a good education

for the entire month of september, drew and a friend
were in charge of cleaning up around the 2 tables their class sits at for lunch.



if drew learns nothing else as a 3rd grader ...

at least i know he now knows how to effectively clean up after a meal ;)

a rocky day

drew has been bugging us to go to duluth

not sure why ...
(well i shouldn't question it. he also wanted to go to south dakota)
not sure what he expected to see ...
BUT ...
sunday gave him the perfect chance to see what he had been waiting for.

while stacey and his friend lee visited with another friend in duluth -
i got the chance to spend the afternoon with drew and alex.

we climbed on the rocks,
we shopped,
we climbed on the rocks,
we threw rocks,
we climbed on the rocks,
we watched the lift bridge,
we climbed on the rocks ...



it was a really fun afternoon

we decided that next time ...

i want ben to be with us
drew wants more time to climb on the rocks
and
alex wants to climb on the rocks more too.

thinkin i should find some rocks for them to climb on around here ;)

these are the people in my neighborhood

it's been a crazy week ...

one where i am extremely thankful for good friends

and good neighbors!


we are so blessed to have each of you in our lives ;)

every now and then ...

every now and then it takes something out of the ordinary to remind me ...

* that even when my life seems crazy - it's really not.

* that i am married to an incredible guy.

* that i am surrounded by a GREAT family.

and

* that i am truly blessed.

i have officially been reminded that

life is fragile

each day is precious

and

that any husband that will call and ask for tampons and advil from the front desk is a true treasure :)

countdown to outdoor baseball

this season is the twins last season in the metrodome.

starting in the spring of 2010 the twins will be found at target field -
a brand new outdoor stadium on the opposite side of the city
with no roof ...
IN MINNESOTA ...
ya ... makes perfect sense.
i know.

ANYWAY ...
that has created an official countdown to outdoor baseball

AND ...
a need for me to create just a few more memories before it's all said and done.

SO ...
today we took the boys to the twins game.

we needed to get in ...

JUST ...

one more game at the metrodome ...

one more climb ALL the way to the top ...

one more chance to take it all in ...

one more dome dog ...

one more helmet sundae ...

one more trip around the outfield ...

and one last run around the metrodome bases ...

unfortunately alex fell asleep on the way down to the field to run the bases.
we did everything we could to wake him up because he had been REALLY excited.
BUT ...
there is only SO much you do to wake a 3 yr old
before you cross the line into waking a monster ;)
SO ...
the pictures of him sleeping in stacey's arms on the field will have to do.
poor guy.

it was a little bittersweet

as a family we have really enjoyed twins baseball for the past 10 years.
(and i have for even longer than that with my family)

NOW ... i know THAT is not ending.

we still have our twins

we still have the greasy hotdogs, nachos, and helmet sundaes to look forward to next season

hopefully they'll still even let the kids run the bases periodically

BUT ...

it's going to be different

twins baseball and the metrodome go hand in hand.

and ... really ... how can you have a dome dog when you aren't in a dome?

SO ...

i'm still a little unsure about a baseball stadium that it isn't always dry and 70 degrees ...

BUT ...

i have 7 months to get used to it ;)

-------------------
good luck in the post-season twins (well, maybe) ...

we'll see you at target field in 2010.

AND ...

as for the metrodome ...

we'll miss visiting you ...

and we're sorry for the football team you are left with
we believe REAL football teams play on REAL grass

teddy bear teddy bear

early in the summer i heard about the teddy bear park ...

BUT ...

we never made the time to go there ...

UNTIL today!

and all i can say is ...



i can't believe we didn't go sooner!!



what a ...

SUPER CUTE ...

SUPER CLEAN ...

SUPER FUN park!!

a park that ...

for the record ...

is not ONLY a bunch of teddy bears ...

but has turf, sand, a train, slides, sun, shade, tunnels ...

AND a whole lot of teddy bears ;)

blessings from drew

just when i start to think that i haven't had enough 'funny drew stories' lately ..
out of nowhere i am completely blessed ...

------------------------------

i was going through drew's take home folder this morning
and i came across this post it note ...



i was curious who's number he had written down -
so i asked him.

'well ... i borrowed one of my teacher's books on the vikings.
i found their phone number and i wanted to write it down
so that i could call and see if brett favre had a little time
that he could just stop up here and say hey,
because i wouldn't mind meeting him'

--------------------------------------
THEN ...

drew and i were riding in the car and out of nowhere he said ...

'mom i have decided that i am going to be a celebrity.
i'm thinking that's going to be my best shot at getting all the girls to want me'

----------------------------------------------

AND ...

yesterday, drew and i were talking about where we live and where he'd like to live if he could ...

he told me that he thinks wisconsin is where he'd like to live
because wisconsin definitely feels like his REAL home ...
like ...
he lives here and stuff ...
but when he's in wisconsin is when he feels like he is REALLY home ...
and it is NOT because of the smell of manure ...
it's just cuz wisconsin ...
well it's his real home.

(now ... i have NO idea where this came from. drew has never lived in wisconsin.
we just visit there A LOT -
especially lately since stacey has become SLIGHTY obsessed with golfing with my family)

all i can say is ...
apparently all you relatives are doing a good job at making him think he should live there...
AND ...
it's a good thing its up to me, not him ;)

--------------------------------------------

i love you so much, drew.
you think so much deeper than i EVER have ...
you put no limitations on your ideas and i LOVE that
(well, usually. ha ha)
thank you for making me smile ;)

happy 29th, again ;)

more important than football kick off ...

yesterday was stacey's birthday!

we tried to make it special for him from start to finish ...

the boys wanted to start his day off by surprising him with some signs when he woke up ...

