New Pictures and a couple videos:)

White cloud Tetras


Black skirt tetra

These ones were really hard to keep up to!

Fish!

Here is one of the fish pictures Jason took. I will take a few close up of them when I can. Here they are still in there seperate bags. The fish are doing good, one of the black skirted tetras is white which means he is still a little stressed out. But all the other ones are doing good. Swimming around in their schools:)

Our family has grown:)

We have some new additions to our family. Today after my fun day of watching the kids(which went really well!) we went fish shopping! When we got to the pet store the guy who was there was a huge help. He knew his fish. He said that because our tank was so big we could get up to 10 fish. So we came home with 10 Tetras. 5 of one kind and 5 of another. I had to work late(8:00) so Jason took a few pictures of them I haven't looked at them but might post one tomorrow if they aren't blurry!(Jason tends to blur the pictures:)) I am so excited to see fish moving around in the tank. I hope they all survive the next few days. They are so fun to watch. The Tetras move around in schools of fish.

OK off to bed just had to let all of you know that we now have fish:)

Wish me luck!

I am going to be very busy tomorrow! I am going to be watching 9 kids during the day and 3 more when they come off the bus in the afternoon:) Thank goodness the weather has started to warm up and we will be able to get outside and run off some energy! A friend of mine runs a daycare and she asked me last year if I would be interested in watching the kids when she takes a day off. I said yes. I have done this a few times for her. The kids are usually really good!

On a side note we might go and get our fish tomorrow night if I don't have to work:)

We were outside again today. We went down to mom and dads and took a walk on their paved road. The kids road bikes up and down the road many times, while I raked up part of the back yard. The ice is starting melt off the lake. We were actually able to see the bottom of the lake today in there front yard. Although it was a small area, soon the whole thing will be melted and we will be swimming, skiing and taking boat rides. Can't wait:)

It was warm today!!!!!

Wow I can't believe it. It was almost 70 degrees today! However it was also extremely windy. Things were flying all over. Which worked out to my advantage when I was weeding the garden and getting rid of the straw that was around my clematis's. All I had to do was raise my arms up and off it would fly to the empty lot next to us:)

Oh I has been beautiful:):):):):):) Yesterday we were outside for the afternoon. I was able to rake the rocks out of the grass from the snow plows going by last winter. The kids were tired by bed time. Alexis had gymnastics last night and didn't say much on the way home she was trying to concentrate on keeping her eyes open!

I worked tonight and came home to watch the Biggest Loser which Jason taped for me:) I was so happy with the results. All of the contestants did such a wonderful job of changing there lives. They looked amazing! I don't know what I will do for motivation now:) Actually I do have a few friends all working on lifestyle changes so I can lean on them:) It has been a year since I started working out and eating better and I have kept off 22 pounds:) Now I still would like to lose 13 more in the next year. Hopefully before the year is done:)

Our aquarium is almost complete:)

We have been working very hard to fill and set up our fish tank. It took about a week and a half to fill with the RO water. On Saturday we found some rock to put in the tank for the fish to hide in and around. We also finalized the layout with the weeds. We are very happy with the results. Now we will wait until next weekend to get a few fish to add to it to complete the nitrogen cycle. Once those fish are doing ok in the tank and after a couple weeks we will do a partial water change and will be able to add more fish. I can't wait to go fish shopping next weekend:)

The weather has been very icky lately. It started raining last Thursday and got colder, it rained all day Friday and into Saturday it started snowing! UGH is it ever going to stop!!!!! Well today the weather was a bit warmer and it sounds like the rest of the week is suppose to get warmer too. We will see!

On Saturday we went to a birthday party for Colin our friend we watched last weekend. The party was at Pump It Up, which is a party building with lots of inflatable jumping areas and slides for kids. The kids had such a fun time. They didn't want to stop jumping. After the party we did the shopping for our fish tank.

We were able to get out and have a walk with the kids today. The kids are loving being able to ride their bikes again.

Here are a few pictures from the weekend:

King Colin! Happy 5th Birthday Colin:) Thanks, for all the fun!

