Maggie makes her move...

Is this seat taken? Mind if I sit down?
So, you from around here?

Playing with "Cousin" Maggie

Two weekends ago, I took the kids down to visit Kendall and Bobby. While we were at Kendall's we went over to her "in-laws" to say hi and play with Maggie. The kids played and we visited for hours. The next day we went to Nana and Papa's house. It was fun to play there, and visit. Nana's new remodel on her Subway looks gorgeous and the remodel of the house bathroom looks great too! After a few days we came home. It was good to be back in our own beds, but we missed everyone. This last weekend, Kendall and Bobby came up with Maggie (their niece). The guys were supposed to go to Brainerd camping, and us gals were going to stay back and garage sale and hang with the kidlets. Well, the truck gave the guys a run for their money, and they ended up staying back with us. The weekend didn't go as planned, but it sure was fun. The kids played so well together.

Happy Birthday Papa

Today is Papa Schmitz's 50th birthday! We can't wait to give you hugs tomorrow when we come for a visit.

Jammin' out with Uncle Danny

Yesterday the kids and I went to Dan and Sarah's house to visit. It was great to see them, especially Braeden. He's changing so much every day, it's unreal. But he's still cute as can be. In case you can't tell, that's Jacob hiding behind the curtains of the sliding glass door:)

Ryan's first car

Last year, I found this Jeep on a garage sale. I wasn't sure it was worth the $20, but it already had personalized"Ryan" plates on it. So I loaded it up and hauled it home. After buying new batteries, it works great. Ryan loves to drive it, but hasn't actually master the art of steering it. Today he took Jake for a spin. They both loved it! Now our only dilemma is getting Duchess to stop chasing after the wheels!

Our "little" playset

I realized I keep getting these great shots of the kids on the swing set, but some people don't know the story behind our "little" play set...

Last year, Joel's sister Katje (yes spelled with a J) gifted us a very generous Home Depot gift card. The intent was for it to be spent on a play set for the kids. Joel had designed one in his head, and he drew up some plans for it. He explained to me it would be a castle theme, and it would be the coolest on the block! I asked if he thought there would be any money left over on the card when he was done...thinking I might repaint a "big kid theme" in the boys' room if there was. He estimated there might be a hundred bucks give or take. So Bryce, Joel and Paul started construction over Memorial Day weekend. Silly me, I asked if they thought it would be done before the weekend was over. Keep in mind, these guys and my two brothers built, sided, and basically finished our entire garage in less than one weekend, so how hard could a simple swing set be? Oh, how naive I was! Construction was basically completed by labor day weekend, and the staining is still in progress. Of course, this is no ordinary swing set. It has; a wave slide, a twisty slide, a rock wall, a bridge, two castle towers, three swings, a glider, and is finished off with a trap door and a dungeon complete with a fully operating dumbwaiter self closing door. The craftsmanship on this thing is meticulous. Each piece of deck board used for the walls was individually hand grooved to look like brick work, every corner has a finished edge, every opening for a slide or ladder has edging, do I need to go on? I think you get the picture! No matter the length of time it took to build, it is the best swing set I have ever seen (in a back yard) and our kids love it, and so do all their friends! I'm sure there will be many more memories made on it, and we can't wait. Oh, and in case you were wondering, the "big kid theme" repainting.....not even close to happening! Also, if you look closely, you'll see it is taller than my garage!

Puppy dog eyes....

Duchess is a lovey puppy who loves nothing more to sit/wiggle in your lap, that is unless you count how much she loves to lick. She is compulsive with her licking, it's a nervous and happy reflex. We joke about the size of her tongue and it's ability to wet your whole face in a matter of moments. She falls asleep with her tongue hanging out. But, when you look at these pictures, how can you not fall in love? (look closely, they are different)