fun at Sibley park

Bryan was in a golf tournament most of the day yesterday so Connor and I spent the afternoon at Sibley Park. We had a blast! He took a two hour nap in the morning and as soon as he woke up we took off, grabbed some lunch on the way, put down a blanket and ate lunch picnic style. He is borderline impossible at restaurants these days...doesn't want to sit still for ANYTHING. So this worked great :) Then we went and saw all of the animals, it's so nice at the park. There are big paths going through the park so I basically let him run all over. Then right before we left I took advantage of the flower gardens and attempted some photos. He thought I was pretty crazy running through the gardens trying to get him to smile, but oh well :) It was such a beautiful day!

I have lots more pictures, but I was just playing around in Photoshop with these ones...

My favorite!

Yeah no editing on this one...but thought it was cute ;)
Here mom, here's a flower I picked just for you!

And I may have drooled on it too for EXTRA love!

daddy's little helper

I love this picture.

-It actually looks like he's running the skid loader

-He had no idea that Jay was taking his photo through the window (if you looks close, you can see Jay's legs in the reflection...ha)

-He's so focused on what's in front of him (Bryan was building a little mini retaining wall)

cricut...

I am officially the proud owner of this:

What is that, you may ask? (I know some of you know!) It's a die-cutting machine for scrapbooking. So now, I have ENDLESS options for fonts, letters, titles. I realized shortly after we had Connor that I didn't have my future scrapbooking in mind when we named him. Two O's and two n's. That about finishes off any set of letters I can buy. Then the rest of the sheet is basically pointless. (so this is how I justify spending the money on this machine!)

My other justification was that it was SUCH a good deal. I mean really. The maching, 3 used mats, 2 new mats, a tool kit, the suitcase thing to put it all in...and the best part? NINE cartidges! Nine! I'm sure the value is FAR more than I paid ;) Right? Right. I thought so.

7 miles.

That's how far I ran today. Wow, I believe that is FOR SURE the farthest I have EVER ran in my life. Took me awhile, but, I ran the whole thing. That's what counts, right?

daily comments

Everyday we fill out a daily report sheet for Connor at daycare. We have to say if he ate anything that morning, how he slept, etc. Then they fill out what he eats during the day and when, diaper info from the day, and a little recap of something he did that day.

Thought this was pretty ironic.

Wonder what animal noise my mom works with him on the most?

House for Sale

No, not ours! But our friends, Angie and Jay (and Kate!) are selling their house! So if you know of anyone looking for a home in North Mankato...(no, they're not leaving town...they'll actually hopefully move closer to us!)

Here are some details, I've also posted a little link on the side of my blog, because I'm such a good friend, ha :) No, I'm not getting any commission if the buyer comes from my blog...but I might just bring it up now and again.

Located at:

226 Monroe Avenue

North Mankato, MN 56003

Asking Price $144,500

Open House:

Saturday, August 29th

10 am to 12 pm

Here are the general specs:
-2 Spacious Bedrooms (both with large walk-in closets)
-1 full bath and 1 half bath
-Original Hardwood floors
-Huge corner lot with fenced in yard
-New shed
-Lots of character
-Every room has been updated

The link with all the official details is located here:http://rasm.fnismls.com/publink/default.aspx?GUID=31ba008f-8ab4-4500-a093-d7b835b23040&Report=Yes

random...

I got my blackberry in the mail today, whoo hoo! (okay, and I spent all dinner this evening playing with a co-worker's iphone and got, I might admit, a little addicted to it...BUT...AT&T service apparently sucks down here so there goes that...)

Anyways, super excited about that. Angie, I take back all of the mean things I said to you when you got yours, ha.

Connor is moving to the toddler room week after next. SO SO SO sad about this. However, they tell me daily how EXCITED he gets when they take him down there to visit and adjust. I can just see him do his litting arms waving at his sides running in place so excited thing he does. Dork. But I can't imagine his excitement at the new toys, there is a loft with STEPS leading up to it...he's ready.

Running the 5k this past weekend sparked me to attempt to organize a 5k fundraiser for Connor's daycare. So, next spring, you'll hear all about it and I'll be asking you all to participate :)

I think that's about it. It feels like it should be Thursday, but it's only Tuesday.

Oh, and Angie and Jay put their house on the market! I'll post more soon, in case you or someone you know is interested, but here is the link.

http://rasm.fnismls.com/publink/default.aspx?GUID=31ba008f-8ab4-4500-a093-d7b835b23040&Report=Yes

SUPER cute, they've redone every room on the inside.

bode reunion

Sunday, Bryan's parents, Nate & Cheryl, hosted a little Bode reunion. I shouldn't say 'little' because there were sure a lot of Bode's...but I don't think it was an 'official' reunion as much as just a gathering. Regardless...it was a great time...good food (anyone want any leftover pasta salad...made about 3.5 batches too many...ugh)...good times.

Cousin Stan caught on camera. I could listen to Stan talk ALL day.

"Well hello there Christy" (imagine a completely monotone voice with heavy sarcastic undertones...love it)

Stan, Nate's brother Jerry and Stan's brother Howard.

Master griller Kill.

"Hot"...Mom, I think he learned this from you. Putting his hand up to shield himself from the heat...ha.

Sorry, didn't have my zoom lens handy and was sitting in a comfy chair :)
Connor and Autumn playing with Connor's car.

The Bode Crew.

Marty, Carol, Nate, Art, Jerry, Mark and Ed

(missing Paul and their late sister Flor)

So serious.

Oh yes, and even a little parade. Ha.

