Hi Kids, it's Mommy.

Hi Katie. Just wanted to tell you how proud I am of you. You're such a big girl and you take such good care of your baby dolls and you're such a good friend to Honey, Gaga, Lola, Zola, and to your baby brother.

You're an unending source of laughter and surprise for your mommy and I love you so much for that. You're also starting to get a bit of an attitude, but that's to be expected at your age.

I can't believe how lucky I am to have such a wonderful daughter.


Hi Jake.

I couldn't write something just to Katie and leave you out! You're my sweet little baby boy and I'm so happy that you show your joy on your sweet face with such a big smile that it lights up the room... maybe even the block!

I'm so relieved that you're starting to let us get more sleep at night, but even at your middle of the night feedings your smile is there.

I watch you move your mouth and make noises and it makes me think you have so much you're just waiting to be able to say!

You're ready to grab anything that catches your interest (like mommy's hair and glasses!) or excited to get into your walker so you can practice getting around on your own.

My sweet kids, mommy thinks you are both such a joy and a blessing and I love you so much!

Love, Mommy

Free is one of my favorite words!

Today was the day of Byerly's Western Roundup. We drove out to Rachel's house and then followed her, Donovan and Marshall to the St. Louis Park store.

The flyer said Calf Ropin', Bull Ridin', Horseshoe Tossin', and alot of other "in's" along with ...


FREE FOOD.

So we went. We stoped at the Chuck Wagon and Saloon first and had our fill of mini hamburgers, chips, and pop. Then off to the "pony express races" where me and Rachel rode an inflatable "horse". I rode with Katie and Rachel rode with Donovan. I didn't go very far. I was laughing way too hard... and then I looked over and there was John. With the video camera.

After the horse races we stopped at the "outhouses" which were port-a-potties with a poster on the fronts to make it look like an outhouse. It was cute. Still a port-a-potty but cute. After business was handled, we took pictures of the kids, and me and Rachel.

Then we went to the horseshoe tossin' area and the kids did that for a few minutes. They had a great advantage over me since they stood about 2 feet from the post but they're so cute, who can complain!

Then we headed to the cotton candy stand and got ours. After that, a trip to the wash station was needed. Both kids' faces were covered in cotton candy! Then we headed to the horse ropin' and stood in line. Donovan and Katie sat on the horse (not a real one...) and tried to "rope" the calf (not a real one). Neither kid was successful but it was cute to watch!

Our last event was the bouncy room... but I guess it's really called the Moonwalk. I didn't think Katie would do it but I think Donovan was a good influence. She was right there ready to go in with Don, even standing on the blacktop without her shoes so she was ready. That's not usual for her. She's actually never gone on the moonwalk EVER, so we were very proud.

After the moonwalk we listened to "Trailer Trash" the band that was playing for the evening. We had decided to head home (at about 7:30) and I got up from the blanket and it flipped over. All of our chips, the containers, two water bottles... EVERYTHING that was on the blanket flipped off. So that was fun. Katie had fallen and skinned her knees awhile earlier so she was clingy with John and I was holding Jake. I put Jake in his stroller and he fell asleep pretty fast so I could pick up the mess.





Katie on the calf ropin' ride:


We headed home and watched Evan Almighty. Jake's asleep in his crib, Katie's asleep on the floor, and I'm about to fall asleep in this chair!

Thanks to Grammy and Grampy...

Thanks to grammy and grampy, me and John had two great babysitters so we could go out to dinner!

Katie was excited to go over to grammy and grampys for awhile and our conversation while getting her ready went something like this:

Mommy: Katie, who are you going to see tonight?
Katie: Blank stare
Mommy: It's someone you are excited to see...
Katie: Donovan?
Mommy: Noooo, someone else!
Katie: Lori Kuger?
Mommy: Noooo, someone else!
Katie: Grandma?
Mommy: Noooo, grammy and grampy!
Katie: I like grammy and grampy.

So all was well. She got dressed and we got everything ready. John got the walker in the car for Jake, bottles were made, extra clothes were packed... then Katie got fussy. And I mean fussy. She started to cry about nothing. She wanted her daddy to hold her. So he did and she fell asleep... I mean she was OUT. He put her to bed and I put Jake in his crib because he had fallen asleep too! I called grammy and grampy to cancel our babysitters and they offered to come over here. Whew! They saved our evening out!

They came over, watched Jake, looked in on Katie, and went home after we sat and talked for about an hour once we got home. We had a nice dinner at Sarna's and I got to use the $20 gift card I got for my birthday.

It was a nice night... till Katie woke up at about 1:00 a.m.

and stayed awake till 5 a.m.

I was busy with Jake so John had the pleasure of staying up with Katie and making her a hot dog for dinner at, oh, maybe 2 a.m.

But it was okay, he got some rest, I got some rest, and we were all ready for our fun day on Saturday.