to roll out or to refridgerate/freeze.

If you're going to roll out and cook, preheat the oven to the highest temp (I'm a whimp and am afraid to go past 475) and if using a baking stone, make sure that is heating in the oven.

Roll out the dough to your desired size/thickness. Sprinkle down flour/cornmeal before you roll out. Transfer to heated baking stone. Top with sauce and toppings. Bake at 475 (in my case) until crust is done and cheese is melted.

As for toppings, I've used roasted red peppers, artichokes, mushrooms, goat cheese, mozzarella cheese, pizza sauce, italian sausage, etc.

The Great Minnesota Get Together

2011-09-06T13:42:00.004-05:00

Every year I so look forward to the Minnesota State Fair! I love, love, love it! This year we begged Nana, Papa, Amy and Luke to come up for the weekend so we could all go together. You know, six adults to one baby would surely be way easier than two adults to one baby.

Joe and I learned just how truely blessed we are and what a mild-mannered, laid back kiddo we have. We walked through the gates of the fair at 7:30 a.m. and walked back out around 1:30 p.m. Mateo was an absolute angel. We saw the animals, the bizzare, ate and even ran into someone we knew. The weather was great and it wasn't super crowded.

The trash sculpture. Every year an artist creates a

sculpture from the trash found in the Mississippi

A huge thanks to Nana, Papa, Amy and Luke for fighting with each other over who would push Mateo in the stroller.

Actually, Joe had such a good time at the fair that he actually took Mateo back last Saturday by himself. Yes - a boy's outing. Every year Joe's friends and their sons spend a Saturday at the fair and Joe decided he was going to take Taye and go along. Joe and Mateo left at 6:50 a.m. and didn't get home until about 2:30 p.m.

Again, Mateo was an angel and had a great time hanging out with the boys. He even had his first glass of milk thanks to Uncle Travis not paying attention. Travis set his cup down on Mateo's tray and all of a sudden noticed that Mateo had the cup and was drinking from it, as well as milk all down his face/shirt. Evidently the "uncles" are out of practice not realizing just what a 10 month old can get their hands on.

And one more thing. Joe and Travis have a thing for hot food. Their motto - the hotter the better. Well, here's a nice little video of Joe and Travis conquering the Ghost Wing challenge. Evidently ghost peppers are supposed to be one of the hottest peppers in the world.

Weekends

2011-09-05T22:13:00.001-05:00

I need to get better at updating this thing on a regular basis. So, we've had an few exciting weekends so here's a quick recap.

Family Values Camping Trip
No, Taye and I did not go camping as "camping" to me is a Super 8 (no offense). However, we did drive the 30 min drive to hang out with everyone for the day one Saturday.

Every year Joe and his buddies and their families camp the first weekend in August. Taye had a great time hanging out with everyone and taking in the great outdoors. We watched some badmitten, camping golf, and climbed all over Stella - the poor dog put up with Mateo like a champ. Mateo's schedule went out the window and he had two maybe 30 minute naps and was a champ the whole day.

A curly mohawk thanks to the heat/humidity!!!

Como Zoo
I love the zoo but am spoiled by Milwaukee's. I cannot stand the MN Zoo, although it's been a while since I've been there so I should give it a chance but I digress. Anyway, Como Zoo in St Paul is a "free" zoo (they ask for a small donation) and its just a nice cozy place.

We thought Mateo would love it but he was way more interested in all of the people and little kids than the animals...oh well, maybe next year he'll get excited to see the tigers and bears.

Mateo - Ten months

2011-09-05T06:53:00.001-05:00

Mateo and his trusty blue hammer

Somebody caved and may have given him a

bite of cake - hence the cheeseball smile

I feel like I say this every time but wow is Mateo busy!! I think I mentioned in the last post if Mateo can see it, he can grab it (or tries) and he gets closer each time he tries. He's figured out if he stands on his tip toes, it gives him just a smidge more length to grab something. If he goes around to the other side of the coffee table, he can grab dad's computer. If he uses his push toy as a step stool, he can reach mom's soda. Oh yes, the fun is never ending around here.

Mateo is eating pretty much everything except for the "bad before one foods" (milk, honey, eggs, peanuts). Anything and everything else is fair game and he loves to eat. Mateo is learning to walk and does about 5 or 6 steps before he lowers himself to his tush and then finishes his journey by crawling to where he needs to go.

Being more mobile has led to some bumps and Mateo's first black eye. Yep, a black eye at ten months old. Taye put up a good fight but the bathtub was just too strong. I've also been assured that this is only the first of many yet to come. He's also quite the daredevil. He has a rocking/scooter toy that he gets on and rocks and then will actually stand on the seat. Yeah, Nana and Aunite Amy got to witness this on skype the other day. Oh yeah, he also likes to try to crawl on the top of the exersaucer and grab what we wants instead of walking around it. He's all boy.

He also has a total of four teeth now. His bottom two came in right around six months and now his top two have finally appeared. It's so crazy how each babe is different. A friend has a nine month old with nine teeth!!! I'm thrilled with Mateo's four.

I can't believe how fast time is going/has gone. Pray that his 5 or 6 steps of walking doesn't turn into full fledged running to soon.

Mateo - Nine months

2011-07-30T15:32:00.003-05:00

Holy smokes...I had no idea a 9 month old was such a busy age but we're enjoying every.single.second. At his check up, he weighed 20 lbs 6 oz and is 28 inches long. The doc said he is perfect (and might just be the cutest.baby.EVER!! Ok, sorry, done bragging) and can basically eat whatever he wants minus the eggs, milk, peanuts, honey.

Well, so far there isn't anything Mateo hasn't liked. The list of foods he's had (and this is more for me so I can remember):

Spaghetti
Pasta with goat cheese, lemon, asparagus (minus the asparagus for him)
Grilled cheese
Yogurt
Tuna Casserole
Peaches
Green beans
Freeze pops - very nutritional!
Mashed potatoes
Chicken
Applesauce
Avacado
Bananas
Cheerios
Parsnips
Cucumber

The last two are thanks to daycare as I think both are ishy. We're pretty much giving him anything that we eat as long as we can cut it small enough and its not too sharp or hard to chew (hence, no aspargus in the pasta dish).

Mateo will now clap and wave bye-bye when he ask him too and he just started to raise his hands in the air when we ask him how big he is. He says "dadadada," "mamamama," and other baby babbles. I think the cutest thing he does (although I'm pretty sure Joe doesn't agree) is babbles loudly when he's mad. He's for sure telling us what the trouble is, we just can't understand.

He's also a super fast crawler and loves to open the drawers in the kitchen as shown here:

He's standing a bit more by himself for about 30 seconds and we've moved into the stage of if he can see it, he finds a way to get it. Mateo is definitely teaching Joe and I that places we thought were safe is not the case.

4th of July

2011-07-04T15:21:00.007-05:00

For Mateo's first 4th of July, we headed to ET for an action packed weekend of family, food and fun. Amy and I stopped at our friend Kari's to see her new, beautiful house, Joe and I had a double date with Amy and Luke to see Transformers 3 (and we were in the theater that served food - like we sat at a half moon table instead of how the theaters are actually set up), we had a party so the extended fam and friends could meet Mateo in person and we ended the weekend at Steph and Troy's for the parade! It was a blast!

Lordy, Lordy...Look who's 40!!!

2011-06-25T15:21:00.001-05:00

Joe turned 40 and in honor of the big day, his bro and bbf's threw a surprise party. All I had to do was provide the garage for the party and get Joe out of the house...which actually my dad did because Joe wanted to "look at guns...I'm not gonna buy one Brooke, I just wanna look. It's my birthday." So who better than to go with to look than my dad.

Here are some from the celebration:

Mateo - Eight months

2011-06-08T15:02:00.000-05:00

Mateo is getting braver and braver every month. Anything is now fair game and he sees it, he will try to grab it. He is pulling himself up on everything - like the doors, walls, refridgerator, you name it. He's standing briefly by himself and he doesn't even realize he's doing it. For example, he pulled himself up using the fridge and then proceed to grab a picture off of it. He grabbed it with one hand and then both hands were on the picture trying to put it in his mouth and for 3 seconds, he was standing alone and then plopped on his bum.

Mateo started eating some people food which included avacado, Uncle Todd's mashed potatoes, french toast sticks and some mac and cheese. I wish more teeth would come in because then I'd feel better about giving him more "people" food.

He also learned how to clap this month which is super cute to watch. He'll sit on the floor and I'll say "clap" and I'll start, then he'll start (he can do it so his hands actually make noise) and while clapping he shakes his head no for some reason which is flippin' adorable!!

Weekends

2011-06-01T20:39:00.000-05:00

We've been busy and I've been bad at updating the blog. So, instead of doing boring recaps, here's a look at what we've been up to in pictures!!

Belated Easter in Black River Falls, WI with Nana, Papa, Auntie Amy and Uncle Lukie:

First time in the pool

Splashing Auntie Amy

Nana's birthday and Mateo's six month birthday weekend:

Auntie A tag-alonged with Nana and Papa and surprised us!

Memorial Day Weekend in ET, WI:

Playin' blocks with Nana

Learnin' stuff from Papa

Mateo - Seven months

2011-05-08T20:39:00.000-05:00

So I'm a little behind on Mateo's updates but its because he's a full-fledged crawler and frankly, a bit hard to keep up with. About a week after he started crawling like a pro, he started pulling himself up on anything and everything. He can move around the living room quite efficiently using the furniture. It usually goes something like this:

Pulls himself up on the coffee table, side stepping to the couch, moving one hand/foot to the couch and then moving the other hand/foot to the couch. Next he sidesteps down the couch usually trying to reach for the remote or my computer until he reaches the end table. Moves one hand/foot to said table then the other. Usually tries to grab at whatever may be on that table, usually my cell phone. Then moves with one hand/foot to the recliner finally plops on his butt and crawls to the next thing that needs investigating.

Mateo has become Joe's shadow too. As always, when Joe walks in the room or leaves the room Mateo notices. Now, when Joe leaves, Mateo follows which then turns into a game of me grabbing Mateo and bringing him back to the living room only for him to take off once I move away from him.

Besides his new found freedom of mobility he's also started eating meat...you know the turkey sweet potato baby foods. He does really well with them and we discovered over Memorial Day weekend that he doesn't like peas. He sat in the highchair while Papa fed him and would lean his head back and shake his head no. It was flippin' adorable.

What else...we had to lower his crib yet again because it just made me nervous how easily he could pull up himself and we're patiently awaiting for more teeth.

Other than that, seven months has brought Mateo new found freedom which he absolutely LOVES!

Mateo - Six months

2011-05-05T12:59:00.000-05:00

I feel like I say this every time but I cannot believe that he is already 6 months old. So much has happened this month with him and it is just fascinating to watch.

First, he cut his first tooth on his six month birthday. About two weeks later, tooth number two appeared (both on the bottom). Then the sitting all by himself for long amounts of time happened. Next came the rocking on all fours which lead to a scoot/dive approach and he's now crawling/scooting/diving, but only if it's to get mom's cell phone, the laptop cord, remote control or to take things off the coffee table/entertainment center. We can no longer leave him alone because he's a fast mover and we have not yet baby-proofed.

Mateo also started eating solids. He loves his oatmeal and fruit (any kind, it doesn't matter) and the same goes with veggies. The only food he hasn't liked are Green Beans and Rice which I'm guessing may be the texture, because he'll eat plain green beans without a problem.

It's also time to lower his crib. If we sit him in his crib, he'll reach out and pull himself up...we have evidence:

However, so far he hasn't been able to go from all fours to sitting in his crib even though he can do it on a hard surface. I know it's only a matter of time so I'd rather lower now than later.

Finally, he doesn't stop talking. The child babbles non-stop and if he's not babbling, he's shrieking in joy. I can't believe how much he's changed and learned this past month - he's definitely becoming less baby and more little boy.

Mateo - Five months

2011-03-21T17:00:00.007-05:00

As you can see from the above photos, five months translates into not sitting still. Mateo has no problem rolling belly to back and occasionally (usually when he's pissed (sorry Nana)) can role belly to back. He'll tolerate being on his stomach as long as there is a toy to chew on in front of him and he's getting really good at pushing his torso off the floor.

He's doing fairly well with the rice cereal so I'm excited for his six-month check up and are given the go ahead to start other food.

