Hugs!

One of the most special moments in my life was when my brother, Shawn and I took our entire tax returns along with some money we saved up and decided to blow it all on hotel room and shopping in the Twin Cities. It was like we were kings for a day. If we wanted it we bought it. I think another very special memory that I have is when my brother, Josh and I decided to head down to the Xcel Energy Center to watch the High School Hockey Tournament together. It was him and I and some good old fashion hockey. I know I could talk the whole day on all the special memories that I have shared with my brothers over the course of my life but that isn't what I'm trying to do. What I am trying to point out is that I'm pretty sure Easton, Owen, and Addy won't remember this hug but to me it shows just how much they care for each other and how much FUN they have when they are together and that is the one main ingredient that you need to make many WONDERFUL memories together! I think Shawn, Josh, and I no matter what, always have FUN together and I can only hope they do the same!

Here's to childhood and those special moments that we are all able to share!

Happy Birthday Boys!

At 9:23 AM this morning Easton officially started his journey into the "terrible two's" and one minute later at 9:24 Owen joined him! Ya, It's hard to believe 2 years has already gone by but it has and what a two years it's been! I'm not sure if I'm totally looking forward to this crazy, angry, crabby stage in their life but I wouldn't miss it for the world!

For their birthday Kristi and I decided to take off work and take the kids to the zoo but when it rained Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and yes, Thursday we were 2nd guessing our decision but when we woke up this morning and heard it was going to be 60 degrees and no clouds in sight our doubt quickly turned into us thinking we were the smartest people on the planet and maybe we should change our careers into family event planning.

I know if we started this family planning business it would only be a matter of time before we would be making millions of dollars and the first thing we would buy is our own zoo but I guess until that happens we will just have to be like every other non-zoo owning families and walk along with the rest of the ordinary people and enjoy it that way!

I'm not sure if it had anything to do with 5 straight days of rain or because it was just a beautiful day out but it seemed like all the animals were out and moving around!

I have really no clue where Addy learned this but when we were looking at the elephants, Addy turned and said, "Look Daddy, I'm an elephant!" Here she is doing her impression of an elephant stretching out his/her trunk!

I have to admit when I took this picture all I was thinking about was our blog. I was trying to put both of the boys in 1 shell because in my head I thought it would go great with a comment like, "look a two headed turtle!" but the boys wanted nothing to do with that! They had to have their own. "Really boys you couldn't throw dad a bone?" It has only been 2 hours and they already got this "terrible two" thing down pat!

I think the smartest thing we did was we brought our own lunch! Here I'm trying to keep the kids out of Kristi's hair as she made PB & J's! When we get our family planning business up and running we would be more then happy to also plan your lunches or suppers for your special event. Of course that will cost extra, I mean someone has to feed our zoo animals! Addy had to help mom make the sandwiches!

Owen and Easton absolutely LOVED them and so will you!

I think it's kind of tradition to ride the merry-go-round every time we go to the zoo!

Addy and Easton giving each other one more hug before heading home!

It wasn't only a beautiful day but it was also GREAT birthday, Happy Birthday boys!!!

Addy's Pizza

I'm not sure if I should even mention this but I'm going to do it any way, "I'm addicted to 'America's Next Great Restaurant' on NBC" I'm not sure why but I love it! The only problem with this is it seems every time I fall in love with a show it gets cancelled. The last show I loved was Lone Star on Fox! Ya...it was canceled after three episodes. I literally watched the premier, the middle, and the series finally in the matter of three weeks. Why am I mentioning all this because I think Addy is ready to open her own restaurant. A couple of names that I came up with were, "U Wanna Pizza?", "Y-Not Pizza", or my favorite, "Tequila Mockingbird!" I'm not sure what the last one has to do with pizza but I thought it was funny! Here's Addy working up a storm in the kitchen.

Every pizza she would make would have that perfect amount of sauce. Here she is spreading out the exact amount needed to make the perfect pie! Now....If I was making it I would of just dumped the whole jar on it because I LOVE the sauce but not Addy!

I like this picture because it looks like Addy is giving Kristi the old thumbs up with her free hand and continues to scrape the jar with the other!

