We Got Spirit!

Well, my duties as float chairman are officially over!! I'll pass the baton onto the next sorry sap that's in charge next year. When we arrived at the parade yesterday I quickly realized how out of my league I truly was. I know I'm not artistic/creative/crafty at all, but it's never been quite so apparent as it was at the parade. Some of the entries were quite impressive, we're talking months of work, compared to our oh... three nights of work. At the end of the day, it served it's purpose, the kids had fun and we walked away with a sweet award. Yes they do give an award to every entry. They gave us the float with the most spirit award!! It's like telling someone who's ugly they have a great personality. Oh well, we'll take it. When Hank got in his baseball gear, I must admit I got a little choked up. There is nothing cuter than a little boy in his baseball uniform. He had a blast throwing candy. He was chucking it so far, even if there was no one to throw it to. Max on the other hand did pretty well considering how hot it was. He was content chewing on a water bottle the whole time. Randy, of course, knew everyone along the parade route. He even managed to get someone's information so he could sign them up for insurance! Many thanks to everyone who helped create this masterpiece as well as those who walked in the parade yesterday and today. I don't think I'll get "take me out to the ballgame" out of my head for quite some time.

Ode to Max!!

Oh my sweet little Max (Maxamino head, Meenskers, Mino) this is tribute to him now that he's 9 months old. I can't believe it!! This is more for my records than anything else but he had his check-up today so here are his stats: 29 inches long (75%) 21 pounds (75%) and 95th percentile in head size. Not quite as beef as I thought he would be. He is however extremely advanced for his age...motor skill wise, although he's not quite reading yet. Dr. Weipert always seems so impressed with how amazing my kids are. That's when you know you have a good doctor. He knows just what to say to make you think you're child could be the next Albert Einstein. Too bad we just buzzed Max's head because he totally had Albert's hair.

I wanted to document some of the cute things my little Mino does. I love how he starts turbo crawling towards something he knows he shouldn't be doing like climbing up or down the stairs, climbing up to the bathtub, playing with the outlets or cords, etc. He starts laughing as he crawls toward them because he knows I'll drop whatever I'm doing to stop him. I love how he sucks on his middle and ring finger to soothe himself to sleep. That is until he has total buck tooth from it. By the way he has eight teeth already and the front two are permanent I swear!! They are so big and the gap between them is the most precious thing I've ever seen. I also love his reaction to anything and everything Hank does. He thinks he's hilarious and his face literally lights up the second he hears Hank's voice. If Hank is napping, Max will crawl to Hank's door, push it open and stand up next to his bed. Max also hates church and turns into demon child the second we enter the chapel. Luckily he has a wonderful dad who is always ready and willing to take him home!! My favorite thing ever, is when I go in to get him after his nap and his sweet little gap toothed smile is there to greet me. Mark my words, he will be my little Randy Jr. I can tell already he will have no fear and be full of energy and life!! He is my little angel baby and I'm so lucky to be his mom!

Hank's First Bike!!

Hank got his first real bike today!! Thankfully we found the missing part for the handle bars...Randy was sure we got the faulty bike! Hank had his helmet and knee pads on the whole time it took us to put the bike together. Don't worry, he will be the geek in the neighborhood who always wears his helmet, knee pads, elbow pads, and most importantly his mouth guard. I've already got him saying "safety first". He only ate it once and didn't even cry, thanks to his protective gear. I wonder how long it will be until he ditches the training wheels.

I Can't Believe I'm Doing This!!!

I was waiting for an occasion to join the blogging world and I decided my darling children are at such fun ages where really cool memories are created every day. This is truly the best time in my life. Laugh if you will, mock me, shun me, whatever...(this is for Randy, Sarah, Kate, Jessie, Crystal etc.) but I really want to keep better track of the events of my family. Around the age of 8 I began my dedicated journal writing, every day, until my freshman year of college. When really important things started happening such as moving away to college, getting married, graduating from college, my first house, having children happened I decided to stop writing!! Although, I do have a detailed log of the jazz between 1989-1998, as well as detailed descriptions of fights with my sisters, and other useless info that preteens write about. So, this blog isn't really for all you blog stalkers (takes one to know one!!) but rather for my own attempt to be a better mom. I don't want to forget this amazing time in my life. I want my kids to look back at this and realize what an awesome childhood they had. On a side note, I'm a total blog idiot...I don't know how to add pictures in the right places, or make it cute yet. It's getting late so I'll have to figure that out later.