In addition to the eating/rolling, Mateo has figured out how to take his socks off and suck on his toes, just like his Auntie Amy used to do. It's absolutely hilarious to watch. Bath time is still a blast, especially now that he's learning to splash and he can eat his toes. We're trying to practice seating up and he does fairly well. I think he can sit by himself for about 15 seconds before he starts to fall to the side.

Mateo is full of smiles and laughs, especially when his dad is in the room. It's quite sickening to be honest. Joe walks in the room and Mateo stares at him like he walks on water. I can't believe how the time has flown and can't wait to see what six months has in store for us.

Hotel Falbo

2011-03-19T11:00:00.001-05:00

Visitors, visitors and more visitors is how we spent the month of February. Nana and Papa visited twice, Auntie Amy and Uncle Luke came to play and Auntie Kari came too.

While Uncle Luke and AAA were here, Mateo was on his best behavior and learned how to play Super Mario Brothers with Uncle Luke. He was spoiled rotten by Auntie Amy and Uncle Luke had to ask if Mateo ever cries.

It's my turn!

Auntie A, why did you put me in this box?

We shopped til Tater dropped

Next Auntie Kari came to hang out with us and wow!! Mateo LOVES blondes and would not pay attention to Joe or I whenever Kari was around. My son is a flirt and it's kind of ridiculous that is has started this young.

Nana and Papa came to visit again at the end of the month, or really the beginning of March. Daycare was closed from Feb 27 - March 4 so Nana and Papa graciously offered to baby sit from March 2 - 4. Needless to say Joe and I couldn't figure out why Mateo started to cry at 9:30 am on Sunday until we realized "oh right, Nana and Papa left so we have to feed our son." I think I fed Mateo one time from Wed around 10:30 am through Sunday around 8 am. We owe Nana and Papa big time.

Mateo - Four months

2011-03-18T16:00:00.000-05:00

Yeah, yeah I know four months has come and gone...

Mateo weighed in at 15 lbs 4 oz and was 25 inches at his four month appointment. We were given the go ahead to start rice cereal and this was the initial reaction:

Mateo is a rolling machine (back to belly) and is trying really hard to figure out the belly to back. He learned how to screech in joy while Auntie Kari was visiting and that he loves to eat phones, again thanks to Auntie Kari.

I'm sure he learned a ton of other stuff but now it feels like months four and five are running together so stay tuned for the five month post. Yes, that's what I get for procrastinating.

I have toes!!

2011-02-06T08:10:00.000-06:00

Mateo - Three months

2011-01-27T10:39:00.000-06:00

Three months old, how can that be? He is such a little person now and he makes his objections known. Mateo is constantly making noises and finding out that he can make soft noises or super loud ones.

When he objects to something (usually being burped) he doesn't cry anymore, he just makes a "mad" face and gives a shout to let you know he doesn't like something. When it's time for him to go to sleep, he really doesn't cry either but gives more of soft moan that I'm sure if he could talk would translate too "I'm not tired mom, I'm not tired mom, I'm.....not.....tired.....(snore)."

Aside from talking and laughing, he can roll over from back to tummy as long as he's able to start on his side. It's pretty comical to watch him flip on his tummy as he gets this surprised look that says "holy crap what did I just do" and then comes the mad face because he can't flip back to his back. Mateo has also found his hands and can't get enough of sucking on his fists and his thumb. The noise the child makes while sucking cracks us up.

It's been so much fun watching how much Mateo has changed in the last month and I can't wait to see what four months will bring us!

I survived

2011-01-08T08:33:00.001-06:00

The first week back to work is over and done with and I am exhausted! I was surprised how quickly I was able to get the two of us ready and I learned a valuable lesson. Do not put on your work clothes until after the baby has been fed. Yep, one whole outfit wasted due to baby puke but I digress.

I took some advice from Shan and told Joe I was treating myself to coffee after I dropped Mateo off and had it in my head that if I was going to cry to leave Jill's before the "big ugly cry" came on per Shan's advice.

At Jill's all was going well until I doubled back to give Mateo (who was still sleeping in the car seat) a kiss on the head and that's when the tears started. I told Jill and John I needed to leave and they both assured me he would be fine. Why do people assume the crying is because you're worried about your kid? Trust me, it's not. I have no worries about leaving Mateo with Jill, I just don't want to leave him period. That's the problem. I want to raise my son and spend the week with him not the people at work. (To the people I work with who read this blog, no offense :) ).

Anyway, I bolted out to the car and then completely lost it. It was awful. I managed to pull it together by the time I got to work but then a work friend decided to stop by my desk to welcome me back which made me start crying again. However, Jill called at 9:30 to tell me Mateo was having a great day and was full of smiles which made me feel so much better. Oh, and my crying episode evidently made Jill cry as well..oops.

The best part of the day was coming home and Joe bringing Mateo to the back door and the babe doing a double take when he saw me and then giving me the HUGEST smile ever. Wednesday when I dropped him off he was awake and when I handed him to Jill, he gave her a pretty big smile which made me feel great.

So, this is my new normal. Not the normal that I want but hopefully after this experience, I won't cry as much when he goes to kindergarten, right?

2010 - In Pictures

2011-01-01T16:58:00.000-06:00

January

February

March

Evidently I was too sick in March and there are no pictures :)

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Nicknames

2010-12-30T08:23:00.000-06:00

This is the growing list of nicknames we have for Mateo. I realize it's not a very exciting post but since we have yet to buy a baby book for him, I need to write them down somewhere so I can embarrass him when he's older.

Tay
Tay Tay
Tater Tot
Tater
Baby Bo or Little Bo
Taylicious
Bolicious
Baby Matateo (thanks to my mom's boss' 3 yr old)
Houdini (when he manages to get out of his swaddle
Mr Magoo or just Magoo
Little Man
Chunky Monkey/Chunky Cheeks
Sir Stinksalot or Sir Poopsalot (only when we're changing him)

I don't think I'm forgetting any...

Back to work

2010-12-27T13:43:00.000-06:00

This time next Monday, instead of playing with Mateo, I'll be back at work. I'm having a super hard time coming to the realization that I have to go back to work. I have absolutely no desire to go back to the office. Ever. For real.

However, student loans and our mortgage require that I go back to work. For those of you with kids, how did you handle going back? Any tips?

Merry Christmas Grandpa, it's nice to meet you

2010-12-25T10:21:00.000-06:00

Yes, this is the first time Mateo has met Joe's dad, Grandpa Ray because Grandpa Ray was worried about giving Mateo "germs." Grandpa Ray is very "old-school" and if you know Ray, this is completely in character to say something like the above and it makes me chuckle.

Well, last night Mateo got to meet him and I've never seen Ray around babies so I wasn't sure how he (or Mateo) would react. Well, Ray was smitten by his grandson and we had a great time. Here are some other pictures from the rest of the evening (we were at Uncle Tony's and Aunt Brinda's). We're off to Great-Grandma Jo's this afternoon. Merry Christmas!!

Joe, Mateo and Grandpa Ray

Grandpa Ray, Joe, Uncle Tony, Cousin Anthony

Who needs toys...

2010-12-22T06:47:00.000-06:00

When you have a mom that will push you around the living room in a laundry basket filled with clean sheets?

Mateo - Two months

2010-12-12T11:00:00.000-06:00

Can you believe it? Joe and I have managed to keep our baby alive for two whole months! We must be doing something right...

So, what is Mateo up too? He loves (loves!) to sit in the recliner after he eats and "talk" to me or Joe and gives us HUGE smiles. He's getting so much stronger and loves to stretch his legs and "stand" while he's being held. He doing a fantastic job at holding his head up and is just overall super cute.

On Thursday Mateo had his two month appointment and he weighs a whopping 10lbs 10oz! He also had to get some shots and he did pretty well. He of course screamed and cried (tears even!) but was fine the minute I was able to pick him up. However, he did let us know that afternoon that he really did not like getting shots and was a little out of sorts the rest of the day.

The Dr. (bless her heart) gave us coupons and 6 cans of Nutramigen - I was shocked but yet so happy. She also gave us a can of Soy formula and said that we can start mixing that in with the Nutramigen to see how he reacts. We started that today and so far so good. I figure its best to try it now since I'm still home with him and will be able to tell if he's tolerating the soy or if we need to stick with the Nutramigen.

Here are some more random pictures of the little man just because I think he's so darn cute.

So sad - daddy took pictures instead of making him happy

He thinks it hilarious when I put him in his snowsuit

After the plow

2010-12-12T10:54:00.000-06:00

The plows came through around 9 AM this morning. Joe had just finished snowblowing for the third time. The sidewalk got covered up again and it took probably an hour for us to dig out the end of our driveway and we didn't even dig out the whole driveway. Just enough that we could get our cars out.

At some points the snow was up to my hip at the end of the driveway

The sidewalk had been cleared and thanks to the plows, we can't find it. :)

Also, no Vikings game today because the roof of the metrodome collapsed. They don't know when or where they'll play so on a happy note, I now get to see the Packers play today!! GO PACK GO!!

Holy snow!

2010-12-11T20:56:00.000-06:00

This is by far one of the craziest storms I've had the pleasure of dealing with in Minnesota. Usually when the weather people start predicting a foot of snow in the metro it ends up being only a couple of inches. Well, they were dead on this time.

Our street hasn't been plowed and those crazy enough to drive down our street are driving on the wrong side of the road because that's where the tracks are. Joe has snow-blowed twice already and will probably have to do it once again in the morning.

I've been tasked with shoveling the sidewalk up to the front door and the steps. The first time was super easy and I was done in no time. The second time I had to go out, well, see for yourself.

I am absolutely dreading when the plows come by because I have no idea how we'll get out of our driveway.

Surprise, surprise!

2010-11-21T15:29:00.000-06:00

Auntie Amy came to MN on Thursday and was planning on leaving Saturday morning. Friday night Amy mentioned that Mateo and I should go back to WI with her since we were planning on going to WI on Wed for Thanksgiving.

I said no because that would require lots of packing on short notice and Mateo was already in his room for the night. Well, Mateo had other ideas and Saturday morning he woke up at 4 am and wouldn't go back to sleep. I finally realized about ten to 5 that he was awake for the day and fed him and then he passed out in his swing while I was wide awake. So I started to pack and decided we would go home with Auntie Amy.

Now, Nana Sal and Papa Scott didn't know that we were coming home and going to be staying with them for a whole week, not just a couple days. Here are their reactions:

Mateo - One month

2010-11-21T15:03:00.001-06:00

This post should have gone up 2 weeks ago..oops!

It's hard to believe that Mateo is already one month old. It feels like he's been here forever and yet not. We've had our share of ups and downs this past month but now most of the kinks are worked out.

This week has brought big smiles from Mateo to mom, dad, nana, papa, Auntie Amy and everyone else. He's waving his arms, learning he can suck on his fists and talking up a storm. Mateo has a good set of lungs and lets us know when he doesn't like something. The evenings are usually a little fussy but once he's in his bath tub, he's a happy little camper.

Yeah - he was sick of the all the picture taking

(trust me, there were more than just these 3)

If it's not one thing...

2010-11-05T14:58:00.000-05:00

Ok - I'm being super whiny right now but I really don't care. Mateo's bum is still super awful despite using calmoseptine and changing brands. Today I noticed white stuff in his mouth and I briefly remembered thrush from one of the baby books I had read.

So I look it up and low and behold thrush can also cause a super bad diaper rash. Joe tries to hold Mateo so I can try to "wipe" the white stuff in his mouth to see if it comes off easily (a sign it is NOT thrush). Well Mateo was having none of it and to the doctor we went.

Yes, my baby now has thrush and we are to start the drops tomorrow. The doc swabbed his mouth with some stuff that lasts 24 hrs hence why we start tomorrow. He also gave us some other stuff to help with the diaper rash. On the plus side, he saw that we were using Nutragimen (this is a different doc since our ped is out of town) and gave us two more cans since "it's pretty expensive in the store."

This marks his 4 week birthday and we've been to the doctor for the past four weeks. Hopefully we can start not visiting the doctor every week from now on...please, please, please.

Dare I say?

2010-10-31T16:42:00.000-05:00

Could it be we have our baby back? He's so much calmer than earlier in the week which makes a calmer mama and daddy too. He's been eating, sleeping and pooping like a champ this weekend (wow - is this what my conversations have become?). No more shrieking after every feeding, just being fussy when he has to be changed and burped which is normal for him.