Of course only one picture with mommy.

Yummy!

I finally put up our new family pictures and the Korean word"Family" that I bought. I love how it turned out:)

Our 75 gallon Aquarium

A fun day!

Today was a fun day. Alexis had preschool in the morning. Brayden and I picked her up from school and then we surprised her by bringing her to Subway and the best surprise of all was Aunt Kelly was there to eat lunch with us:) We had a very yummy lunch which included a cookie from Kelly. Then Alexis and I were off to Kindergarten roundup. Brayden went with Aunt Kelly to WalMart to pick up some playdoh(his request) and then to pick up Luke at school.

Alexis and I had fun signing her up for Kindergarten, the school bus and we met one of the kindergarten teachers at her school. She also got a lot of information and school supplies. She even got to sample a cookie from the girl scouts. She came home with a bag which could be used as a backpack, crayons, scissors, stickers, lots of things to color and a few other things. She even got to go fishing, made a necklace and got her face painted. She was so excited and had such a great time. It was really nice to be able to go alone with her.(Thank you Aunt Kelly:)) I think she is really ready for this new venture. I may have to hear about it all summer.

Brayden was deep into the playdoh sand when we got to Kellys. He played with it for a long time until we mentioned popsicles. A favorite of his(I guess food is just a favorite of his!)

I will have to post some pictures when I get them loaded:)

Oh yes:)

And Happy Anniversary to us:) Today marks our 7 year anniversary!

We have survived another busy weekend. I can't believe that tomorrow is Monday already.

On Friday Jason picked up our friends son Colin on his way home from work. He came to stay with us while his parents are dealing with the passing on of their mom. She had cancer and is in a better place right now. No longer in pain. We will be going to her memorial tomorrow night.

Me, mom and Jason's sister Kelly went to a scrapbooking get together on Saturday with his sister Amy who was organizing it. We had lots of fun, I don't know if we got a lot done but we had fun! Jason had the kids all day(he voluntered himself for that one) and did great! Alexis had gymnastics and the weather was in the 60's so there was a lot of playing outside. The kids went to bed really well and played very well together today too. Andrea, Logan and Hayden came to pick up Colin this afternoon, they stayed for dinner and were off to get organized for the day they will have tomorrow.

This week we have Alexis' kindergarten roundup which means we will be signing her up for kindergarten. (Is she really that old already?)

Where are we going mommy!!!!!!!!!!

These are the words that were coming out of Braydens mouth as we were sliding into the ditch on Monday! We are all ok and there isn't even a scratch on the car(Thank goodness)

Me and Brayden and Riley were on our way to picking up Alexis from preschool Monday in a snow/ice storm when we hit a slick spot on the slushyroad and slid sideways into the ditch. I wasn't even going that fast. Luckily there wasn't any cars coming from the other way because we crossed the median and went into the opposite ditch. We just missed a mailbox, sign and a very steep incline.

Luckily I had Laura(who owns the daycare kids I watch once in a while) pick up Alexis and her husband came to pull me out of the ditch with his truck.

We ended up getting around 6 inches of snow and now most of it is gone because the weather is finally warming up.

Please keep this family in your Prayers!

http://cfhusband.blogspot.com/

I have been following this family for a few months now. They could use your prayers.

Trisha has cystic fibrosis, Nate is her husband he writes the blog. To make a long story short they had a baby girl(Gwyneth) who is in the hospital because she was born too early. Gwyneth is doing very well in the NICU. Last night Trisha and Nate got a call that there was a set of lungs that might be a match for Trisha. Unfortunitly they received a call hours later that the lungs wouldn't fit. Please keep them in your prayers and also the donors family. Thank you!

It has been amazing to follow their journey.

Brayden is sick again!