"No....mom just a little more cheese and that will do it!"

Here are the finished products! Of course Addy will offer more choices then just cheese at "Tequila Mockingbird" heck she might be so excited to get your business she might even hide things in your tree....ok...that might be a little overboard. How about the girls bathroom named "boo" and the boys named "Radley"....I just need to stop.

It was time!

Owen's first hair cut should of happen a long time ago but for some reason Owen's hair is growing a little differently. He has a lot on the top and a lot in the back but nothing on the side. It's a little crazy but if we waited for that to grow out before we decided to cut it he would be 7.

Here are a couple of pictures just to show how bad it got. These pictures I feel make it look worse then it was but you can tell that he needed it bad.

Here's a good shot to show that he has a lot of hair on the top but nothing on the side.

Easton even thought Owens hair was so bad that he was going to take it upon himself to get him there.

After the hairdresser combed out all his curls his hair looked even worse and made us feel bad.

This is the first hair cut off Owen's head. Does it seem odd to anyone else that we keep our childrens hair and put it in a bag. Why do we do this? I want to know, do you know where the baggy of your hair is? Seems really strange to me! I think if I had a bag of my hair and showed it to my kids they would say, "That's gross dad!"
We decided to take Owen to this place called Belle and Max , located in Bothell. It was a pretty cool shop although Owen didn't want anything to do with getting his hair cut. From start to finish he was in tears the whole time.

Here he is trying to jump from his seat! I think Addy was standing there not to only supervise but to catch him if need be.

"REALLY.....YOU CAN'T DO ANYTHING DAD.....REALLY!"

As soon as he got out of the barber seat he was totally fine and just wanted to play.

His hair is still really hard to do anything with, it's so curly and with it just being on the top and back how do you style it?

After Owen was done it was Eastons turn. As you can see he liked it just as much as Owen did.

Buzz Light Year in one hand....

.....mom's hand in the other!

I was hoping to get a picture of both of them together with their new hair cuts but as hard as we tried it was not going to happen so we just waited till we got home and then snapped a couple of pictures. Here's Owen reading some Green Eggs and Ham. With his curls and light hair I think Owen won't really have a true hair style for a little while but it will come in time.
As you can tell Easton was in no mood for a picture. Earlier in the day she made it so his hair would spike in front which looked really nice but as you can see it kind of laid down by the end of the night. Hopefully we can snap a couple pictures where both of the boys are looking nice for everyone.

Josh's Visit

It took 4 years to get my younger brother, Josh back out to the Pacific Northwest but we finally made it happen and the nicest thing about it was he was just in time for my birthday.

We celebrated my 34 fast and exciting years on this earth and what better way to do it then head out to the Red Hook brewery and do the tour. Josh is kind of a beer buff and likes to try all the different types were I'm like, "I'll have your lightest beer....if it's half water that is fine!" so cheers to me turning 34 and double cheers to my brother coming out and helping us celebrate.

The nicest thing is the tour only cost a buck and you get around 2 1/2 beers during the tour. Josh got around 4 because if it was dark or not to my liking I passed it right on over. I guess the key is if you want to get drunk on a beer tour take me a long with you because you will not only get yours but you'll get half of mine as well.

Kristi and Josh living it up!

Josh and I tearing it up!

While Josh was here we also did the Seattle thing. Rode the monorail, did Pike's Place Market, and ate fish and chips on the Water Front! I think the coolest thing about Josh's trip is that it didn't take Addy any time at all to warm up to him. She still ask, "is Josh coming over again?"

Addy loves buses, monorails, or anything that has to do with public transportation. I'm not exactly no where this loves comes from and seems a little crazy if you ask me but if that's her thing I support that and will probably get her a bus pass for her birthday! Here she is just enjoying the view out the window.

I have to say one of biggest things I have to work on is if the kids get a little out of control in a public place, DON'T PANIC JUST GO WITH THE FLOW! I get a little "on edge" if you know what I'm saying not exactly sure why but I do. Here the kids are getting totally in trouble, out of control, causing complete mayhem right outside of Steamers....ok...maybe not exactly out of control or maybe not even close to mayhem but if there faces don't say trouble I don't know what else does.