Thank you Nutramigen for giving us our baby back!!!

Happy Halloween

2010-10-31T11:00:00.000-05:00

No trick or treating this year for Mateo but Daddy and Papa made sure he had a pumpkin...

Here are a couple of his Halloween outfits he's been sporting over the weekend as well...

HAPPY HALLOWEEN ALL!!

Keep your fingers crossed...

2010-10-29T18:59:00.000-05:00

I'm trying to work on a post that recaps Mateo's birth, however, this has been a very trying week to say the least. Mateo was circumcised last Thursday and a little cranky last weekend which I chalked up to the circumcision and Auntie A and Uncle Luke were here so it wasn't terrible.

However, Sunday he was definitely cranky and by Wed, he had gone off the deep end. I called the peds office Wed evening and Gail, the most wonderful nurse ever spent 30 minutes on the phone with me. I called back Thursday morning to make an appt for Friday because holy crap Thursday morning was awful. I again spoke with Gail and upon hearing the screaming got us in Thursday afternoon instead of Friday.

We saw a different ped since ours was on vacation and he gave us a can of Nutragimen to try and a prescription for a reflux med. The doc said something is obviously bothering him so we are to try the Nutragimen until Monday. If that doesn't work, then we are to go back to the other formula we were using and fill the prescription for the reflux meds and see if that works. If that doesn't work, then its back to the doc.

So far it's been 24 hrs on the Nutragimen and I think my baby is starting to reappear. He actually napped today for 2 hrs and is now napping again. Hopefully he'll wake up happy/content instead of screaming. Keep your fingers crossed that this helps so we don't have to try the reflux meds. We should know by tomorrow afternoon as I've heard that it takes 48 hrs for you to see a change...we're praying this works.

Thoughts on Motherhood

2010-10-23T18:52:00.001-05:00

I wasn't expecting it to be this hard but I'm told it will get easier. Thankfully Mateo is a pretty easy-going baby but the whole getting up every 2 or 3 hrs at night is catching up with me.

If we have another baby in the future and that baby is a boy, Joe will be taking the day off too when it comes to getting that boy circumcised. Thursday was an incredibly long day filled with meltdowns by both Mateo and mama.

I honestly have no idea how single moms do it. I cannot imagine how single moms go through pregnancy, labor and bringing baby home by themselves. Yes, I know they have (hopefully) family/friends to help but it's not the same as being able to hand baby to your partner and saying "your turn."

Even though motherhood is harder than I thought, Mateo is so totally worth it. I love how he sneezes, his big yawns and how he shakes his head when its time to eat. I love watching Joe taking care of his son - there's already a fabulous bond between them and I can't wait to see how that grows. Yes, motherhood is hard but it's so totally worth it when you get to look at this:

Introducing...

2010-10-08T10:07:00.001-05:00

Mateo James Falbo!

He was born at 3:31 AM. He is 6 pounds 9 ounces and 20 inches long. Everyone is doing well and more details to come but for now, we're going to take a nap.

40 Weeks

2010-10-04T16:13:00.000-05:00

Well, the due date was Saturday (10/2) and Baby Bo is content to keep hanging out where he's been for the past 40 weeks. I ate a lot of spicy foods this weekend, cleaned and helped Joe out at work Sunday morning. We walked around Menards, Ikea, Costco, etc. all weekend and nada. Oh well...we're finding out he's stubborn like his mother.

As of last Thursday's appt with the midwife, here's the plan:

10/8 - Ultrasound and check up to make sure everything is a-ok.
10/11 or 10/12 - Another check up to see what's happening
10/14 or 10/15 - Start inducing...

Keep your fingers crossed that he decides to make an appearance before 10/8 or at least before 10/14!!

Wordless Wednesday: Baby Shower #2

2010-09-29T05:00:00.002-05:00

A HUGE thank you to Anna, Sandy and Nikki. You ladies outdid yourselves and I had a fabulous time. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Sandy's fruit creation

Me with the "other" Joe

Nikki made this!! I'm still trying to talk

her into opening her own cake shop

Sandy, Nikki, Me, Anna

Love you ladies!!! Thank you so much for the fabulous day!

Today I should be...

2010-09-18T09:53:00.002-05:00

Getting my hair done
Helping Kari get into her dress
Calming Kari down
Wearing a fabulous strapless brown dress
Getting ready for pictures
Calming Kari down
Trying not cry
Calming Kari down
Getting ready to walk down the aisle
Trying not to cry as Kari and her dad walk down the aisle
Giving a toast to Kari and Bryan at their reception

Instead...

I'm sitting here hating the fact that I live five hours away, am 2 weeks from my due date and had to miss out on my best friend's wedding day. If only I was still living in WI so I could be there for their special day.

Wordless Wednesday: The MN State Fair

2010-09-01T07:18:00.000-05:00

The perfect camper for Luke and Amy*

Another perfect camper for Luke and Amy*

Chicken fried bacon

Chocolate dipped fried potatoes - skip it

Deep fried cheeseburger - Amazing!!

Honey ice cream with sunflower seeds - yummy!

Crop art

A beaver made out of trash from the Mississippi

Deep fried pig's ears - not such a fan

Deep fried pickles - my fav...I forgot to take a picture

until we were almost done

Deep fried cheese on a stick

Deep fried bologna on a stick - it was pretty good

*If you've seen Luke and Amy's house, you'll get it. If not, you'll have to ask Amy to explain...I don't want to get into trouble...

Long overdue

2010-08-22T08:40:00.002-05:00

After quite a few busy weeks at work, weekends traveling and being exhausted I realized that it's been far too long between posts. This will be a long one (you've been warned) to update on the craziness that was July and almost August (I can't believe summer is almost over).

Baby shower #1/New house BBQ/Turning 30 - July 10-July 12
Baby shower #1 was thrown in ET by Auntie Amy and Nana Sal and they did a truly fantastic job. It was great to see everyone and we received lots of fabulous gifts. (THANK YOU...and the thank you cards are finally in the mail...sorry!).

After the shower we cleaned up and headed over to Auntie Amy's and Uncle Luke's new house (they closed in May but this was the first time Joe and I saw it) for a BBQ with Luke's parents, siblings (and their fams) and mom and dad. Their house is adorable and there was more food (thanks Dad and Joe for taking over cooking for both parties) and it was a ton of fun!

We headed back to MN on Sunday and Monday marked my 30th birthday. It was pretty uneventful and really wasn't that big a deal. The highlight was Anna stopping over Monday night with a fabulous DQ ice cream cake!!

ET Wedding - July 23-25
Joe and I headed down to ET again to celebrate Chad and Cathi's wedding. It was a hot and humid day with the ceremony being outside. Thankfully, it managed to cool off enough for the ceremony and there was a beautiful breeze. Cathi looked lovely and it was wonderful to watch them get married.

Chad's family from MN was down as well and it was amazing to see all of his aunts, uncles, cousins again with their own families and they were an absolute hoot on the dance floor!!

Anniversary - August 11
Wednesday marked our 3 year anniversary and if it had not been for Kari's email to me Tuesday night, I (and Joe) would have completely forgotten. I blame the baby for my memory loss but I'm not sure what Joe's excuse was. Anyway, after work on Wednesday, we went out and had a nice little dinner to celebrate the fact we didn't forget and then ended up getting the exact same anniversary card from Amy/Luke and Mom and Dad...what are the chances of that?

Nana Sal/Papa Scott visit - August 13-15
Last weekend mom and dad came up so Joe and dad could figure out our heating situation. For the past three years, we've had great heat in the living room/bathroom but all three bedrooms freeze...like we finally broke down last year and bought a bad-ass space heater (2 to be exact) that we would turn on to heat up our bedroom. Well, with the baby's pending arrival, Joe and Dad figured they should probably try to fix the issue.

While the boys did that mom and I took off for the Just Between Friends sale in Eden Prairie. I realized about two weeks ago that I'm going to have a baby born in the fall and he has no pants, just short sleeve onesies so I thought I better do something about that.

Mom and I found a lot of great clothes, although the woman channeled Grandma Lu and wouldn't let me pay for anything and if I found an outfit, I'd hold it up for her to see and she would grab it and say "I don't know" and then put it in her bag. I finally stopped handing her clothes so I could buy my child something. I also kept telling her, she was going to have to deal with Joe when he saw all the clothes that were purchased...

By the time we got home, the boys had fixed the heating issue and all is good. We also hooked up the baby monitor that Nana Sal and Papa Scott bought which has a video monitor and it is just cool! THANK YOU again!!

So, in between our busy weekends Joe and I were still doing tons of laundry for Baby Bo, organizing his room, trying to find childcare for him, etc. This weekend will consist of packing up a bag for the hospital (just in case) because this Saturday (the 21st) will mark 6 weeks until the due date. On that note, I've also entered the world of every other week dr appts and Baby Bo decided to slow down in the growth dept and I'm now measuring just a smidge big instead of "quite a bit."

Here are some belly pictures (I look like I've stuffed a basketball under my shirt!) and what Baby Bo's room looks like...

28 weeks

31ish or 32 weeks

Lambeau Field

2010-07-07T09:48:00.001-05:00

When I posted last week, I promised more about our trip to Lambeau so here it finally is. You may wonder (for those of you who know Joe) why on earth he'd want to see Lambeau when he's a big Vikings fan. The truth is that Joe is an even BIGGER football fan. He would never, ever turn down a chance to see anything that is related to football.

We had a wedding to attend in Green Bay on June 26 and the 25 is Joe's birthday so I thought we could make a little trip of it and stay both Friday and Saturday in Green Bay. Plus, I'm not a fan of driving four hours the morning of anyone's wedding.

So we left the cities Friday morning, made it to Lambeau Field around 11:15ish, just in time for the 11:30 tour. There were probably about 20 or so people waiting for that tour to begin and they start it off by asking where everyone is from. At that point I made the decision to claim WI once again as my home while Joe proudly claimed MN and immediately started getting razzed by the group (and me too).

The first part of the tour spent time recounting the history of the Packers, Curly Lambeau and Vince Lombardi. I know the Packers are a fabulous team but until Ron (the tour guide) started bringing up all the history, does one realize just how fabulous the Packers really are.

The next stop was up to the 6th floor to sit in the suites. The one we sat in only went for $59,000 per season as opposed to the one across the field that went for $104,600 per season. Also, there is a ridiculously long waiting list for season tickets - like 84,000 people are on that list and I think the wait is something like 1,200 years. It was crazy when he was explaining it.

Finally, it was down to the lower level to the players tunnel and the entrance to the field. We got to walk onto the field through the tunnel the players come out of and to add a little "something" they turned on a recording of the crowd from a Packers game and the announcers announcing the "Green Bay Packers." Joe was super cute and turned to me as he held up his arm and said "Look! I have goosebumps!"

So, out on the field (or rather the green rubber track that surrounds the field) we were. It was super cool and the acoustics were amazing. Lambeau is built in a bowl shape so the actual field is below ground level (or something like that) so the echo is crazy. As I said earlier, there were probably 20 of us on the tour and Ron had us stand together on the field (or rather the green rubber track) and yell Go Pack Go. The echo from the 20 of us was unbelievable and I can only imagine what it must sound like on a game day. Ron also pointed out the visiting players tunnel and it's only about 1/4 (if that) of the width of the Packer's tunnel. Poor, poor Brett.

After the tour we went to the Packer Pro shop in the stadium which was huge and then ate at Curly's Pub and then headed downstairs to the Packer Hall of Fame. Joe thought that was going to be some "rinky dink" exhibit but we wandered around for probably close to an hour and I swear he took pictures of everything and he was really impressed with it.

Being at Lambeau made me super excited for football season and all of the cute little Packer stuff I can dress Baby Bo in!! My first lesson will be to teach him how to say "Go Pack Go" followed by "the Pack rules and the Vikings drool."

View from the $59,000/season suite

View on the field

The visiting teams entrance to the field

(I think the players have to come out single file)

The Packer's entrance to the field

26 weeks

2010-06-29T07:13:00.002-05:00

I can't believe that I am already at 26 weeks - the time has flown by! I had my glucose test yesterday (which I was really nervous about passing for some reason) but I did. I got to drink the "orange" flavored drink which for the first two sips tasted like an orange freeze pop. I thought this isn't so bad, I can drink this. Well, a few more sips later and I was dreading that I still had half of the thing to drink. By the time I got to the end, I wanted to puke. UGH! So glad that I passed and don't have to go through the 3 hour test.

