Merry Christmas!

We hope you all had a very Merry Christmas this year! We were snowed in at mom and dad's for 5 days - and had so much fun! It was pretty nice to spend so much time with my family; there wasn't the hustle and bustle of the normal holiday season - it was just a lot of relaxing, movie watching and game playing. Gavin loved having Owen there to play with him and keeps asking me when he gets to see Owen again! Gavin was SO spoiled with gifts again this year, and is having fun exploring all of his new things. We have played a lot of candyland, chutes and ladders, zingo, and hungry hungry hippo in the last few days! I'll try and get some pictures up sometime this week!

Preschool program

Gavin and his best friend, Lukey!

Tonight we had Gavin's very first Christmas program! His preschool teachers did such a great job putting it together! They all stood up front and sang 8 songs ... it was pretty adorable. Gavin was so excited that Lauren and Ellie and Angi surprised him and came to watch too! What really touched me though, was after all was done, Gavin's teacher stood up to talk, she got really choked up talking about the kids - it just reinforces how lucky we are to be able to drop Gavin off at a place where I know he is shown love and respect. His teacher, Tina, told me that when Gavin woke up from his nap today he said, "Tina, I LOVE coming to school!"

date night

While Bryan was at the Vikings game yesterday, Gavin and I had a great date night. We went to see The Princess and the Frog - he only wanted to call it "The Frog" and skip the princess part! It was a great movie with great music. We both really enjoyed our selves! I hope he always wants to go to movies with his mom!

Cookies!

It's that time of year again, when our families come over and the girls spend the day baking cookies! It's a tradition that I really enjoy - and we made a LOT of cookies this year! Bryan helped the kids with their gingerbread house - which eventually lost it's roof and then completely fell apart - oh well - I think they had fun while it lasted! Ellie even got some special kids "wine!" It was a weekend full of family and fun - thanks guys!

Last Day!

Hey everyone - just a reminder that today is the last day to bid on Tracy's auction items at lovingonlera.blogspot.com! The auction will end at 11:59PM tonight - remember that your $ is going to a GREAT cause - help bring Lera home!

It's beginning to look a lot like....

CHRISTMAS!

We had a great time decorating for Christmas tonight! I think the best part was that Gavin was so excited to look through all of his ornaments this year. And the fact that he insisted on only wearing his underwear was pretty funny too - I will admit that it is always pretty warm in our house - so I guess he was just being comfy! He was so cute hanging up his new ornaments - when he opened the Buzz one from Nana and Papa he let out a huge sigh and says "oh, I just LOVE it, mom!" Then when he hung the cowboy hat that Lauren made him, he says "this one makes my heart really happy!" He loved how it hung on the tree and just couldn't stop looking at it! He's so sweet, and he really does love his cousins! All in all, I think our tree looks great - even though all the ornaments are clustered together and half of them are on the bottom branches - it's the best it's ever looked - I'm so glad that Gavin was so willing to lend a hand!

a chance to help.

Check out my friend Tracy's auction over at lovingonlera.blogspot.com! She has some great items to bid on that would make great Christmas gifts, or something special for yourself - some of which were made by yours truly! It's your chance to help Tracy and Mike bring their little girl home - and get something great in return - happy shopping!

hmmmm....

So, the other day, Gavin was using the word "hate" a lot. He kept saying things like "I hate this show," "I hate that snack," or "I hate that idea, mom!" So I was trying to have him use different words, like lets watch something else, or I don't like that food, etc. He looked at me so seriously and says "MOM, if you HATE something, then you just have to say that you HATE it!" Bryan turned and looked at me and says, "well, he's got a point." UGH - what to do with these two boys!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We certainly do have a lot to be thankful for! Saturday, we followed through on Wulf family tradition and spent the day at the tree farm and then hanging out together at Gary and Kathy's. Everyone picked out Christmas trees, and Gavin had fun helping cut them down! We found the perfect little tree again, and Gavin and I decorated it last night. Saturday night we played games - Zingo was the big hit of the night - the kids were so cute yelling out which tiles they had! I'll have to spend my entire Thanksgiving weekend at work - but that's ok - I'm pretty thankful for those babies too.

scrap weekend!

