The fun things we do.

There was so many 'fun' things that went on in the Herdina house

this week.

There were also not so fun things like me still being

quite sick.  I'm fortunate that Luke has the tools

and prescription pad to do me wonders

because I need it.

I've been coughing for a month and I'm now

excited to inform you

that I have raspy lungs,

inflammation in my ribs/lungs from coughing so much,

and I think he mentioned the word

pnemonia yesterday when he prescribed another antibiotic and inhaler!

(These are the select couple days you wish you had daycare for your kids!)

Wow, I've never took so many drugs before in my life,

but at this point, I'll do ANYTHING for this feeling to end.

Well, onto better days and the fun things that happened so far...

Adler forgot his Bob the Builder slippers at Grandma and Grandpa Johnson's. 

(those things are a very hot commodity in our house)

So Grandma stopped by with the 'big rig' to deliver the forgotten slippers

and she also stayed for lunch.

What a treat to see Grandma unexpectedly.

That's right, as the trailer says, she's a 'trucker trainer'

and the ice storm was setting in! 

Good luck students.

The boys had to watch the rig leave

because they knew they'd blow the air horn!

And they did...it was a good send off to their nap.

Adler declared today 'Pajama Day!'

After peeling myself out of bed after a terrible nights sleep

I asked Adler what he wanted to wear

(thinking I am in no shape to change his clothes right now)

and what do you know....he replied, "It's pajama day, we're going to stay in our pj's"

So that's what we did.

I love him,

I love him BIG time today!

p.s. Isn't Brock's hair adorable...Luke thinks it should be cut.

Maybe because he was called a girl this weekend or maybe because 

he has a slight mullet in the back.  I say you should keep baby hair

as long as possible.  I'm not cutting it for awhile! 

Ohh it's so cute! 

Brock learned something new today.

And because he learned how to climb the mini rock wall

to get up on the slide he decided he didn't want to stop

to take his morning nap.

And of course he was

sweaty,

and tired.

Sorry buddy, you needed a nap.

But it started right back up after his nap!

(notice the Bob's on Adler's feet....they're always on!)

I was putting a puzzle together in the basement as the boys played.

I looked over and the boys were starring at their chair

....well no wonder, Olivia was staking her territory.

Ohhh she's funny! 

Other fun things Brocky now does.

When he's getting ready for a bath he stomps his feet

hanging over the bathtub

and waits for me to take off his clothes.

Once I get his pants off he lifts his arms so I can take off his shirt,

then he tries to pull off his diaper.

How exciting bathtime is at this stage!

He just can't wait to play with those bath toys and splash around.

This is Brockster after his bath...enjoying being naked

and still playing with a favorite bath toy.

(It was one of our wonderful garage sale finds....

a vintage sesame street canteen and cover that finally

started taking on water.  It was a sad day when we

actually had to retire the old/used one to buy a 'new' nalgene

modern one.  How I love the 'old' stuff, the kind I used to 

use when I was a kid!)  

Brock also is at a stage where he grabs books and

reads them by himself.

He also brings books to me throughout the day and climbs on my lap

as if he's positive that I'm his personal reader at any time!

(well I guess I am!)

This is Brock in his 2nd pj outift.

You see... it was pajama day,

but it was also bath day,

so that means we had to actually get out of our pj's

and back into some new ones!

(the only downside to pj day, maybe next time we'll plan it better

on a non-bath day)

Brock also is at a stage where he loves bringing 'his' toys

out of his room.  I went in his room tonight

after a spurt of silence to see what he was up to

and he was reading his baby bible

and Goodnight Moon (his favorite).

Ohh he's so sweet.

Then he went to bed.

Goodnight my little one.

Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving is someone's favorite holiday in our family,

can you guess who that might be?

Of course it's my hubby!

The one who says he always ate 2 BIG suppers every night growing up.

The one who says he's hungry 2 hours after we eat supper.

Why wouldn't he LOVE Thanksgiving?  It's all about eating!

Here are a few pictures from this past weekend.

We stayed overnight at Grandma and Grandpa Herdina's

They watched the boys so we could actually go out to eat

with NO kids!

It was so nice, we have not done that forever.

In the meantime, Adler was attached to Grandma (as he always is)

and they decided to watch Frosty before bed.

Then we spent the night at Grandpa and Grandma Johnson's.

They watched the boys so we could go shopping

early in the morning with NO kids.

(Now that has never happened and it was SO wonderful!) 

The boys played all day with Gabe.

And as usual we went to Turck's Trees for a tractor wagon ride

and to see the 'real' reindeer.  Adler told us he was going to find Rudolph

with his red nose.

Needless to say, Rudolph must have been busy

'playing reindeer games or something' as we told him.

Adler kept saying 'peew' to the smell of the reindeer poop,

that's when we had to hear all about dad's childhood

and how he had to clean the pig barns every morning

and how much worse that smelled.

Ohhhh my.

Dad with the boys and cousin Gabe on the tractor ride.

(Don't you love Gabe's wolf hat!)

In the meantime, I left early to visit with a bunch of my girlfriends.