I had the appt with the midwife while waiting the hour and apparently I am measuring "big." I measured just a smidge big last appt but that midwife (the regular one that I had been seeing) said it wasn't that much bigger and no worries. This midwife said I was measuring about 5 cm bigger (I think cm is right...) and that it isn't a big deal BUT if I still measure big next time, they will probably want to do another ultrasound. I made my next appt with the midwife that I normally see because I can't help but wonder if being seen by different people could be the reason as they may measure differently...I don't know. When I had the ultrasound in May, I was measuring right on so who knows. Just keep your fingers crossed that I measure "normal" (and I use that term loosely) for the next appt and I don't have to have another ultrasound (that would be 5!).

Anyway, here are some pictures of me from the weekend. It was Joe's birthday last Friday and we had a wedding in Green Bay on Saturday so we went up a day early and toured Lambeau Field and the Packer Hall of Fame...more on that in another post.

Gooey Baby

2010-06-17T07:48:00.001-05:00

We had our second "baby" class last night and my fabulous husband posed this question/statement to the group (about 9 other couples and the instructor) after we finished watching the movie that shows babies being born and placed on the mom right after birth.

His question/statement was something to the effect of: "How do the rest of you women feel about having the baby placed on you before it's wiped off. I don't want to touch my baby while it's covered in THAT."

This of course got a loud, roaring laugh from the rest of the guys in the class and the instructor. I think the women were actually shocked that a "partner" asked such a question and I rolled my eyes silently thinking "you have no idea, he could have asked so much worse!"

The instructor said that is a normal question she hears in classes and that we can state in our birth plan we (or just Joe) don't want to touch a "gooey baby" as she put it. My question to all you mother's, did you touch your "gooey baby" or did you tell the drs. to clean baby off before giving him/her to you? I'm on the fence. Yes, touching a gooey baby kinda creeps me out but I think at that moment, I really won't care (and who knows, maybe Joe won't either).

So mom's, did you have the "gooey baby" placed on you or did you request the baby be cleaned? If baby was "gooey" how did your partner react? Would love to hear your experiences!!

24 weeks and sick

2010-06-13T15:57:00.000-05:00

As of yesterday, we are at 24 weeks. Last weekend I got a little sore throat which turned into probably one of the worst colds that I've ever gotten which turned into pink eye. Thank goodness for urgent care on Saturday mornings and for whatever the drops it was they gave me. I'm feeling a little better but hoping that this goes away soon. It's already been a week of the cough, congestion, etc and I just want to feel better again.

Plus, we've started our baby classes on Wed nights and Joe ripped out the carpeting in the baby's room so we have lots going on and I just want to feel normal again. Or whatever "normal" at 24 weeks pregnant is.

Target Field

2010-06-13T15:47:00.000-05:00

Almost a month ago, Amy and Luke came to town so we could take in a Twins/Brewer game at Target Field. They came up last year around the same time and the Twins smoked the Brewers so we were hoping for a more exciting game this year.

The game was a Friday night game so the plan was to head downtown after Joe got home from work. We headed downtown and parked by the Metrodome (the old Twins' home) and took the light rail to Target Field. We walked to Pizza Luce for an early dinner and then headed back to Target Field to take some pictures before the gates opened.

Once the gates opened we spent a good hour and a half walking around the whole stadium, checking out every store and stopping for pictures along the way.

We finally found the section our seats were in and it was a vertical climb to the very top. Had I not been pregnant, the vertical climb wouldn't have been that bad but holy crap it must have taken 5 minutes for me to catch my breath once we got to the top. And at the top we were. Amy refused to turn around but yet the two little boys next to her were thrilled with how high up they were and wouldn't stop turning around to see how high up we were.

Here is the view from our seats:

Alas, this game was a lot like last years game. The Brew Crew was in awe of Target Field and forgot they actually had to play a baseball game. I told Amy and Luke that "the third times the charm" and hopefully when they come to the game next year, the brewers will actually play.

Almost halfway

2010-05-13T14:00:00.000-05:00

***SPOILER ALERT - If you don't want to know the sex of the baby skip this post :)***
On Saturday, I'll be officially half way through the pregnancy. I can't believe how fast it is going and thankfully, it's pretty uneventful.

Last Monday (5/3) we had a level 2 ultrasound and it was the first appointment Joe went too. Technically, this the fourth ultrasound we've had so I didn't expect to be too amazed at what we saw but between looking at the screen and Joe, it was pretty cool.

Some things that we learned during the ultrasound:

1. Baby Bo (short for Baby Falbo - that is how we refer to the baby thanks to Uncle Luke) really doesn't like to have his/her heartbeat listened too. The past two dr appts, the drs will get Baby Bo's heartbeat for literally a second, and then have to search for 2 or 3 minutes because Baby Bo hides. Well, same thing happned during the ultrasound except we could see Baby Bo so hiding wasn't the issue, but turning was. The poor tech tried about 6 times before she got Baby Bo to stay still long enough to get the heartbeat.

2. Baby Bo doesn't really like to listen. The ultrasound tech needed to turn Baby Bo's face toward her so she could get a good look at the lip/palate so she'd press on Baby Bo and sure enough, Baby Bo would turn the opposite way the tech needed. We probably did that about 3 times before Baby Bo cooperated.

3. This definitely is Joe's child purely based on Baby Bo's inability to follow directions or this is definitely my child based on Baby Bo's stubborness...you decide.

So the big question I'm sure most of you are dying to know...is Baby Bo a boy or a girl? If you don't want to know stop reading right now. If you would like to know, continue on...

Baby Bo is a perfect baby boy and I'm not saying perfect, that's what the Dr said after the ultrasound. He has 10 fingers/toes, all the organs are just fine and all his measurements are right on. When the docs came in to tell us what they saw, she told us "you have a pretty perfect baby in there." Now they may tell this to everyone but we felt pretty special.

I'm sure you're wondering my reaction to the "it's a boy" comment. Well, I was completely shocked when the tech told us. Joe and I looked at one another in shock and Joe even asked the tech "are you sure?" The tech laughed and showed us that yes, this is for sure a boy. As I tried to process the fact that I was not having a girl, I glanced at Joe, who I now think had been lying to me about wanting a girl, because his smile just kept getting bigger and bigger.

So, for the first time in my life, I will be out numbered in my own house. I'm not quite sure how to handle that so if anyone has any advice, please let me know. Frankly, I think this baby boy is my Dad's reward for dealing with a house full of women for how many years.

For now, that is all the news on the baby front...here are some pictures of me at 19 weeks 3 days.

What can you buy for $80???

2010-05-13T13:09:00.000-05:00

All of this thanks to the Just Between Friends Sale in Woodbury.

The pre-sale (for first time parents) was last night at 7 pm. I told Joe what we were looking for and to keep his eyes open. We ended up with a bouncy seat for $15 (normally $60 according to Target.com) and the Arm's Reach Mini Co-Sleeper for $25 (plus some other stuff - books, clothes, hats). I knew they were around $100 online and when I saw someone looking at it, I was crushed. But then the lady walked away. WALKED AWAY! I jumped and ran to it (ok more like took one step because I may have been hovering) and looked at the label, checked it out, saw the price and looked frantically for Joe.

Thankfully he was walking towards me and this and the bouncy seat went to the holding area while we continued our hunt for more stuff. On the way home we took a page from Amy and Luke and high-fived over our loot. Just for fun, I decided to look up what the co-sleeper would normally cost and just about fainted. It sells for $154.00 on their site - we got it for $25!! I am so thrilled it is not even funny. Tomorrow is the start of Woodbury's city-wide garage sale and Joe and I both took the day off to start our hunting at 8 AM. I can't wait to see what we'll find...

Weekend Updates

2010-05-11T18:45:00.000-05:00

The past two weekends have been pretty exciting around the Falbo household. The first weekend in May brought Mom, Dad and Amy to our house so Dad and Joe could do some work while the ladies bummed around.

The boys cut down the icky pear tree in the backyard and then replaced some pipes and the spicket to the hose outside (is that what it's called??). Oh, and put in a new wash tub in the basement. I know - super exciting.

Us ladies ended up driving all over the cities to run errands and shop. It was a lot more exciting than what the guys were up too. We finished the evening at the 5-8 and then vegged on the couch watching a movie - or should I say mom and I watched while Joe, Dad and Amy all snored away.

Mom, Dad and Amy left early Sunday and Joe went to work which left me alone so I decided to weed the flower beds - silly I know.

This past weekend Joe and I headed to Babies R Us on Friday to start registering for the baby. I'm pretty sure we were there for about 2 hours - it was fun but overwhelming. Sunday brought more yard work and Joe ended up cutting down the two other trees that he and dad didn't get too the weekend before. I was a little nervous with him cutting the tree by the driveway down but Joe did a great job. I haven't taken pictures of the "after" yet (or the big brush pile) but that is on my agenda for tomorrow when the rain goes away (hopefully).

This weekend is Woodbury garage sale weekend. Joe and I both took off work this Friday to hunt down good deals for the baby. Keep your fingers crossed that we find some good deals!!

And the next project is

2010-04-02T07:09:00.000-05:00

I've had a really hard time blogging lately and it seems my posting has gone from once a week or so to once a month. So, the last post mentioned that we already had our next project in mind so what will that be? Turning the junk room into the spare bedroom so the spare bedroom can become the baby's room.

Yep, baby is set to make his/her appearance in early October. Not a whole lot needs to be done with the room, just painting and carpeting and the paint is already picked out.

Here are the questions I'm asked when I tell people the news:

How far along? 14 weeks

When are you due? October 2 (although Uncle Luke is hoping the baby is born on his b-day, Oct 20 - I'm hoping before)

How are you feeling? For the last 2-3 weeks I finally feel normal again. Weeks 5-10 were awful. Some puking, gaging, nausea all day, food turned me off. The only thing that I could eat were bananas, oranges, pudding cups, eggs, english muffins/toast, saltines. I feel normal again and can now stand to cook and eat.

Any cravings? Not really. Although once I get an idea to eat something in my head, I have to have that particular food but I don't crave anything on a regular basis.

Are you showing? (for those I've told recently over the phone) Yes

Are you excited? Duh

Those are most of the questions we're asked. If I've missed soemthing, let me know and I may/may not tell you based on the question.

Remodel Updates...Finally

2010-03-04T07:12:00.000-06:00

I know, I know, it's been a long time since an update but we've had lots going on. We last left off with Joe demoing our back entry way and dining room (yes, I came home from work that next Friday to find he had removed the paneling in the dining room as well).

However, the dining room is finished as of last night and we (who am I kidding, he) still has to tile the back entry way floor and put up the trim, which I'm not sure if he's putting the old stuff back or putting up new stuff. I've kind of left this project up to him really only giving my opinion on colors. We already have our next project in mind but you'll have to stay tuned to find out what that is...

On to pictures of the dry wall, taping/mudding/painting and finished product...Enjoy!

Evidently this took a lot to install -

there were tears, swearing, tantrums, etc

so it deserved a picture

Ta Da!

A huge improvement over what was there!!!

Project #2 - Let the demo begin

2010-01-31T14:13:00.000-06:00

Joe has wanted to re-do our back entry way for a while. The back entry way, dining room and kitchen have this super ugly paneling (which we've painted over and is now bearable) and Joe has wanted to get rid of it since we moved in. He's also wanted to tile the back entry way, dining room and kitchen and has started talking about trying it.

Well, we decided to start with the back entry way because a) it's small and b) we have no plans to host any party in the future.

Since pictures are more fun, enjoy!

What it normally looks like

Cleaned

Ugly panneling

Beautiful yellow/green linoleum under the wood flooring

Joe decided to rip out the old drywall

What is that bottle?

Found it in the wall...along with a spoon too

Next up is to add insulation and then start hanging the new drywall. Stay tuned...