I had such a great time last weekend scrapbooking with a bunch of friends! We rented cabins at Clamshell Beach Resort in Pequot Lakes, which turned out to be a great place to work. I got a lot done and had a fun and relaxing time. Jill and I HAD to stop for a photo shoot with Paul Bunyan on the way home - too funny!

amazed

There are a lot of things that amaze me. I'm amazed by how smart a three year old is. I'm amazed that after almost 13 years of being together, I love Bryan more than when we first met. I'm amazed by the beauty and fury of mother nature. I'm absolutly amazed at how hard a tiny baby knows how to fight for their lives. I'm even amazed by Jill's wonderful ribbon collection! But nothing amazes me more than the love a mother has for her child. I know how much I love Gavin, and my own mom has always shown me and my sisters that same love. Recently, my good friend Tracy (www.thevelanderfour.blogspot.com) , has decided to adopt a little 4 year old girl from Russia - she already loves her like she loves her other 4 children; it's obvious when you talk to her. I'm not amazed because they are adopting a child from another country, or that she's a toddler, or even that she has down syndrome. I"m amazed because she has had her heart set on this for a very long time, she never gave up on Lera, and now it's finally happening for them! I hope that you will pray for their family and you can follow their journey { www.lovingonlera.blogspot.com } if you want - it's going to be so exciting! You amaze me Trace!

Fight for Preemies....

November is Prematurity awareness month, and nothing tugs more at my heartstrings, than watching a tiny little baby fight for thier life. It's why I do what I do, to help make a difference in the life of someone. Check out the March of Dimes website, www.marchofdimes.com to see what you can do to make a difference!

updates

Things have been good here at the Wulf household. Gavin and I are feeling better, and I think we are finally back into a routine. I worked a lot this last week, so Gavin definitly felt that strain. He does great with me being gone one or two nights, but when it turns into three or four or six like this week, he gets really whiney and just wants his mama - oh what I would do to be able to be home with them every night.

Bryan went deer hunting last weekend and Gavin got to play with Owen and auntie Krista and of course Nana and Papa. From what I hear, they had a fabulous time, and left Nana's house a complete disaster! Bryan did get a buck, so he was pretty excited about that. Gavin had a hundred questions for Bryan about the deer - like: What is that? Where did you find it? Why isn't the trailer full? Can I touch it?

I had a sad night at work last night, so I spent a lot of today thinking about blessings and how quickly your life can change in just seconds. We can make all the plans in the world for the future, but I think I'm just going to live for today.

I'm really looking forward to my weekend retreat. Hopefully I can be productive and get some scrapbooking accomplished! I printed off 8 months worth of pictures - so I have plenty to work on! Bryan is looking forward to hanging out with his brothers and Gavin cannot stop talking about seeing Lauren and Ellie this weekend!

I've also been busy researching for our trip to Vegas in February!!! Bryan was AWESOME and waited for 3 and half hours for us to get tickets to see Garth Brooks while we are there!!! It's going to be a great way to celebrate Brandon and Bryan turning 30! Which, by the way, is not nearly as bad as I made it out to be! :o)

Hope everyone has a fun and safe weekend - I'll get pictures up later this week!

Happy Halloween!

We had such a great Halloween weekend! Friday afternoon Gavin had his Halloween party at preschool; we played games, got his face painted and had cupcakes that the kids had helped to make. Gavin LOVED his costume and was so excited to be able to put it on for all of his friends. That night we celebrated Mackenna's 1st birthday, we always have such a great time hanging out at Jeremy and Jackie's, and Gavin was excited to play with Braylon. He actually ended up getting sick later that night, but thankfully it was really short lived and we were able to make it through the rest of the weekend like we had planned. Saturday, Nana and Papa gave the boys Sit and Spins - they were so cute and figured out that it was more fun to have other people push them around and around! That evening the boys had so much fun trick or treating in Renville. Owen was so much fun - he figured out really quickly that when you went up to the houses they gave you candy - and Halloween quickly became his favorite holiday! After each house he would hand the candy to one of us and say "open it please!" We had to stop by Nick and Angi's to see the girls. Lauren was such a cute cow girl, and I'm sure Ellie was the cutest witch that you have ever seen - she took her costume off before we got there! Gavin just LOVES them, and was so excited that he got to hang out with all of his cousins the same night! Later that night we fondued - it took us a little while to figure it all out, but it tasted good and the company was great! Laur kept trying to take pictures of her and Gavin - he was just being so funny. Today, I had a blast jumping in leaf piles with the boys! I had been so disappointed because we didn't get to make leaf piles at home this year - Bryan bagged all of the leaves the last time he mowed - but mom and dad had GREAT piles for leaf jumping today! We ended our morning with a little hot cocoa. It was so nice to be able to spend so much time with Owen - we love you so much little buddy!