Ohh I love seeing them and their kids!

(Too bad I left my kids with daddy! haha)

It's so nice spending time with family and friends....what a happy Thanksgiving!

Today...a better day.

One of the best days.  A family day.  It was what we needed, what I hoped for, and it was wonderful.

First of all I NEVER get a sleepy baby picture of Brock

because if you open his door, he instantly wakes up and stands up

ready for you to pick him up.

He sleeps good, but the fan must be going

and there can be no loud noises.

So when I opened the door to wake him up

(yes I wake my kids up if they're sleeping past 4pm!)

he was still sleeping....I had to grab the camera.

How sweet he is. 

We love him to pieces.

We decorated our Christmas tree this weekend.

We always take a picture of us putting the angel

on the tree.

I don't know why, but it's something we just do.

This year Adler got to do it!

Our tree filled with all of our special ornaments.

And the smell of a Christmas tree is so delightful!

I told Adler tonight at supper that I love Christmas

(Luke giggled at me)

then Adler said, "I love Christmas too!"

How funny.

As I said today was a great day.

Despite the warnings to not drive on the ice storm

that was still all over the road...

we drove to the Children's Museum.

And it was SO worth the trip.

The boys played for hours. 

They loved it so much.

And we loved watching them have fun

and play.

Adler was 'working hard to get blocks

shipped to Target'. 

They have such creative things to do.

It's amazing.

Before shipping the blocks they had to be weighed (of course!)

Too bad he can't see anything with his hard hat.

He refused to stop 'working'.

So we just supervised.

If you can see Adler got the blocks lined up

in the back of the delivery truck.

And Brock and him got that shipment delivered...

just in time!

Brock would not stop driving the truck.

After the Children's Museum we drove to Maple Grove to eat some lunch

at Granite City. 

For some reason I have been craving that place

so it was so nice to finally get there.

The food was amazing.  The service was even better.

And we were very full and happy.

Then we got home to watch the Vikes pull off

another loss.

I was almost embarrassed to have Adler wear his Vikes shirt today.

But he wanted to wear it...I wanted to burn it (after their game).

Then the boys woke up from their naps,

we played,

and played,

and played.

Dad and Adler really pulled off a new trick tonight!

(Do you like his pants?!  I mean Luke's of course)

My personal Paul Bunyan.

And Olivia even had a great day. 

She got to take a nap when we were

out on the town

and she watched us play all afternoon.

It even wore her out.

Adler still gave her a hug and kiss before bed

even though she was sleeping.

Brock wants in on the action too!

And yes he runs around the house in his onsie

because he sweats so much with all that cute chubbiness!

Getting naked before bath time!

Who's got the bigger tummy?

I know who...and it's not Adler.

(p.s. they both weigh the same now)

And to end our day...

a nice warm bath.

We are SO lucky to have such a great family.

I love you Luke, Adler and Brock.

This past week.

This past week has been a bit of a rollercoaster...from some difficult days to some of the best days.  My sister has been to several hospitals in the last month on a mission to find the cause of her headaches/pain/vomiting.  Sounds fun right?  Well not so much....everyone works and also tries to find time to visit my sis and someone also needs to help watch the little fella.  So we sometimes have Gabe stay with us, which Adler and Brock love, but Gabe misses his normalcy and so you can see where the difficult days come into the picture (and remember my previous post of not feeling so good myself...we're still trying to recover from whatever we have for a cold bug....errrr).  But anyway, she's at the Mayo now and they'll hopefully figure things out so we can have a happy Thanksgiving.  Our family needs it....Lord willing.

So onto some of the latest Herdina happenings...

Olivia has found a new best friend.

Not to replace her bond with Adler,

but to add to her friendships...Mr. Brock

has made the list.

They play everyday, which always looks

something like this.

Brock swinging his big arms at her face

and Olivia pretending she's going to bite

while she viciously growls.

What love!

More play time.

p.s. Adler and Brock give 'Livy'

a big hug and kiss every night too.

Gosh they love her!

(we do too!)

Brock is quite the helper.

Almost daily I let him know when he can go

in his brother's room

to wake him up.

Adler naps from 1-4pm (Brock 1-3:30pm) and he needs to get up at 4pm

so he can get back to bed at 8pm!

What a sleeper. 

When Brock goes in his room Adler gets a little upset

because he says, "I'm still tired".

Goodness...what a boy!

Here's a picture of his first attempt.

Adler did not come out of his room with Brock's first attempt,

so this is his second try!

It worked...kind of. 

Brock loves having Gabe around.

He's showing Gabe the 'ropes' with how to

zoom on the kitchen floor with the Einstein car.

Watching dad (uncle Luke) get our Christmas tree ready!

Before bed they had to make sure they watched

John Deere Heaven under their tent.

How fun to spend your childhood with your cousins.

Apparently because Gabe likes cold pizza

Adler does too.

Having fun in the bath before bed.

Everyone wrestles, plays, fights, shares, does not share

and they wouldn't change anything.

Looks like Gabe is head slammin' Brockster.