Derek in Milwaukee

2010-01-31T13:50:00.000-06:00

Uncle Artie and Aunt Lori sent an email on Thursday with pictures of the ceremony that happened on Monday in Milwaukee:

Derek called Aunt Lori and Uncle Artie Thursday night and they got to talk for about 5 minutes. He was at a processing station about 10 miles away from Fort Benning. He already has a uniform, is learning proper manuevers and they start their day at 3 AM. Please keep Derek in your thoughts and prayers.

New 'do and Bon Voyage

2010-01-31T13:09:00.000-06:00

A week ago this past Friday I headed to ET for cousin Derek's going away party - which I'll get to in a little bit.

First, Amy had called me and told me she wanted to do something different with her hair. Now, we've tried this before and it always results in Amy not liking it and me having to re-highlight her back to blonde because her and change don't get along. Sorry Amy, but it was getting old.

So, when she called wanting to do something different, I reluctently agreed and threw out some crazy ideas to which she said yes too. Friday night was the big makeover at her place and it turned out great. We did decide that some more blonde needed to be added on top, so we touched that up Sat before the big party.

How she has looked for the past how many years

That is a picture from her wedding...blonde like always. Below is the new look, with her new name...

What's her new name you ask to go with the new look? She coined this one herself, she now answers to the name of "Ali-Sin."

After the exciting makeover, Saturday afternoon was spent at Aunt Lori's and Uncle Artie's to say "good luck and see you later" to Derek, who was headed off to Fort Benning in GA on Sunday, or rather headed to Milwaukee for paperwork, etc. Derek is off to join the army as a paratrooper. I believe he'll be in GA until May and then he'll be able to come home for a little while before heading off to his next adventure.

As the party was winding down and people were leaving, every family had to have their photo taken with Derek before they left:

Derek - Love you lots, you're in our thoughts and prayers.

Need some art work?

2010-01-06T08:27:00.001-06:00

Amy's SIL Jenny is an amazing photographer. Seriously people, I mean AMAZING! In fact, at the bottom of the blog is a slide show from Amy's wedding and 95% of the pictures were taken by Jenny. For Amy and Luke's bridal shower, Jenny gave them a collage of pictures from Miller Park and it blew me away.

To show you just how amazing she is, here are some of my favorites from the wedding...

Well, Jenny just opened an ETSY store where she is selling her prints. If you're interested in some art work, check it out!!

Happy New Year

2010-01-06T08:26:00.000-06:00

We rang in 2010 with some fabulous friends by having a party which included lots of eating, drinking and bowling...on the wii.

Like last year, Joe and I once again hosted a few friends and I made the best Venetian Sunsets EVER. Anna and I were at the Olive Garden a couple months ago and after ordering a couple drinks, we decided that is what we should have for New Year's. So, I played bartender most of the night and could now, confidently get a job bartending at Olive Garden should the need arise.

After some eating and drinking and hearing the adventures Toddie encountered in Costa Rica, it was decided we should play the wii and play we did, after we made mii's of everyone first.

Unlike last year, we were well aware of the time and stopped playing to watch the ball drop and scream Happy New Year. I honestly have no idea where the time went as all of a sudden it seemed to be 3 am and people were still at our house. By 4 am (yes folks - 4 AM!!) everyone finally left and by the time I crawled into bed it was 4:30 am. Needless to say New Year's Day was shot but we had a blast.

By the way, for all of you ET partiers (ahem Amy, Luke and your friends - yeah, I'm talking to you) we obviously need to bring the party to ET next year if for no other reason than to show you youngins how to ring in the new year right. 2:30 am - we are soo disappointed in you!!

This is for Z-Man

2009-12-24T08:50:00.000-06:00

I first met Tabbatha about a year and a half when my company was acquired and I started to attend the "corporate" marketing meetings. She's super nice and I've been lucky enough to have worked closely with her for the past 6 months or so. I've wrote about her before - she was the one who helped me with my speech for Amy's wedding - again, thank you!

She and her family are in Florida and I've heard stories from her about how their son (in first grade) wants to see snow. Well, pretty soon (in about a week they're NYC bound for a couple years) Z will get to see lots. In the meantime, I thought I would post some pictures for him of what we woke up to this morning. Rounds 2 and 3 are supposedly on the way.

Backyard

Before shoveling/snowblowing

After

Our street, althought I'm not sure where it is exactly

Merry Christmas Eve!!!

Taco Casserole

2009-12-24T08:36:00.000-06:00

Ingredients:
3 cups uncooked bow tie pasta
1 pound ground beef/chicken/turkey
1/4 cup choppen onion
2 cups shredded cheese (taco mix)
1 jar (16 oz) salsa
1 can tomatoes/chilies, undrained - I use Rotel brand
1 envelope taco seasoning
1 can green or red enchilada sauce
2 cups crushed tortilla chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350.

Cook pasta according to pasta directions. Meanwhile, cook beef and onion over medium heat until no longer pink and drain. Add cheese, salsa, tomatoes/chilies, taco seasoning and enchilada sauce. Drain noodles and add to beef mixture.

Transfer to greased 11x7 baking dish. Cover and bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Uncover, sprinkle with chips and more cheese. Bake 10 minutes longer or until heated through.

Sausage Quiche Tarts

2009-12-24T08:35:00.000-06:00

Ingredients
6 or 8 oz cream cheese
5 tsp milk
2 eggs
1/2 shredded cheese
1/4 onion chopped
1 1/2 tubes refrigerated crescent rolls
1/2 pound bulk pork sausage

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375. Cook sausage until no longer pink. Drain.

Beat cream cheese and milk until smooth, Add eggs, cheese, onion and sausage; mix well.

Separate crescent rolls into 12 triangles; press onto the bottom and up the sides of a greased muffin pan. Pour egg/sausage mixture into cups. Top with cheese if desired.

Bake uncovered at 375 for 18-22 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Just Because

2009-12-15T06:49:00.000-06:00

I saw this in an email on Friday night at April's house and we died laughing. It is way too adorable. I am amazed at the ukulele talent of this little boy and he is (again) just too darn adorable. It also makes me smile and I thought we could all use a smile today. Enjoy.

The Great Thanksgiving Jewelry Showdown

2009-12-15T06:00:00.002-06:00

Joe and I were in ET for Thanksgiving this year and as usual, went shopping on Black Friday. One of the stores mom, Amy and I hit was Target, which was having a pretty good sale on a jewelry stand. Since the spring I have collected my fair share of jewels thanks to my fabulous friend April who started selling Premiere Jewelry.

And, thanks to my fabulous mom, she bought these jewelry stands for Amy and I as our christmas presents. Once back to mom and dad's we joked that we should time Joe and Luke and see who can put the stand together first.

Well, when we got back to MN, I called up Amy on that Sunday afternoon and said "Joe's ready if Luke is."

The rules were simple, the first one to finish and have it work, won. So Amy and I were on the phone and yelled "on your mark, get set, go!" Joe said to me, "Luke is using a power drill right?" To which I said "DUH. Of course. Why would you use just a screwdriver?"

About the same time Luke told Amy "You should call Brooke back and say no power tools." To which Amy replied, "Luke, they won't use power tools."

Well, I called Amy first to say we won and she said she was just getting ready to dial the phone. Then she said Joe just used a screwdriver right? Umm...nope. So needless to say, had Luke used a power drill or Joe a screwdriver, we're pretty sure Luke would have won.

Kitchen Remodel - Merry Christmas to us

2009-12-13T10:52:00.003-06:00

Around the end of October Joe asked me what our "winter" project should be. After a trip to Lowes for a new leaf vac/blower, we stumbled into their counter top section and we decided the project could be a small update to our kitchen.

For those of you were around when we bought the house, you know that we've already done a little updating in regards to appliances and paint. For those of you who never had the joy of seeing the kitchen we bought, have a looksey:

Excuse the mess, it was moving day. Original kitchen in May '07

May '07

As you can see, we right away went to work updating the paint, appliances and backsplash.

The toaster oven is hiding a very uneven corner of the counter

However, I must confess that a big part of me has fallen in love with my yellow countertops. If they would have been in better shap and actually even (it's amazing what a toaster oven can hide) I would have kept them.
About about month ago we scrubbed our cabinets and put on new hardware. The next weekend Joe spent a Friday night installing one piece of the counter top that we didn't have to special order while I went out for a date with my friend Carrie. I came home that evening and was so impressed with my hubby.

New counter Joe did all by himself!

What our kitchen had looked like for about a month before yesterday

The next morning we went to Menards and bought a new ceiling fan/light fixture (I swear we were taking our lives in our own hands every time we turned the previous ceiling fan on. I thought it would fall out of the ceiling). Joe promptly installed that and I even helped a little bit. The true test came when it was time to turn on and Joe pulled the cord and nothing. I quickly yelled from the couch to turn the light switch on the wall on and sure enough it worked.

What's left? Well the rest of the counter, the new sink and garbage disposal needs to be installed. That happened yesterday thanks to our friends Linda and Jerry. Thanks to Linda who was kind enough to tell us that "Jerry wouldn't have a problem helping" and thanks to Jerry for spending all day yesterday with us (literally from 9:00 am until about 6:30 pm). To thank Jerry, we gave him a gift certificate to the 5-8, told him that he is to call us first if he ever needs help with something and he is entitled to free hair cuts for life from yours truly.

Here are lots of pictures from yesterday. THANK YOU JERRY AND JOE!!!

Before (with cabinets cleaned out)

No sink

No counter

so close to being done...

New sink

All done

It's now even and we don't need the toaster oven to hide anything

Is this thing on?

2009-12-02T09:34:00.000-06:00

I know it's been far too quiet and for reasons I don't much feel like going into. However, I am now back on track and have lots to fill you in on.

The previous post - about it being winter already, was the weekend that Joe had to work. That is not normal at all but there was some MBA convention thingy (yes, I listen well) at the Convention Center and Joe and had to be there to cook (yes, in front of live audience) and Jenny went with him to be his assistant. Below are some pictures of Joe in action. Maybe one day he can get his own show on Food Network!!

Nervous, nervous

Jenny and Joe

In action

Finished product

We seemed to have skipped fall...

2009-10-13T07:25:00.000-05:00

And went right into winter. This past weekend was cold and we woke up Saturday morning to a little bit of snow:

No big deal. I mean it was gone by Saturday night and Sunday was just cold and damp. Well, come Monday afternoon, we had this:

Wordless Wednesday

2009-10-07T07:15:00.001-05:00

A little background to this picture...I asked Amy to send me some pictures of her honeymoon and this is what I got. To quote my marvelous sister, "Look closely, Rhino taking a leak! It seriously looks like a fire hose!"

Sausage Squares

2009-10-06T06:00:00.000-05:00

I made this over the weekend and it's super good. I am already thinking of things I could add next time I make it such as mushrooms and some salsa.

Ingredients:
1 tube refrigerated crescent rolls
1 lb bulk pork sausage
1/4 c chopped onion
5 eggs, lightly beaten
3/4 c milk
2 tbsp chopped pepper (green, red, yellow, whatever)
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp garlic salt
1 cup shredded cheese (again, whatever you got)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375. Unroll crescent rolls onto the bottom of a 9x13 greased pan, sealing seams/perforations. Bake at 375 for 7-10 minutes or until it starts to brown.

In large skillet, cook sausage and onion. Add peppers. Drain. *If I use salsa next time, this is where I would add it.

In small bowl, combine eggs, milk, oregano, pepper and garlic salt. Pour over the crust. Add sausage mixture. Sprinkle with cheese.

Bake for 15-20 minutes until eggs are cooked.

Enchiladas

2009-10-04T06:42:00.000-05:00

I credit April for this recipe. When her hubby was deployed and Norah was a baby, I would go over to April's to do her hair, hang out and of course, spoil Norah and April would always make me dinner. I don't know how many times we've had this and it has become one of Joe's favorite.

Ingredients:
1 lb ground turkey (or chicken/ground beef)
1 can diced tomatoes and green chilies
2 cups shredded mexican cheese
1 can enchilada sauce (green or red)
8 tortilla shells

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375. Cook ground turkey until no longer pink. Drain diced tomatoes and green chilies than add to the ground turkey. Let turkey mixture cool. Spray 9x13 pan. Fill tortillas with turkey mixture, add cheese, roll up and place in pan. Pour enchilada sauce over tortillas in pan. Top with remaining cheese. Bake until heated through or cheese is melted (15-20 minutes). Using the broiler for the last 5 minutes works wonders!

