Our Weekend "Getaway".

So about a month ago, Nick told me to "reserve" the weekend of the 22nd (meaning don't work) for something special. Right away I jumped on the phone to call my best friend Breanne to ask her if she was coming out from California to visit. She immediately assured me she was not, so I just gave up on the guessing what was going on that weekend.
Nick had pretty much convinced me last week that we were taking a 6 hour car ride somewhere...my guess was Rapid. So I proceeded to pack our bags, load up the car with the kiddo's things etc. Thursday night after work, Nick had to go run some errands for our weekend. Well, he took a really long time and when he pulled in the drive-way he came from the airport direction. I thought for sure Breanne was in the car. Next thing you know, she's walking into my kitchen jumping up and down with excitement!! I just had a feeling she was coming!!
So needless to say, I packed just about everything and Nick didn't even help me un-pack!! But he did a awesome job at keeping this a surprise!! It was great!!

Palisades State Park (8/2009)

Breanne and Sammie

Falls Park

King of the Throne.

Ethan has been in big boy underwear for 1 week straight. He is doing absolutely awesome! With only 2 accidents ALL WEEK he's ready for school!! Being that school is just about the only thing he speaks of all day long, I think that might have enticed him just a little. And the fact that he got new Wall-E, sponge bob, Cars, and Incredibles underwear. And if you ask, he'll willingly show you just how cool they are. He even showed Great Grandma...and she didn't ask! ;)

Classic Example of Sharing.

A classic example of how Ethan shares with his bro. Watch closely as you can see Sammie taking up more of the piano, Ethan is slowly pushing Sammie over...

Flashback!

Ok, if there is any kind of music that will make me get out on the dance floor it's 80's for sure! I absolutely LOVE 80's music..all of it. Love songs, hair band songs, cheesy songs...it's all great. So I have some of my fave 80's music for you to enjoy for the next week or so! Whats your favorite 80's songs?

I'm ready for Pre-School!!

Well, we did it. We finally made the decision to put Ethan in pre-school this fall!! I can't believe from now on..he's a student!! :( He will only be going 2x a week for 1/2 days. So it will be a good start for him. He MUST be FULLY potty trained before he can go, and as we all know, we have been working on that for quite some time now. But I think this little extra "push" might just help. He has to wear big boy underwear to school, and we really haven't graduated from pull-ups yet. So we have until September 3rd!! He's been in underwear all day yesterday and today...1 accident yesterday...1 today. Not bad. He's actually doing much better than I thought he would be. I think he's excited about school though, so that helps! He finally understands the importance of peeing in the toilet!! :)

Now I get to take him school clothes shopping!! I can't wait. He did well in his swim lessons, never cried when I left or anything. But I was sitting there watching him the entire time. So this might be a little bit different. I hope he has fun.

Oh, I never told you, he passed his swimm lessons and is ready to move onto the next level, which I think we will take this spring. I don't know. Things are going to get pretty busy around here!

8 months ago...almost.

Eight months ago, Sam was just a little baby and my "big" boy had long hair! Oh how I miss those sleep deprived days...wait, they still are sleep deprived! Yes Sammie still wakes up 2-3 times a night. Oh well, I just see it as more time to LOVE him! :) I just can't believe in four short months my baby will be 1!!

Privacy.

For those of you wondering why I changed the privacy on our blog...

I heard something recently about pictures being stolen from a blog and then those pictures of children were posted as a hungry child for sale. It freaks me out!! So to protect my pictures and my family I have made our blog open to "invited readers" only. I need your e-mail address in order to invite you to read our blog. So if I missed someone, please e-mail me and let me know!

Thanks for understanding!

Family Pictures.

I invite all of you to view our family pictures. Please go to http://www.bellalucefoto.com/ and click to enter the website. Then on the left hand side you will see "Proofs 2", click on that. This will open up in a new window. Then click on Howard Family and enter your own personal e-mail to view the pictures. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!!

Thanks again Katie for doing such an awesome job!!

Jello Legs.

If you look closely...Sam has his arm around his big bro!!

This morning I had A LOT of ambition...obviously. I took the kids for a bike ride. And boy was it a workout!! The kids had BLAST! I guess Ethan didn't think the 15 minute ride was long enough because we pull in the drive way and he asks me..."Did you forget something at home Mommy?" I just laughed and said buddy my legs are not steel!! I wish I could ride longer but even after that short ride, my legs felt like jello!! This was Sammie's very 1st bike ride!