FIRST ... drew started him off with a sign right on our doorway ...

JUST in case he had forgotten ;)

then ... they worked on putting up signs all over the rest of the house

(here are a few of them)

THEN ...

to finish the day we took him to don pablo's ...

you will notice that we weren't quite prepared for the 80 degrees and sun that came with watching 2 football games back to back ;) stacey got some nice tan lines ;)

i hope that you had a nice birthday, stacey.

another year of craziness ...

another year of nonstop noise ...

and another year of loving you and being so thankful that you are in my life.

LOVE YOU ...

and happy 29th birthday, again ;)

kick off

although we've been practicing for weeks ...

today was the official kick off to football
for the barnett boys with back to back games.

both of their teams lost today ...

but that didn't change the fact that it was REALLY fun to watch!

crazy how football gear can make them all look so old, huh ;)

LOST

this little boy ...



has had a very long week ...

although i have been having a lot of fun with him ...
and i have loved spending one on one time with him that i don't normally get ...

i can tell that he hasn't quite adjusted to this new 'school routine'.

he really misses drew and ben.
by about 10 a.m. every morning he starts asking if it's time to go get 'the boys' yet.

we started out the week playing a lot of games to kill time ...

but then i won hullabaloo ...

ONCE ...

and now he won't play with me anymore ...

he'll only play alone ;)
and then at the last minute jump on whichever piece is the winning one

go figure.

i'm thinking that this little boy ...

may have needed preschool a little more than i thought ;)

bits of wisdom from drew

tonight in the car we were talking about going to a funeral

because stacey's grandpa died tonight :(

ben's first response was ..

'awww ... i hate funerals. it's just crying people everywhere.'

drew's immediate rebuttal?

' i love funerals. you get free lunch.'

------------------------------

THEN ...

tonight ...

we stopped at chipotle to pick up dinner ...

(mmmmmm) ...

as i was eating i said 'i love chipotle'

drew said 'so do i. chipotle holds our family together.'

-----------------------------------

smart kid ;)

first day!

today was the official beginning to the 2009-2010 school year for drew and ben



they were dressed and ready to go at 6:40 AM ...

and outside waiting for the bus by 8:30 ...
(even though it isn't supposed to come until 8:50)

they were just a LITTLE excited to start the new year!





the only downside ...
that alex couldn't go with them ;)
not that i'm ready to give him up, yet ...
well ... ok sometimes i am :) but that's another post.
by 10 am he was already asking for them,
and telling me how much he missed them.



poor guy ...
i have a feeling it is going to be a really long week while he gets used to life without them

i'm thinking lots of starbucks -
for both of us ;)

a fun surprise

this weekend we got a fun surprise from some friends from back in WI!

it was so nice to catch up ...

to have an older boy, who the boys LOVED spending time with, keeping our boys occupied ...

to get a glimpse into what life with a teenage girl is like ...
(we love you steph ...
and i still stand by my statement that you ROCK at drumming ...
we should start a band ;)
if only your mom would do vocals)

AND ...

to eat lots of good food
(i'm pretty sure we spent over 1/2 the time that they were here eating -
BUT ... as long as we all enjoyed it ...
right?!?!?!)

thanks for coming over to see us guys!!
we miss you!!

the great get-together

last night we went to the state fair

it was a GORGEOUS day/night to be out
( i was kind of wishing i would have gone earlier in the day so i could have taken in more -
BUT ... in the end, being there for 6 hours reminded me that my kids don't enjoy walking QUITE as much as i do -
and it's a good thing i didn't)



we knew there were quite a few things that we wanted to do -
things that we do each year that the boys look forward to -

* help on 'the farm'

* ride a few rides

* get chocolate chip cookies and then head to the unlimited milk booth

* visit the baby animals barn

* eat ourselves sick on hot fries

* ride the giant slide

* eat fresh roasted corn on the cob

*ride the skyway at night

BUT ...
this year as we walked around we decided to just have a little fun and randomly add things to the list -

* we tried deep friend peanut butter cups

*we rode the trolley

* the boys tried chocolate covered bacon
(sounds NASTY to me - but they liked it - so whatever)

* we went on the BIG midway bumper boats
(SO SO SO fun ... we rode them twice
and they are definitely going to be something we do again!
if you plan to go to the fair -
skip the lame kiddie bumper boats and TOTALLY take them on the big ones!
you'll get wet - but suck it up ;) ha ha)



what i am pretty sure the boys would say was their favorite part of the fair,
however,
was the x-games area.

we watched last year -
but that didn't change their reaction this year.
all 3 sat with their jaws dropped -
in complete awe -
as these skateboarders and BMXers did AMAZING tricks.



NOW ...
i get it.
it is truly amazing to watch.
they are SO talented ...
and SO SO SO brave.

however,
for the record ...
if my boys never decide to take up skateboarding or bmxing ...
i am completely fine with that ;)
those guys are CRAZY!!!

but ...
then again ...
so are we.

i did, afterall, post on facebook that my highlight of the fair was watching all of the fun people that come out at night -
and mention that i found it hilarious watching one girl knock another girls wig off her head while they fought ;)

boredom

sometimes ...

waiting at football practice gets a little looooonnnnng ...

and you just have to create a little crazy fun with what you've got ...