Amy and Luke's Big Day

2009-10-03T09:46:00.002-05:00

The kids have been officially married for two whole weeks and this post is long overdue. Here's the recap of the big day and a few (ok...probably more than a few) of my favorite pics. If you want to see all, take a peek at the slide show, it's long but worth looking through.

Saturday morning - 4:30 AM - 6 AM
I was awake - wide awake. I didn't need to be up until 6 and for some reason 4:30 came and I was wide awake. I refused to get out of bed and just laid there until Dad knocked on the door at 6:00. He or mom are our alarm clocks in WI as our cell phones get NO service at their house.

6 AM - 8:30 AM
Joe stayed sleeping as I tip-toed downstairs only to find out that Mom and Amy were awake too. They were on the couch trying to get the motivation to get going. It was a little sad too - I think the realization hit everyone that morning. For Mom and Dad, it was the last morning they'd wake up and Amy would be in the house and for Amy, it was the last morning she'd wake up in the house. It was definitely sad but happy.

Meanwhile, I'm running around getting ready and making sure I have everything, and I mean everything I could think of needing for the day and especially, Amy and Luke's marriage license which I decided I would be in charge of as to take the pressure off Mom and Amy. Joe and my Dad did whatever was asked and I couldn't ask for a better husband or Dad.

8:30 AM - 11:00 AM
Adriane (Amy's sister-in-law) was dropped off at Mom and Dad's at 8:30 and her, Amy and I squished into my car (which was packed with a ton of bags full of hair stuff, dresses, shoes, etc) and headed to the salon where we were meeting up with the rest of the "best girls" - Jayme, Danielle, Sara, Jenny and Callie.

I left the salon a little early to unpack the car at the church and to get my hair stuff set up as I was doing Amy and Mom's hair. When I got the girls 'getting ready room' this is the message I found:

11:00 AM - Ceremony (3 PM)

This was the busiest time ever - I was getting Amy's hair in hot rollers, eating lunch, fixing other girl's hair, doing mom's hair, doing Amy's make-up, etc. I started to take the rollers out of Amy's head and back comb her hair when her soon to be nephew, Owen walked in (he's 6 and was delivering a card from Luke). He was quite adamant that he would not tell Uncle Luke what crazy hair Amy had because he was quite sure Uncle Luke wouldn't marry her if he told.

I don't know if I would have married that hair either

Finally, I was able to get myself ready and Mom, Sara and I got Amy in her dress. I'm super glad that I was able to watch Rebecca lace up Anna's dress last September so I knew what the heck I was doing for Amy's dress. Next up was pictures of the girls. They were fantastic - love, love the photographer and love, love Jenny (Amy's other sister-in-law) who was a picture taking machine. If you view the slide show, most of the pictures on it are from Jenny!!

Mom, Amy and me

After pictures it was back into hiding until it was time to walk down the aisle. The air was a little more tense and we were all trying to not cry. To lighten the mood, and at my husband's expense, I told a story about a certain poker party he had a couple years ago in our garage, in January, with kerosene...

Ceremony
As the girls were starting to line up, I told Amy to remember that story and to my surprise, a couple other girls were remember that story (myself included) while Amy and Dad were walking down the aisle so we wouldn't cry.

I got super nervous walking down the aisle, I kept telling myself to slow down and smile. I got to the alter with the other girls and Trent, Owen and Callie walked down. They did so good!!! The best flower girl and ring bearers I have ever seen. Next up Dad and Amy. I seriously have no idea how I did not cry. I couldn't look at anyone else in the church because I knew that if I saw other people crying, I would start.

The ceremony was beautiful, Pastor Sean was amazing (Joe and I actually discussed divorcing so Pastor Sean could re-marry us). It went off without a hitch, nobody objected and both said I do. Standing in the receiving line after, there were so many people I haven't seen in so long and it was wonderful to see everyone. Once the last person went through, we were herded back into the church for more pictures.

Dad walking his baby down the aisle

Mr. and Mrs. Luke Smith

3:45 PM - 5:30 PM

Pictures, pictures, pictures.

My absolute favorite!

We ended up heading outside and it was a hike. It finally dawned on me she was taking us to the shade but the only shade was far away. I was holding Amy's dress on our hike to the shade and handsome little Owen come right up next to Amy and slips his little arm around her waist and walked with her like that the rest of the way. It was the sweetest thing I have ever seen.

Owen, Amy and me

Callie, Jayme, Danielle, Sara. Adriane, me

The kids did so good with all of the pictures and the second sweetest thing of the afternoon involved Callie. It was the last picture and they needed Callie. Jenny said to get in the picture because we have to get going. Callie started to cry and we all thought it was because she was done with pictures. Nope. It was because Jenny said they had to go and started saying she didn't want to go. Poor Callie thought Jenny meant go as in leave be done. When Jenny explained "get going" meant to the party aka reception, Callie immediately stopped crying and was fine. It was adorable.

The photographer dismissed us all and just needed Amy and Luke so back inside to pack everything up and everyone else headed over to the reception. Jeff, Adriane and Owen were standing out front with us waiting for Amy and Luke (we were chauffeuring A&L) and Owen exclaimed how he had one more thing to do and that he already had done two things. So I ask...

Me: What have you had to do Owen?
O: I've had to kiss Amy twice and now I have to dance with her for our special dance!
Me (I turned to Jeff, Owen's dad): You better watch him, in 20 years it will be Amy Kramer (Owen's last name) instead of Amy Smith.
O: Yeah - I want Amy to live with me at my house.

Reception:

We finally got to the reception and got situated for the grand march. Amy and Luke cut the cake right away which I thought was a great idea.

Amy and Luke cutting the cake

The DJ took control and told us to sit at the head table and then asked if anyone would like to speak. This was my thought process: 'Holy &$%#. I thought I was going to be able to have a drink first. &$%#! I need beer. No, you'll be ok, you've practiced. &$%#! I need beer.'

Some of the guys spoke and then I got my turn. It went well and I did have some help from our copywriter at work (seriously Tabbatha - you ROCK!). I didn't start sobbing although I did tell Amy I one point I couldn't look at her anymore so I could finish the speech.

The dinner was great and so was the cake. More people spoke and thank you Adriane for letting me hold your hand while our Dad's spoke! If you want to see those speeches click here.

Sisters and brothers

Adriane, me, Amy, Luke, Marshall and Jeff (brother-in-law)

Adriane, Joe, Jeff and me

Adriane and I decided we were going to switch husbands

I got to hang with Kari and Bryan for little bit and even got Kari out on the dance floor when they played a Michael Jackson song.

After that it was all dancing all night. The rest of the night is a blur. I was amazed by the dance moves that Trent and Owen have and Callie was more than happy to danced with anyone who wanted to dance with her. I got to take a picture (using the photographer's camera) of the photographer dancing with Luke's cousin, Dad got up on stage and danced, they played Mustang Sally and everyone formed a circle and I think Mom danced with every single groomsmen/bridesmaid, Amy crowd surfed, and Owen put all of us to shame and danced until the lights came on.

I'm sure I'm forgetting a ton but like I said, once the music started, it was a blur. By far, the best wedding I have ever been too.

Dad and Joe

Dad dancing on stage

Amy crowd surfing

The Dad's - Bruce and Scott

Cakes

2009-10-02T10:46:00.005-05:00

I have this friend who is super artistic. For those of you at our wedding you may remember her, the fabulous lady who sang at our ceremony. She found a new hobby: cakes and I don't mean every day cakes. Take a look:

I showed these pictures to Joe last night and he couldn't believe it! I've told her that she needs to open her own business because, yes, the cities are full of people that would pay for these cakes. I also told said friend that she needs to enter a Food Network Challenge and she could bring Joe as her sous chef.

Stealing pears

2009-10-02T10:38:00.004-05:00

Joe and I have a pear tree in our backyard. The first year we had no pears because of the huge tree that towered over it. Last year, we had some but not much. This year, has been a pear explosion. Because the tree is so tall, we can't really get to the pears until they're on the ground and the squirrels get to us before them as seen below:

Red Wing, sushi and a birthday

2009-10-02T10:14:00.014-05:00

Last weekend Joe and I took a drive to Red Wing, MN. It's only about an hour and a half south of us which is much closer than I thought. Red Wing is probably most noted for the Red Wing Shoes as noted by all of the boots scattered throughout the downtown area.

Joe and I wandered into the Red Wing Shoe store in downtown and got to see the biggest Red Wing boot of all:

After we walked around some more, we stopped into the Staghead for lunch where I had the best mushroom and swiss burger ever and Joe had a salad, yes a salad.

We headed back home to relax before we had to head to dinner with Travis and Stephanie for all you can eat sushi. Now, the all you can eat thing might freak some people out but it's not as bad as it sounds. You still order off the menu and they make it fresh - it's not a whole bunch of sushi just sitting out like at a buffet.

Stephanie was an ordering machine and new exactly what to order and how much - she made it so much easier. She ordered and Trav, Joe and I just sat back and ate. The food was great.

Afterwards, we headed out to West St. Paul to meet up with Terry, his new girlfriend, Todd and Anna to celebrate Todd's birthday. I think it was the first time all of us had been together since New Year's Eve. It was a ton of fun and we need to do it more often.

Leading up to the 'big day'

2009-09-23T07:47:00.011-05:00

As many of you know, my parents are now completely free of any responsibility for their 2 daughters as of Saturday, September 19.

Used to be responsible for us

Now responsible for us - Good luck boys!

Amy and Luke's wedding was the absolute most marvelous wedding I have been too. The extended weekend that Joe and I were in town was great and for those of you who couldn't share, here's the recap of everything leading up to the wedding.

Wednesday, 9/16
Joe and I arrived in ET around 7:00 pm and met Mom, Dad, Luke and Amy for dinner at Barley's. I haven't been there in forever and while the service was lacking, the beer was cold, the food was good and I almost beat Luke at darts.

Thursday, 9/17
Amy and Luke took off early to go see Grandpa (on Luke's side) and Mom and I took off to run a couple errands. We returned home and immediately put Joe to work because we were starving.

Amy and Luke got back and the 5 of us (Dad was working) had delicious burgers on the grill thanks to my hubby. Dad got home shortly after and then Joe, Mom, Dad and I took off to get the tuxes and grocery shop.

Once we got back home, the boys started dinner while open the beauty shop and worked non-stop until dinner. We ate and were relaxing when Joe peeked his head inside and wanted to know if Luke had plans for the night. Then Joe looked at me and asked if I would mind if he spent the night at Luke's. It was super funny. Joe and Luke then spent the rest of the night trying to get my dad to go spend the night too, but no such luck.

Friday, 9/18
Dad was up bright and early to meet Joe and Luke at Luke's house so the 3 of them could be picked up by Jeff (Luke's BIL) and Bruce (Luke's Dad) for a golf outing. Luke's bro, Marshall was meeting them at the course and then who knows what was planned for after.

Mom, Amy and I did some running around and stopped at Gooseberry's (where Amy got her flowers) to drop something off and got a sneak peek at the bouquets for the wedding. Seriously, all of us started tearing up in the store, the poor people who walked by us.

We got back home and I worked tirelessly on my speech while Amy and Mom dropped some things off at the apartment. We patiently waited for the boys to return and finally, around 2ish they waltzed in the door...mind you, we needed to be leaving at 4:30 for the rehearsal and 2 certain handsome young men (ahem...Dad/Joe) still needed haircuts.

Joe and I chauffeured Amy and Luke to the church for rehearsal and this was our first time seeing the church and the rest of the bridal party since the last hurrah. It was great to see everyone and the wedding coordinator at the church (thanks Kelly!) was fantastic. We ran through everything and it was off to dinner.

Dinner was fabulous (a huge thank you to Bruce and Lois!!) and we all got lots of presents!! Luke sure knew how to win Joe over by buying a book on how to play/beat the odds while gambling (Joe is now planning a Vegas vacation in his head) and an electronic dart board. The night wrapped up pretty quickly and it was back home to bed to rest for the big day...

Joe opening his dart board

I'm happy to announce, the new Mr. and Mrs. Luke Smith

2009-09-21T07:16:00.000-05:00

Congratulations...

...we love you!!