Friday morning Brayden woke up with a few hives. No big deal he's had them many times. I gave him some benadryl. We were off to the zoo for a fun day. We were meeting our friends Andrea, Logan, Colin and Hayden. We had a fun time, the baby animal exhibits were open. We were able to see some baby pigs, chicks and bunnies. On the way home from the zoo Brayden started breaking out more and started having a coughing fit which wouldn't stop. We got home and gave him some benadryl and motrin for a mild fever. I called the doctor and she wanted to see him. She decided she wanted us to make an appointment with a pediatric allergist in Rochester. So now I have to wait for them to call me to see how long it will take to get in. So Saturday, me and mom were on our way to northfield(Target) with Brayden and he starts coughing and doing the same thing as yesterday but worse he was starting to get unresponsive and wouldn't talk to us. His face looked awful I was so scared I was driving very bad(shame on me) about 70 in a 55! Once we got in the Northfield clinic the doctor looked at him right away but at that time he started to be more responsive and was breathing again. He prescribed us Zyrtec, Prednisone, and Benadryl. He also prescribed us an epi pen incase we would need to use that quickly. Today his hives are better they keep appearing and going away and coming back. I don't know how much more I can handle of this! I can't wait to see the Allergist to see what they find. Ugh.

So onward to our exciting news!!!!!! We can officially say our basement is complete! WooHoo! We got our carpet installed yesterday. It looks wonderful and we are so excited to be done:) Well I guess we could use some new furniture, accesories and fish. But there is always something isn't there:)

The weather is also getting warmer. We were able to get outside both yesterday and today and take a walk while the kids biked. I will add a few pictures from the zoo when I get them on the computer:)

This week seems to be flying by I can't believe tomorrow is Friday already. Alexis has been on spring break this week. So we have stayed home and hung out all week long. I learn something new about her everyday.

Yesterday we were able to go for a walk and get outside. It was in the 40's but nice to get outside again. All the snow from last friday has melted and we never got the 8 inches that we were suppose to get last night. So now the ground is all brown again. I was able to look in my flower garden yesterday and wan't able to see anything growing yet. Hopefully soon I will be able to take pictures of my Tulips and Hyacinth. I can't wait for the garden to start growing again.

Here are some extra pictures from Easter:

Some Pics from Easter

I will post more pictures when I get mine downloaded to the computer. These are ones Michelle took.

Us

Brayden and I

My Family

Brian, Michelle, Nicholas and Nathan

Nathan and I

Brayden, Alexis and Nicholas

Happy Easter

We hope everyone had a very Happy Easter.

On Friday we me and the kids traveled down to Iowa with my mom and dad. The car ride went smoothly. A couple naps and a few videos and we were at Uncle Brians and Aunt Michelles. The kids a fun time with their cousins Nick and Nate. When we left on Friday we had just received about 5 inches of snow it was actually still snowing when we left. The weather in Iowa was around the 40's so not to warm but warmer than Minnesota! Jason ended up driving down with Uncle Chris and Aunt Jill in Chris's big rig on Saturday morning. The girls did a little shopping before they arrived. I ended up picking up a dress for Alexis and I, for a wedding we will be going to in June. Oh yes and digital scrapbooking. Saturday night we went to Easter service at Brian and Michelles church. Then we went back to there home and had dinner. Easter morning we woke up to snow falling:)(It followed us down! I don't think the winter will ever end!). We ate Easter lunch, with lots of yummy food. That afternoon we were off to Minnesota. We all had a fun time. The days just flew by.

I will post pics after I get them on the computer:) Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter!

Our Dinosaur Kit

Last week the kids and I took out our dinosaur excavation kit, that I got when I had my Usbourne book party. The kids loved it. It came with the Dinosaur book, the clay rock, glasses and excavating tools. Alexis helped excavate the whole thing, and Brayden helped for a good 20 minutes. I helped Alexis after that and we chipped all the rock away until we discovered all of the dinosaur bones. It took us about and hour and a half to chip it all away but well worth all the fun we had! I forgot to take a picture of the final dinosaur but you can see it on the box in the first picture.