The Lone Pumpkin

Being sick most of October really put a damper on our usual Fall fun. We never did visit the pumpkin patch, so thank goodness that Papa grew Gavin 2 pumpkins again this year. Bryan and Gavin had a fun time decorating the pumpkin as a pirate - it looked pretty cute on our front step! We never did make it around to carving the other one, but that's ok too. Gavin was so proud of his pumpkin and loved to show it off!

on the up swing....

Being Gavin and I have been totally housebound for the last 2 weeks, I really do not have much new for updates. I still have a terrible cough, but Gavin seems better for the most part - minus the sleeping until noon everyday. I think he plays too hard during the afternoon and then just can't seem to wake up in the morning. He hasn't had a fever in days and the tamiflu really seems to have helped his symptoms. Bryan is perfectly well and doesn't seem to have caught any of our bugs. It probably helped that he sprayed our house with lysol trying to kill anything that thought it might have a chance to live! I'm going to try and venture out of the house Saturday and see some old friends - I am so excited for that! As for other news - I think I can officially announce that Gavin is finally potty trained! He's been so good, even through being so sick - he still managed to go on the potty all by himself. He's pretty much independent at it - I'm so proud of him! Yesterday - he was so funny - he went downstairs to play and I was just finishing up the dishes in the kitchen. Pretty soon, I hear him yell "mommy - get down here RIGHT NOW!" I told him that was no way to talk to his mommy - and he goes "well, I'm havin big trouble down here - I peed in my underwear!" He comes walking up the stairs naked to get me - so I grabbed a towel and some new clothes for him. I told him to show me where he peed - and he brought me to the bathroom and goes "ta-dah! in the potty!" He had dribbled a tiny tiny bit in his underwear and that was the BIG TROUBLE he was referring too - he makes me laugh everyday!

hit hard....

Gavin has had quite the week. It went a little like this... He started with a fever last Monday, brought him to the clinic Tuesday and was diagnosed with an ear infection - started antibiotics - still had a fever Wed. and Thurs. Called Friday to talk to the Dr - he changed his antibiotic. When I woke up Saturday afternoon, Gavin looked terrible. He could barely open his eyes, he wasn't drinking very much, and he just wanted to sleep. We ended up visiting the ER - and Gavin was diagnosed with Influenza - probably H1N1. He still had a fever and was pretty punky all weekend. I was relieved to hear him laughing and playing today - and we've actually gone more than 4 hours without a fever - that hasn't happened in more than a week! It's nice to see a little color in his cheeks again and those big bright eyes!

good times...

{that's me in the back left corner - in black}

GO TWINS!!!!

We had a blast the first weekend in October. We headed to St. Paul on Saturday morning, checked into the hotel and made a quick trip to the River Center to visit the race expo. We then caught a cab to Minneapolis to see the Twin's play in the Metrodome one last time. Gavin fell asleep in the cab, and I held him through the first 4 innings! When he woke up he asked "are we at the baseball game now?" I couldn't believe he could sleep through all that yelling and screaming. He made it to the end of the game, adding his own little voice to the crowd. We spent the night in St. Paul so I could get up super early to run the Twin Cities 10 mile. It turned out to be a pretty nice day - even though it started off kind of cold! Gavin and Bryan met me at the finish line - it made me happy that they were there to cheer me on. I finished in 1:40:59 - under my goal time, but now I'm motivated to try and do it faster next year! We even got to meet Laurie, Eric and Owen for lunch - what a fun weekend.

This past weekend my cousin Stef got married. It was so nice to see our extended family and spend some time with them. We had a blast at the wedding and stayed out way too late and danced a little too much! Sunday was spent relaxing and just hanging out at home. Now today, I woke up to a snow storm - and I am not happy about it. The leaves didn't even have time to turn colors this year. I think today, Gavin and I will just hang out at home and spend some time snuggling. We started our day with coffee and cocoa and watched TV with the fireplace on - but I'm really not ready for winter quite yet. I guess I better get him some winter boots a little earlier this year. Bryan keeps telling me it's all about my attitude - but how can you change that when the snow really does make me miserable - brrrrrrr..... maybe it'll go away early since it came so early - one can always hope!