Chasing after the ball. Sorry, pointless picture. I just think he's cute. Ha.

Climbing into Grandma Cheryl's bus.

Pretty sure he seemed awfully familiar with these steps :)

Art showing his bow skills. This was an 80 lb bow (or however you would say it, 80 lb somthing). Art was the only one who could do it.

Learning how.

Aunt Adelaide. (Nate's father's sister)

She'll be 94 soon.

proof...

just in case you didn't believe that I ran the 5k. Anne has the group photo from post-race...so Anne, you should email that to me :)

I am NOT excited for my half marathon. Really, not so much. 13.1 miles. Or maybe it's 13.2. I should be running on the treadmill and not blogging. But, I have good intentions to get up early tomorrow before work and run. I just can't do it at night, have to get it done in the morning, and have to get back in a pattern or going to bed at a decent time.

Sorry, that was random. Pictures from the Bode reunion coming soon.

5k + fun night

Well, today I ran a 5K with Anne, Erin and Allison. Ha, it sucked :) But, I ran the whole thing, and haven't ran for over 2 weeks, so I felt pretty decent about that. I actually don't know what my finish time was, but a little over 28 minutes I think. So, quite a bit slower than the one a month or two ago, but again...I've completely fallen off of the training wagon. Oops. HOpefully today kick starts that again.

Then, I made a TON of pasta. And my a ton, I literally mean probably close to 2,000 lbs of pasta salad. Ha. Hope the 40+ Bode's at the little Bode reunion tomorrow LOVE it :) So that was my afternoone. Then, Bryan, Connor and I went out to Anne and Jeremy's for supper, yard games and relaxing. Connor did great! He's pretty good at self-entertaining himself, then around 8, 830 (past his bedtime) I put him in the car (on plus windows down) and he sat nicely in there til we left, watching a movie. Was hoping he'd fall asleep...but no. So, hopefully he sleeps in tomorrow morning.

Pictures of us after the race and some other misc photos coming soon! Plus, I fully intend on being the resident photographer tomorrow at this reunion! Should be fun :)

weekend recap

Well, we had a pretty good, laid back weekend here, which, is always nice :) Bryan had tickets to go to the PGA all weekend, so he was gone most of Saturday and Sunday so Mary came down to spend the weekend with Connor and I, which of course means a few new photos.

Bryan had an awesome time at the golf tournament, no pictures because cameras weren't allowed, but he said it was awesome.

So, Mary and I went out to my mom's for most of Saturday since she had Ashlyn. Then the rest of the weekend was basically relaxing.

I experimented with a few 'actions' in Photoshop from Pioneer Woman...as you can see below in the first few photos. I'm sure those of you that are skilled in photo editing think this is probably cheating, but it works for me! Obviously some, like the 'vintage' effect aren't something that I would do on a regular basis, I was just playing around :)

I think this one (the photo editing action) might be one of my favorites. I don't know, kind of like how soft the colors and everything got.

this is the last one I played with. Kind of fun.

We liked the background...but he wasn't necesarily cooperating in terms of smiling/posing.

Same here...these seem so senior photo serious.

just a cute smile. "Should we go 'bye-bye?" and that's what we got.

I will happily admit that he doesn't exactly watch or enjoy TV...he just loves remotes and the fact that he knows enough to push buttons and change channels and such.

and yes, the jeans are way too big.

Playing in Grandpa's chair. It was entertaining.

I feel this should be my new header...since he's truly peeking into 31 otter court.

shirtless boy in grass.

and yes, those are shorts.

the uh, grass, was just really tall.

We needed a family/house picture to put in the frames when you first walk in the front door so we took one quick. Good thing you can't see us barely, since Connor was definitely not cooperating.

happy birthday, mom!

Here she is with her two favorite grandbabies!

many more, mom!

crazy week

Hi. Sorry it's been about a week. This was the first week at my 'new job' that the entire 'new team' has been in place. I promise a post soon explaining everything that's going on at work.

So that was crazy, and it went by crazy fast. That's probably a good sign, right? :)

Also, Connor had not only his FIRST babysitter this week, but he had a babysitter TWICE, and two different babysitters each time. Monday night we had a make up game for volleyball so Shanna from down the street came over, she did AWESOME. He was even asleep when I got home!

Then...Wednesday...Connor got sent home from daycare. My mom was able to watch him since I had some meetings at work and then yesterday I had Eric from down the street the other way come over. He also did GREAT! And I love the fact that there is a boy babysitter option in our neighborhood!

Not to mention they can both ride their bikes here :)

But, not so super about being sick. He's in great spirits as always, but just the good 'ol diarrhea again. I thought maybe today he'd made it, started firming up last night (ha, sorry for the details) but nope, they were already giving him a bath by 8:45 this morning. So, I'm at home for today. Went to the grocery store for bananas...he's had two already, and then he fell asleep on the way home around 11:30, hopefully he takes a good long nap.

So, that's the week...and now it's the weekend!

ozarks part II

More pictures from the Ozarks :)

She's walking now, but this is how she got around most of vacation. Try it...it's not easy!

Ha. I took these when I was feeling guilty about not taking very many pictures on vacation.

Our day at the waterpark. The kids did ride around with us on the lazy river for about an hour.

They went out on a boat while I was getting my 90 minute massage and facial :) I probably looked similar to Connor at that exact moment...

Connor wouldn't feed the fish. He would fake us out...act like he was going to throw it out, then he'd stuff it in his mouth :)

Yeah, so Connor still doesn't love pools.

Ashlyn and her daddy.