State Fair in Pictures

2009-09-18T07:08:00.000-05:00

The is a long overdue post! At the beginning of the month Joe and I ventured out to the 'Great Minnesota Get Together' also known as the Minnesota State Fair. We went twice and the first Saturday we went it was almost too cool but it was fabulous. In my opinion, the perfect state fair weather. The next Saturday we went it was super hot but we stayed the longest we had ever stayed before. I think we made it until about 3 pm (usually we're out of there by noon).

Joe and I at the start of the day

The 'trash' sculpture - it is a sturgeon

For those that don't know, every year they pull trash out of

the Mississippi and create a sculpture out of it for the fair.

Sculpture from the front

The crowd (that's Joe's back)

The crowd

The Last Hurrah

2009-08-24T16:13:00.014-05:00

Saturday was Amy's bachelorette party and it was a blast even though I had been so consumed with planning the shower that the bachelorette party took the back burner.

In preparation for the big one, I emailed my friend Kari for some ideas and that's when we realized we were old and not hip anymore.

However, Google did me proud and when I googled "things to do in Milwaukee" Edelweiss Cruise popped up and made this a great party!!

The party started at noon at Luke and Amy's new apartment. The girls came over and we had munchies, drinks and made Amy open her presents, which we than displayed thanks to Adriane!

She looks so guilty

After lots of chatting, laughing, drinks and shots (thanks Jayme and Jenny!!) we headed downtown Milwaukee (thanks Jenny for driving!!) for the two hour Margarita Fiesta on the Milwaukee River.

It was $25 for a two-hour cruise up and down the Milwaukee River with all you can drink margaritas and all you can eat taco bar. It was a great time and the tacos rocked! It wasn't too crowded and there a few other bachelorette parties on the cruise too.

After we docked we decided to head into Lucille's Rockin Pianos. We totally lucked out and a nice couple let us sit with them at their table because everything else was reserved. We promised we wouldn't get to rowdy and to our surprise the lady who let us sit with them got rowdy. She was dancing up by the pianos and one of the bouncers had to escort her from the piano "stage." They left shortly after that.

The rest of the night was spent drinking, singing, dancing and shouting. We partied like we were rock stars and the one thing I learned was although I feel like a rock star, I don't recover like one. Here are some pics of the evening...yes, there are more but those cost money to see...

Me, Jayme, Danielle, Amy, Jenny and Adriane on the cruise

Amy goin' gangsta'

Adriane, me and Jayme

Jenny, Jayme, Amy and Danielle

I refuse to die at work

2009-08-19T16:01:00.004-05:00

From 2:30 to 3:15 I was stuck with the rest of the building in the second floor tornado shelter. We were let out for a brief 3 1/2 minutes - enough time to get to our office, sit back down at our desks and be told we had to go back to the second floor.

At this point I kept thinking, I just want to drive home because I do not want to die in this building. Not because I was afraid but because dying at my place of employment just seems depressing.

Last year a tornado went through Rhode Island where one of our sister companies are located. I was on a call with *Sara* and I asked how they were. She told me when the sirens went off, she got in her car and headed home. I was horrified! She left in the middle of a tornado warning!?!? Her reply was "I don't want to die in this crappy building!" Now, a year later, I understand.

After we were let out from the second shelter herding, I was done with work and ready to go. I called Joe and he said it was barely raining by us and everything had headed into WI. I left, after some assurance to my CTO that I a)would not sue b)the storm was East of my home and c)I would be fine. You see, I've been in my share of storms while in a car...

1997
My friend Jenny and I decided to go shopping and headed to Brookfield Square. It was raining but nothing too bad. We headed to Lerner (NY&CO now) and bought some jeans and got a free t-shirt. While in Lerner, the lights flickered and went off and then came back on. We decided to checkout and head home. We got drenched running to the parking lot.

We heard there was flooding and couldn't go home the way we came so I headed to Bluemound. We were in the middle lane right headed west right across from the strip mall where Starbucks is (was??) and my car died. Completely died. So we got drenched running into Starbucks, called the cops. A little later, my car started and we moved it to the parking lot. Again (we were soaked).

Now traffic wasn't even moving, there was flooding all over and Dad and Karl were on the way to get Jenny and I home. They finally showed up Karl drove my car (it was making crazy noise) while I road with Dad. We had to go way out of our way to get home and I was so glad we got home!!

Summer of 2000
Yes, you would have thought I would have learned from prior experience but alas, no. My friend Tami and I (we were in beauty school at this time) met at Southridge to ride the shuttle to Summerfest - we were going to see the Red Hot Chili Peppers. We got in line to get into the amphitheater and no sooner did we get in then we hear tornado sirens. So into the women's bathroom we went - talk about hot and sweaty!

Who knows how long we were in there before the all clear was sounded. It was still raining but not too bad. We went to our seats (we were on the metal bleachers) and it rained some more and more and than started lightening. The show was delayed and Tami and I said let's go. We headed back to the shuttle (we did not want to be electrocuted at a Chili Pepper's concert) and the heaven's opened as we ran across the Summerfest grounds. We were drenched, and I mean every piece of clothing on us was soaked.

We got back to Southridge, told each other to call when we got to our respective homes and off we went. I called mom and dad and told them I was headed home. Again, I ran into flooding and the only thing the DJ on the radio kept saying was "Please stay home. Do not go out unless it's an emergency. Please stay off the road." We were in a tornado watch/warning (who knows almost 10 years later) and I drove home. It was awful but I made it home. Tami made it to Racine after a long drive due to the storm and I don't think either of us listened to the Chili Peppers much after that.

So this brings be back to why it didn't bother me to leave work at 3:20 when we were in a tornado warning (even though the tornado had already passed us) and oh yeah, I don't want to die at work.

Really??

2009-08-18T17:11:00.006-05:00

I'm sure by now you've all heard that Mr. Favre will be gracing Minnesotans with his presence as the fearless leader of our (Joe's) Minnesota Vikings.

I'm a little irritated with this and Brett has definitely fallen from grace in my eyes. Don't get me wrong, I loved him in the green 'n gold and even in the green 'n white last year. However, I have an issue with how he became purple 'n gold.

Yes, I was not at all thrilled when he "retired" from the Packers to then turn around and sign with the Jets. Was it all Brett's fault? Did the suits in the Packer organization force Brett out? Who knows. But last year's constant will he/won't as far as his retirement was concerned really pissed me off (sorry mom). But hey, he went to the Jets, I cheered and all was well. That is until he "retired" again.

And then the rumors swirled in the Land of 10,000 Lakes (ponds is more like it) that Mr. Favre would wear purple 'n gold. For months that was all anyone talked about until the end of July when it became official, Brett would stay "retired" or at least until training camp was over.

So, for 12 million dollars, we get to put up with Brett for a year until he decides to "retire" at the end of this season. The lines have been drawn and on one side stand Viking fans that say "good riddance" to Brett and on the other side stand Viking fans welcoming their long lost son.

I'm smack dab in the middle. At this point, I could take 'em or leave 'em.

Will I cheer for the Vikings? After being here 6 years, yes, but not because Brett is the QB. I was actually looking forward to watching what Sage could do. That's the guy I feel the worst for.

Will I still be cheering for the Pack? You bet your ass! And on game day when it's Vikings vs. Packers, you bet your ass I'll be cheering green 'n gold all the way.

Oh and to the Viking fans who think I'm "scorned" by Brett's "betrayal," good luck this season. And if by chance the Vikings do make it to the Superbowl and win (because you know that's what the team and fans think will happen), savor it because it won't be the Vikings that win the Superbowl, it will be Brett. And frankly, if the Vikings are going to win a Superbowl, I'd prefer it they win it on their own, without Brett.

Hot Turkey Sandwiches

2009-08-14T06:31:00.000-05:00

I got this recipe from a friend at work and love it! Depending on your taste, you can use chili powder or cayenne pepper if you want it spicier. It's super easy to make. I had made it for Amy's shower and was asked multiple times how to make it so here it goes:

Ingredients
1 pound sliced deli turkey (not shaved!!)
1 bag shredded cheese
Paprika
Lemon juice
Dried parsley
Olive oil
crock pot

Directions
Turn the crock pot on high (or low if you don't need it soon) and drizzle some oil on the bottom. Put a layer of turkey down, sprinkle spices, lemon juice and cheese. Repeat layers. Every couple of layers or so add some more olive oil. End with cheese on top. Once heated and cheese melted, serve on rolls.

Tortilla Chicken Bake

2009-08-07T06:39:00.001-05:00

I made this the other night. It's super easy to make especially if you have some deli chicken and frozen peppers already on hand.

Ingredients:
1 cup red/yellow peppers
1/2 cup onion
2 cups shredded cooked chicken
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can tomatoes/green chilies (undrained)
6-8 flour tortilla shells
2 cups shredded cheese

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325. Spray baking dish (13x9 or just a little shorter). Heat skillet over medium heat. Add pepper and onion. Cook until tender.

Stir in broth, soup and undrained tomatoes/chilies, chicken and blend well. Bring to a boil, remove from heat.

Layer 2 tortilla shells in baking dish then top with chicken mixture and cheese. Repeat ending with cheese on top. Bake until 20 minutes or until bubbly and cheese is melted.

Update to Joe hunting

2009-08-05T18:24:00.002-05:00

Monday night was Joe's first night of hunter's safety class. Yes, you read correctly. Joe is bound and determined to go hunting with Dad and Luke so let the studying begin! I'll keep you posted on how his "schooling" goes.

It's raining, It's pouring...Gifts!!

2009-08-05T09:11:00.009-05:00

Joe and I arrived in ET Thursday night (7/23) for the big event, Amy's (and Luke's) bridal shower and I don't think I've been that busy and/or tired since my wedding.

Friday, July 24
Dad, Joe, Amy, Mom and I cruised all over Brookfield for who knows what and to get fitted for their tuxes. We stopped for lunch and then it was on to grocery shopping for the party.

Joe and Dad took the grocery list and started while Mom ordered the pizza (for dinner) and A
my and I cruised to look at hair accessories for the wedding - gotta love Super Wal-Mart. We met Joe and Dad back in the grocery part and finished up and headed home.

Mom, Amy and I left to see Grandma Lu while Dad and Joe prepped for the salads as in chopping, chopping and more chopping.

Saturday, July 25th
Started early and brought 2 car loads over to The Heritage by 9 AM. Joe, Dad and Luke made the fruit/veggie pizzas, salads, meatballs, you name it, they made it. Mom and Amy took off to get the buns, balloons and cake while I hung out with Gram.

The guests started arriving at noon and by 12:30 people were eating and Amy was introducing everyone. The first game we played was "How well do you know Amy" (thanks Danielle). Jayme and I teamed up and had the most answers although since we did it together, we didn't count us as winning. I think the winner had 3 questions right. Evidently Amy is quiet mysterious...

The second game we played was Truth and Tear (thanks Jayme). Everyone had to tear off as much toilet paper as they use in one bathroom visit and then make something wedding related out of it. Amy judged on three categories: Most wedding related, most creative and most unrecognizable.

Well Sara won most creative for her wedding dress, Callie (flower girl and A&L's niece) won most wedding related for her basket of flowers (if anyone has a pic, please send to me!!). She also demonstrated it and she did a fabulous job. I can't wait to see her in action again in Sept. And finally, most unrecognizable was went to Deanna!! I was super impressed with all of the things created and I wouldn't have thought of half of what people came up with.

During the gift opening we played BINGO (fill out a card with what presents you think they'll get) and ohh'd and ahh'd over the gifts. Amy got a ton of great stuff and she couldn't wait to use it all.

The bride-to-be

The cake

Most creative

Gift from Danielle

Dad, Joe and Luke meanwhile were at the Sportsman Club shooting things. The guys came back to help clean up and take things home and Joe told me how he is planning to go hunting with Dad and Luke this fall/winter. I'm sorry...come again?

Saturday we hung out by the fire and Luke and Dad made smore's while Joe, Mom, Amy and I ate them. It was just nice and relaxing.

Sunday, July 26

Dad made burgers for breakfast and then it was back to MN. Joe conveniently forgot his wallet in MN which meant I had to drive both ways - ugh. We got back around 1:30ish and vegged out the rest of the day. I didn't unpack until Thursday, yes Thursday.

National Night Out

2009-08-05T08:28:00.007-05:00

A big thanks to Jenny and Ellen for organizing Nokomis Ave's 3rd Annual National Night Out. (There was a third lady who helped but I can't remember her name and I didn't meet her - thanks though!!)