(and Brock giggles)

It's the most wonderful time of the year.

I absolutely LOVE Christmas!  Who wouldn't....it's when Jesus was born.  Shouldn't we all be excited for it to come ALL year! haha  I remember telling Luke many months ago that I just can't wait for Christmas...and I'm so happy, because the time has come to get out the decorations and start listening to that joyous music (that is already on the radio!).  

This year was an especially fun year because

Adler is old enough to fill the advent calendar & enjoy

all the candy that is inside.  I always remember opening up our

chocolate filled calendars when I was growing up...I hope the boys will

enjoy this tradition too. 

Our stockings are hung!  We do not have a fireplace (how sad)

which I very much miss, but maybe someday we will have one.

Until then, they will hang over our patio door.

We were so excited about the recent snowstorm,

that the boys got all bundled up

and made frosty the snowman

and went sledding

with dad. 

You can't see why this moment is so sweet.....

Rudolph the rednose reindeer is playing on the tv,

the Christmas lights are glowing,

and we're already in our pj's snuggling on the couch.

Adler watching one of his new favorites.

We own the best collection of Christmas favorites.

I can't wait to watch White Christmas!

(I feel I should wait until after Thanksgiving for that one though)

I should make mention to the terrible

coughing,

runny noses,

soar throat,

and everything else

that our family has had for the last month (on and off).

Where is all this coming from? 

Please go away so we can get out of the house

and I can shower and feel presentable. Ahhhh.

(This picture is a perfect example of what we've been doing all day...

laying on the couch in pj's!) 

Grandma Glad.

What a surprise!  Grandma Glad stopped by yesterday to play.  

We love her.

Things we do EVERY day.

We have a routine that plays out just about the same every day.  We wake up around 7am, eat breakfast (if dad is home he has breakfast ready for us when we get out of bed...how sweet!).  We take off for the "Y" so the boys have some good play time with others and I get to workout without interuption!  By the time we get home it's Seasame Street and snack time (naptime for Brock)....then playtime, eat, nap, playtime, eat, bedtime!  What a life....and we love it.

Every day the boys make sure they get the lawn mowed.

Every day they smile so sweetly and copy each other

(well mostly Brock trying to be Adler in every way!

Don't mind Brocks red mouth...he just successfully ate his first popsicle

all by himself, because Adler did too and remember he's just like him.)

Taking a break on the steps from all that mowing.

Every day Adler puts together puzzles.

All by himself!

(just like his mother...I LOVE puzzles and I will

not sleep until they are finished.)

Every day we wave goodbye to daddy as he drives to work.

Then we play on the couch until someone falls off.

Every day I put ALL the pots and pans back into the cabinet.

I should say every day and ALL day long.

Every day the boys tackle and wrestle. 

Life is SO much fun with two boys!

What will be missed.

The weather has been SO beautiful for November!  We have been outside for the last week making the most of it.  Everytime we're outside it reminds me of the days ahead when snow will soon cover our lawn and we will be unable to do much of anything, except sled down our hill.  This simple exception of being able to sled down our hill does not mean the boys can freely ride down on their sleds when they want....we have a steep slope, many trees, and a wetland marsh at the bottom of the hill, which means if they want to sled mom and dad must have the desire to sled too.  Thank goodness I bought Luke some new snowpants, because his previous pair was from middle school (I think.... they have to be if you've seen them!).  He looked like a puffy marshmellow (black) Michelin man.  He could have cared less, ohhh he's so funny!  But because everytime he wore them, whether it was skiing at Powder Ridge or just playing outside, the only thing I could do was laugh and hope that other people who saw him didn't think he just bought them, but understood that he's too cheap to buy new ones!  If I can find a pic of those black puff logs I'll be sure post it.

Ooops I got off course, but that was fun to think about!

Things that will be missed when Winter truely comes and we can no longer throw on a coat and shoes and head outside....

...the people who fly in these contraptions over our house.

We love watching them.

...running around and playing on our deck while I make lunch and supper.

Now onto finding something else to keep them busy!

(p.s. this is his new 3T shirt...he just turned 1, big boy!)

...eating lunch with daddy on the deck.

....pushing lawnmowers all around the yard and in the driveway. 

We have 7 push mowers if you can believe it, and they ALL get used. 

(I'll pay tribute to them in a later post, because they are SO special at our house!).

...getting rides from daddy on the lawnmower

and getting rides from grandpa Wayne on the tractor and bobcat

and getting rides from grandma Yvonne on the ranger.

...playing on our two swingsets.

We're excited for Spring though when daddy is going to give them a facelift

and build a bridge from one fort to the other!  ohh happy day.

...biking, triking, riding the gator, pushing the wagon up and down the road 

and round-and-round the cul de sac in our neighborhood.  

We LOVE our quiet road and I think we secretly entertain our neighbors,

well at least I know Olivia does when she runs after them! 

...we will miss so many things, but these especially.

(p.s. I'm SO excited for Christmas though!)

Bye bye fun outside toys...see you next Spring.

maybe with the exception of the lawnmowers...we still mow in our driveway

when dad snowblows a path!