We are heading to Iowa tomorrow for Easter. Brian and Michelle invited us down. It sounds like the weather is going to be not so good on the way down. Lots of Snow and maybe icy conditions. Hopefully it won't be as bad as they are saying. We hope everyone has a very Happy Easter and the Easter Bunny is good to you:)

Our weekend adventure

We are the proud owners of a new fish tank! We have been thinking about getting a fish tank for many years, but wanted to put it downstairs. It would have been too hard to get it and then have to move it when we were finishing the basement. So we have waited and finally were able to pick one out this past weekend. We got an awesome deal on our new 75 gallon tank with stand and a bunch of accesories! We just had our carpet guy come out tonight to bring us our samples and we picked that out and he will be able to lay it down the last weekend of March. WooHoo! We are so excited. This Sunday marks the 5 year date that we moved into our newly constructed home and are so happy to finally be finishing the basment. So in a few weeks we will be able to start a new venture in taking care of a fish tank. I can't wait!

Yesterday

Yesterday was the most beautiful day we have had for a long while. It was almost 50 yesterday, I'm not quite sure of the exact temperature.

The kids an I took a very long walk down onto the lake and then we were walking around on it and were making snow angels. Alexis decided she wanted to start walking back home when she thought she heard the ice crack:) It really didn't but we went back home anyways. The kids were all tired when we got back home. I forgot the camera so no pics but trust me it was beautiful!

Yesterday afternoon we had preschool conferences with Alexis. Her teachers aid she is a great kid to have in class and is always helping out and a good listener. It is always nice to hear how well she is doing in class. She is all ready for kindergarten in the fall:( We even got the papers in the mail yesterday to sign her up for school.

Last night the kids had gymnastics. I didn't have to work so I brought them in. Brayden was being a little turkey (I think he was tired from his long walk) He decided he wasn't going to do gymnastics anymore. Threw himself on the ground halfway through the class and refused to go play with the kids. I guess we won't be signing him up for the next session. Alexis did awesome:) She has really started to spark an interest in doing doing different things and using nice straight arms. They tested the kids this session and yesterday we learned she moved up to the next level! Yeah, for her:) She is very proud of herself!

I can't wait for spring!!!!!!!!

Another week has gone by and it's cold again. It's suppose to be almost 50 this week. I will believe it when I feel it! It actually snowed a bit last night. And was very cold yesterday and windy.

Brayden had his ECFE testing last Tuesday. He did really good with all his testing. When we were leaving we were walking down the stairs and he slipped on the ice and skinned up his face, mainly under his nose. Ouch it looks like it hurts so much.

On Wednesday we had his 3 year check up. It was so nice to go to the doctor with him actually feeling pretty good. (I say pretty good becuase he has had a cold and little fever off and on all week). I actually got to sit down and have a conversation with his pediatrician, which I was never able to do with his previous family doctor. He needed one shot but she didn't want him to have it with his cold, so we will have to go back and get it some time. We also talked about him going to see a doctor for allergy testing. He has done really good this winter but last summer he would break out in rashes for no reason. So she wanted me to keep a watch out this spring and if he continues to break out we will schedule an appointment with an allergist. Hopefully we will get an answer sometime soon!

Other than that we have done a lot of nose blowing, wiping and washing hands:)

BRING ON THE HEAT, PLEASE!!!!!!!!!! (I can't wait to post pictures of the kids playing in the puddles!)

It's finally March:)

There isn't much going on here:)


The weather is finally warming up. I went to get groceries today all by myself with no helpers, and the temperature was 40 degrees!!!!!! It was drizzling a bit and the sun isn't shinning but its better than freezing!


We had a movie night last night with the kids which was really nice to be able to cuddle with the kids and relax. We watched Iron Will an old VHS tape we had laying around. It was a bit violent, we probably won't be watching that one for awhile.


Brayden is starting to get a cold:( He is pretty miserable! I'm hoping he is feeling better soon. He is having his 3 year checkup this week. We had to wait because me and the kids switched insurance companies. We are also having him go do his ECFE screening test this week. They have the kids do this early here to make sure they aren't behind when it comes to Kindergarten.


It should be another busy fast week:)