The first time they organized the National Night Out was in August of 2007. We've been invited each year but have never made it. This year I told Joe we were going no matter what. So at 5:30ish we wandered down our block, nervous (because we didn't know anyone) and met our neighbors.

There was a steady stream of people stopping by to introduce themselves and say hi. They made us feel very welcome and we never realized how many kids are on our block! We stayed for a little longer and then decided to walk to the block behind our house. We have two backyard neighbors and Cool Mary had invited us to attend their National Night Out as well.

The minute we set foot on their street Mary was yelling to us how glad she was we showed up. We met Bea (whose driveway the party was in) as well as another backyard neighbor (Tom) and a few more people on their street. Mary took Joe and I around to every single person and personally introduced us. It was quite cute.

Joe ended up telling Bea (who has lived in the neighborhood for 47 years) he was a cook and that he wanted a recipe for her dessert thingys. Well, she came out with a plate full of them and gave them to Joe and announced that "He's a cook and we wants my recipe." It was adorable.

After being in our house for two years, it was nice to hang with both "sets" of neighbors. It was a great getting to know people and the neighborhood definitely feels more "neighborly." Heck, we've already been to a party that Bea throws every year (we were told to mark the calendar for 9/26).

I'm gald we went and I can't wait until next year.

July 17-18

2009-07-30T06:28:00.005-05:00

For the past 2 years, we've had at least one big party at our house. The first year was a housewarming/Joe's birthday party and last year was the rehearsal dinner for Todd and Anna. The housewarming/birthday party lasted all night. I think the last of the guests finally left around 1 am.

This year, we had a party just because. Joe made a lot of the food Friday night and we had to store it at his brother's house (thanks Tony!!). Joe cooked all night long while hung out and watched him. I kept asking him if he wanted help but he kept saying no.

Saturday morning consisted of finishing up the last minute things and running back and forth to the store for things we forgot. Joe started the meat and putting the salads together while I finished cleaning.

We had about 15 people that showed up with enough food for 50. We had 2 different crock pots of BBQ pork, kielbasa, beef tenderloin, Asian short ribs (Tony - you rock!), broccoli salad, tortellini salad, chick pea and angel hair pasta salad, twice baked potato casserole, taco dip and potato chips.

After everyone stuffed themselves we played game after game of ladder ball. People started clearing out around 9 or 9:30 (yes we are getting older) and I started to clean. Normally my parents attend these shindigs and they do it for me. Oh how I missed them. A huge thanks to Anna who put food in containers for me while rinsed off and loaded the dish washer and did the big stuff by hand.

Everyone except for Todd and Anna were gone by 10 so the four of us sat around our new fire pit (thanks Todd for starting the fire - I have no clue where Joe was) and talked and talked. We sent Todd and Anna home with lots of food (a whole pan of broccoli salad Joe made just for her) and still had a fridge full which came in handy on Sunday since neither of us wanted to do anything!

July 10-12

2009-07-30T06:05:00.006-05:00

Friday, July 10th
Our dvd player decided it didn't want to work anymore. Joe and I drove all over trying to find the dvd player he found online. Did we find it? Nope. So we settled on one at Best Buy, brought it home and it didn't work!

Saturday, July 11th
Saturday and Joe took me to Como Zoo as a pre-birthday celebration. We got there right when it opened so we managed to get a parking space (get there any later and good luck!) and it was a beautiful day. Como Zoo is a free (they ask for a $2 donation per person if you can spare) and it's nice, but small. Here are some of the animals we saw:

That evening Joe took me to Jax Cafe which was fantastic! I think we were there for two hours and had a nice leisurely dinner. The crab stuffed mushrooms were fabulous, Joe's rib eye was fabulous, my scallops were fabulous and the banana split at the end was to die for. Our waitress, Claire, was the best - she reminded me of Joe's Aunt Paige who is super sweet. It was a great evening and it's been a long time since Joe and I had a "date."

10 pounds heavier, we left the restaurant and met Travis and Stephanie at the bowling alley by our house. I totally suck but managed to break 100 twice. I thought maybe my bowling practice on the wii would carry over to real bowling but no such luck.

Sunday, July 12

Happy Birthday to me - I turned 29. I celebrated by relaxing and not doing a darn thing. How did I take 29? Surprisngly well, it didn't bother me. I had a hard time with 25 but 29 - piece of cake. We'll see how next year goes.

Taste of Minnesota and the fourth

2009-07-07T17:09:00.004-05:00

Every year over the fourth of July is the Taste of Minnesota. It's a festival with fair food and cheap concerts. We've gone in the past and saw Sly and the Family Stone, Alice Cooper and Soul Asylum.

This year we went with Chet and Anji to see White Snake and Judas Priest. Yikes is the best I can say about it. Going in, I knew that I would be in for a surprise as I only knew one song by White Snake (I was hoping I would know more but nope, I didn't).

I did a lot of people watching while Anji was jamming out and holy smokes the outfits that were worn by some of the women - Glamour don'ts would have been all over it! If you want specifics, email me!!

Saturday was spent lounging around the house. We went to Sears and looked at freezers and then went to Kowalski's which is a gorgeous upscale grocery store (upscale by my standards) to buy food for lunch. Joe grilled and then we watched Friday the 13th (I had nightmares Sunday night) and Gran Torino.

Then it was over to Ray's to help him (Joe helped him) move some furniture. After that we went to Travis' to watch the fireworks. Travis and his neighbors set them off every year and it was great, although my heart did stop a couple times when it looked like the tree might start on fire.

Sunday Joe had to work a little bit and then it was off to Sears to buy the freezer we looked at on Saturday. We're so excited to have one!! After we got home we (Joe) removed this cabinet thing in the basesment to make room for the freezer but we're still not sure if it will fit in that spot. We might have to find a new one.

After that we watched Milk (yes, it was a weekend of movies) and I loved it!! LOVED IT!! It was the story of Harvey Milk and Sean Penn was amazing - he really is a fabulous actor. It was probably one of the best movies I have seen in a long time. And that was our weekend. Not super exciting but that was fine, we'll have plenty of crazy weekends the end of July (Amy's shower), August (Amy's bachelorette party) and September (Amy and Luke's wedding).bb

And we're done

2009-06-27T08:16:00.003-05:00

With yard projects for the rest of this year.

Thursday was Joe's birthday and he took yesterday off. We spent the morning cleaning and finishing the back patio. Last night it finally cooled off some so we sat outside and had a beer and enjoyed our new patio.

Before:

After:

One year ago today...

2009-06-25T05:19:00.002-05:00

I started this blog with this, this and this post. I can't believe it has already been one whole year - time certainly does fly.

Thanks for reading and here's to year number 2!

An easy meal

2009-06-23T18:01:00.003-05:00

What do you get with left over chicken, rice, eggs and frozen veggies? Homemade chicken fried rice!

Ingredients:
Rice
3 eggs
1/2 cup - cup of chicken (diced)
1/2 bag of frozen veggies
soy sauce
plum sauce (optional)

Directions
Make eggs like you would for scrambled eggs. Once done, set aside on plate. Place frozen veggies in pan and cook til heated. Add diced chicken, rice and soy sauce. Cook til heated through.

I also added 2 tbsp of plum sauce which I had on hand from another recipe. I was super surprised at how good this was and how big of a meal leftovers can make.

Happy Father's Day

2009-06-21T06:35:00.002-05:00

Happy Father's Day to all the Dad's out there.

And to my Dad - Thanks for being the best dad a gal could ask for! Wish we could be there to celebrate with you. PS - Thanks for the call this morning!! :)

Does it ever end?

2009-06-17T12:43:00.007-05:00

Last weekend Joe and I finally decided to tackle the other side of our front yard so it matches the other side.

I was thrilled to have help this year and Joe actually started Friday when he got home from work. I had borrowed "the claw" from a friend last year and Joe used that to start. However, by Saturday morning, Joe had rented a tiller which made life oh so much easier.

Not only did we "rip up" the front yard, we also ripped up some of the backyard. When we bought the house 2 years ago (I can't believe it has been 2 years!!) there was a kennel in the back that we haven't done anything with. We've debated about what to do with that area and finally decided to rip it up and lay rock (similar to mom and dad's backyard). However, that is still a work in progress.

Here are some before pictures:

Front yard before

Front yard before

Old kennel area

Kennel area minus the super heavy brick

Joe and Tony working hard

After

Yes, this is still what that area looks like. We wanted to get the front accomplished and this will be our next project. Right now it is covered with tarp and has now turned into a little swimming pool because we finally got rain. Now for the "after" shots of the front yard!!

View from front door

View from sidewalk

After lots of bags of mulch, rock, more mulch and more rock we finally finished around 3 pm on Saturday afternoon. We were both ready to do nothing and nothing is what we did for the rest of the night. I woke up Sunday, surprisingly, not as sore as I thought which meant I must have spent more time supervising this year.

Anyway, Joe and I love our front yard now, although he does have to grow some grass along the rock. Hopefully if it stops raining, we'll be able to tackle the back this weekend and then no more yard projects until next year.

The 100th post

2009-06-17T12:38:00.003-05:00

Yep - this is post number 100 and next week will be one year that I started blogging. I suppose if I wouldn't have taken that one, nice long break from blogging, I probably would have hit #100 a little bit sooner but oh well.

You'd probably think that I would do something "memorable" for the 100th post but nope - just gonna throw it out there that this number 100.

Hostas - the new weed?

2009-06-17T12:27:00.002-05:00

Seriously? Can they get any bigger? I actually dug out this one because it was so huge and I had to jump on the shovel to split it. It split into 5 or 6 hostas, I don't remember exactly. I dug up two more and figured I save the front ones for next year.

This one is coming out next year!!

The other thing I don't like about gardening is how quickly they die. This is a beautiful iris and they looked so nice for about a week. Then rain came and they're all dead.

Thankfully, this little pot always has flowers in bloom and I love it. If I didn't have to plant them every year, I would have a whole yard full of flowers like the ones below:

Congratulations Derek

2009-06-15T08:29:00.003-05:00

Hi Derek,

Congratulations on your graduation. Joe and I heard the party was great and we wish we could have been there to celebrate with you!

Way to go Derek!!

Love,

Brooke and Joe

Happy Anniversary

2009-06-15T08:28:00.001-05:00

Happy Anniversary...

Uncle Artie and Aunt Lori - June 13th

Happy Birthday!

2009-06-15T08:26:00.003-05:00

Happy Birthday...

Amy Lou - June 4th

Uncle Mike - June 19th

Joe - June 25th

Savana - June 28th

Hope your days are fabulous!!

I'm famous!!

2009-05-28T15:43:00.002-05:00

Well maybe, sort of, kind of, I don't know, I'm not sure.

For work, we started a LinkedIn group to talk about B2B Lead Generation - I know, not the most interesting topic but hey, it's what I do for a living.

Anyway, in the 3 weeks since we have launched this group, we have had 1600+ people join the group. Today I was sent an email from one of the group members saying he wrote a blog post mentioning our group on LinkedIn and I was mentioned - heck, I was a subtitle in the blog!! (Go for Brooke)!!

Brian and I are mentioned towards the bottom if you care to skip to the good part:
http://goldencompass.com/blog/anti-social-networking-disorder/

Attention - Brian's Gig

2009-05-25T12:55:00.004-05:00

Hey everyone in ET - Brian asked me to let everyone know he will be playing at Sammy's on Friday, June 12.

Time is to be announced. Will post when I know more!!!

Congratulations Luke!!!

2009-05-25T12:51:00.005-05:00

Luke graduated on May 16th with a Bachelor's in Finance. Way to go!! Here are some pictures of the awesome day!!

Luke and his parents

Luke, Amy and his Grandma Jean

Amy and Luke at dinner

Sunday, 5/24: So long, farewell

2009-05-24T09:27:00.006-05:00

Amy and Luke driving away

Sunday morning Amy and Luke headed back to WI. Again, Luke and Joe played NHL 08 while Amy and I packed the car and practiced wedding updo's.

It was really sad to see them leave. It was so much fun having them here. There was a lot of bonding between Joe and Luke this weekend and this really makes me want to move back to WI.

I bought powerball tickets last night in hopes of winning the 192 million but no such luck. Hopefully in a few years Joe and I will be back in WI and living right next door to Amy and Luke!