Josh spending some time with the kids!

I'm so thankful Josh was able to come and spend some time with us and the kids. I hope we can do it again real soon and maybe next time Laura, Oliver, and the new addition can come as well! (No I didn't forget there babies name! They are due in July) Thanks for coming BRO!

PS - Please give us a call when you land in Minnesota next time so we don't have to call the National Guard out searching for you!

Three Weeks of He(double hockey sticks)

It all starts today! Over the next few weeks instead of working my normal shift (3:30am-noon) I will now be working the night shift (3pm-midnight). It's going to be a big change for me, in fact I don't remember the last time I was up till midnight. It's nothing I did, it's just that we had two people bring in doctor slips saying that they can't operate the trucks, so they had to change someone and of course it's always me. I think it goes with out saying that it's not only going to be tough for me but for Kristi and the kids as well. While I'm at work Kristi will have to feed, bath, and put three kids, all under the age of 3 1/2 to bed on her own and we all know that's no easy task.

I can't lie ever since I heard of the changes last Friday I've been in a real POOR mood,with a short fuse and really NEGATIVE attitude all at the same time. I try to tell myself it's only three weeks but there is more to it then that if you know what I mean.

This being the first night I work 3pm-mid. I was able to bring Addy to school but believe me I was just in a poor mood. We went through the normal drill of putting her backpack and jacket in the wall locker, washed her hands, then headed into her class. In the past when we take her into her room, if she goes in without a problem we would just turn around and leave because we felt it was easier for her that way so automatically that's what I did. Addy went in and I turned around and left. After taking three steps I heard Addy say "Good Bye Daddy, I love you!" and then it hit me. Everything is going to be fine! It's crazy how a three old can change your attitude in a matter of a second. I left being so thankful for that 1 moment I guess I just really needed something and that was it!

Here is Addy before heading into class. I took these pictures so Kristi would have proof that I just didn't bring her in her pajama's and a hat.



Thank you Addy and I have to say, "I love you too!"

Dinner with the Dyk's

In February we tried to get together with the Dyk's for dinner. There response to us was, "check back in March!" Check back in March???? Now, that's a popular family!! When March rolled around we had them check their busy schedule and when they said they were open we put in our reservation. In fact we were so happy to get them we went out and bought one of nicest things we could think of..a Coors Light Mini Keg!! It's only 1.5 gallons of beer but if this doesn't scream, "SPECIAL MOMENT!" I don't know what else does!

We were so excited that they accepted our invitation that we wanted to go all out so we went and got a Spiraled Ham, made green bean casserole, and Texas Style potato's. It was pretty much a Holiday Dinner in March and if you think it was easy to find a Spiraled Ham when it's not a holiday, your CRAZY. I first scanned the whole store trying to find one then I decided to ask the person at the meat counter. Her first answer was no but she told me she would check. She then went in the back room and asked the HEAD butcher who came out in his white uniform covered in blood and said, "You looking for a ham!" "I was to scared to say NO so I replied, Yes" "I have a couple and I tell you right now that after you eat it, it will bring a tear to your eye!" I almost felt like I was doing a drug deal right there in the middle of our Safeway and I wasn't talking to the low end dealers any more I was talking to the head boss who just took care of someone who betrayed him! I was telling myself if he says I will have a tear in my eye by GOD I'm going to be wheeping over this stupid ham


Here are the boys enjoying their dinner.

We ran out of room so Addy and Andrew had to have a little picnic in the living room!

I'm not kidding when I tell you that Addy knows how to run an iphone better then I do. I have a Blackberry so when I get an iphone I pretty much just stare at it and have no clue what to do where Addy is already browsing pictures and playing games. Here I'm guessing Andrew told Addy, "I just texted you!" Too Funny!

Here is the whole group(Easton and Owen had already gone to bed). We all had a really good time.

Kristi and I are already talking about when the next time we want to have dinner with the Dyk's because we want to get our reservation in before they are booked thru October. I'm just kidding Dyk's! Thanks for a great time!