A little bit of everything...

Me and my buddy

Helping Daddy dig a hole

Planting 1 of our 2 tree seedlings

Patting the mud to make sure the tree is in there good!

Look at the mess I made!

One day this tree will be way bigger than me!

Eating some of Daddy's yummy ribs

I had so much fun on my play date.  We played on my swing set and
ate lunch at my house.  It was great!

-I've been a little bad with keeping up with posts lately...so here are a few weekends in one post.   Brooks recently had a fun play date at our house with some of my friends' kids.  They were all a little older, but he loved hanging out with them.  He was really well behaved and did a great job of sharing his toys. Can't wait to do it again!

-On another weekend when is was beautiful, Josh and Brooks planted 2 seedling trees.  Brooks LOVES "working" and doing things around the house.  He has a natural talent for these type of things.  I think he will be really handy around the house.  My grandfather "Mac" was a whiz at fixing things.  I think he gets it from Mac, my mom and of course his Daddy.  Josh also fixed his yummy ribs that weekend and Brooks was thoroughly enjoying himself!

Bunny Hop

Helping Mommy and Daddy dye Easter Eggs 

I had a blast hunting for Easter Eggs and loved my basket.

-We had a pretty laid back Easter Weekend.  My family was on their way home from Flordia, so it was just Josh, Brooks and I for Easter.  The Easter Bunny did a good job of hiding the eggs and Brooks really enjoyed finding them all. He has a good eye!  He also liked all the goodies the Bunny left for him.  Brooks enjoys arts and crafts, so dying the Easter eggs was a blast for him.  

Conner Prairie Playdate

I'm going to ride that Hot Air Balloon

behind me someday!

I'll settle for a fake horse for now

I learned about wagons and old houses at Conner Prairie

They even had a train table! I enjoyed playing with my friends.

And by myself...

-One of my good friends was in town with her kids from California during Spring Break. Since I did not go to Flordia this year.....I took a few days off to hang out with Brooks. We met my friend, Nikki, as well as Megan and her kids at Conner Prairie (an interactive colonial museum...I guess). It was a lot of fun! Brooks got to pet baby animals, walk through historical homes, explore bridges, and play with trains!

-Brooks and I also went to Sky Zone. It is the wearhouse full of trampolines that I blogged about earlier. Brooks has been asking to go there ever since. He had a blast! He jumped for 30 minutes straight!! I could hardly keep up with him. Despite not being in Flordia with the rest of my family....I enjoyed hanging out with my buddy.

Family Baby Shower #2

Hanging out with my Uncle Tyler

(us boys need to stick together)

Chilling with Daddy

Mommy and Grandma

Hanging out with Aunt Tammy's niece (Madeline)

on Uncle Brian's side of the family

Hey..what ya doing?

I don't think she's too sure about me yet.....

-My sister Tammy was given a family baby shower by her father and mother in law. It was so nice of them to include everyone. We had a great time hanging out and celebrating baby Hartley. The food was so yummy! Brooks enjoyed socializing with everyone and getting to know Madeline. He tends to be the life of the party in those situations.....wonder where he gets that from? (maybe his daddy?)

-Tammy is now officially overdue...poor thing! She was due 4/16 and will most likely be induced next week. Will Baby Hartley ever get here? I can't wait to find out if I have a new niece or nephew!!

(Thanks to my niece Cassidy for taking all the fun pictures!)

There's a First for Everything...

My first Lil' Kickers Soccer Class

Mommy put on my shinguards "no hurting" and soccer shoes

I couldn't wait to join the fun...check out the cool uniform I got!

Of course Mommy made sure I had #4...that was her number.

Meeting my new friends

We even got to play with a parachute!

-Brooks had his first soccer class last weekend. He was so excited to run around and kick the ball. He did pretty well and had so much fun. He looked so cute with his soccer uniform, shinguards, socks and shoes! He left right afterwards to drive to St. Louis with Daddy. This was the first time Josh has taken just Brooks out of town without me. I was a little sad and missing my boys. But, it was so good for them to spend that special time together. They drove in for Great Grandpa's Birthday....Happy Birthday! It was a nice birthday surprise for Grandpa. He also got to hang out with his Pops Blackmore and Great Aunt Marsha. He was a tired boy by the time he got home Sunday evening. I was glad to have them home ;) When he got home a found Brooks now has his first second year molar. Lots of firsts for little Brooksy this past weekend.

Great Grandpa, Daddy and me!

Acting silly with Aunt Marsha

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Brooks kicking ALL the balls.

(sorry about the poor video again)

Brooks kicking down cones

(I got a kick out out of the fact Brooks holds his

hand up to have the ball passed back to him. He did it several times

during the class. It's like he setting up a play. Too funny)

Shin guards

Grandma and Papa got me these indoor soccer shoes,

shin guards and socks. I could NOT wait to put them on.

Ready!

I woke early from my nap because I wanted to

put my shin guards back on....I love them!

Nice Shot!

-Grandma McCarroll stopped by before nap time with a surprise for Brooks. It was indoor soccer shoes, shin guards and socks! He loved them and wanted them on right away. It was like he has been wearing them all his life. He thought they were so cool. He refused to take off his shin guards before nap...so some compromising had to be done. He even woke early from his nap because he wanted them on...too funny! (but not for mommy). He enjoyed kicking the ball with them on. The reason for getting the "gear" is because we signed up Brooks for a toddler soccer class. It is for 2-3 year olds and is purely for FUN! So, don't start thinking we have gone crazy....nope...just want Brooks to have fun running around with kids his age. (of course doesn't bother me that soccer is the sport of choice!). There really are no other "organized" sports related activities for kids this young. Most start at 3-4 years of age. So...why not? It's in the genes :) It starts next Saturday....so more to come!

He also loves practicing his B-Ball skills (then watching himself)

in prep for some March Madness.

Sweet Side of Brooksy

It was quiet one morning while I was doing a few things

around the house. So I peeped into the living room....

and this was what I saw.

Close up shot of Brooksy hanging with his buddy, Brutus.

Just melts my heart :)

I also caught Brooksy doing his best at carrying a tune

to "twinkle twinkle". So precious...

Baby Shower of Love

My sister Tammy and baby Hartley

We decided on a "vintage" farmhouse

baby shower theme that was held at my house

(I still need to get all the pix of the shower details from

my cousin. I forgot to take some!)

Hosted by myself and sister Tara

Of course Mom is always helping out!

She received lots of nice stuff from all the wonderful guests!

My mom refinished the 40 year old highchair we

all used growing up for Tammy!

Brooks just loved eating all the M & M's.

The shower inspired me to paint some more of the house

Dining room BEFORE

Dining Room: AFTER (half decorated for party)

Bathroom: BEFORE

Bathroom: AFTER (with Brooks cheesing at bottom)

-This past weekend my sister Tara and myself hosted a baby shower for our sister Tammy. It was held at my house and turned out very nicely. We used a vintage farmhouse theme for the shower since Tammy is using neutral colors in the baby's room and that happened to be the style of my house. I handmade all the decorations (signs, banner, tissue pom-poms, burlap runner, etc) and Tara made most of the yummy food. We had strawberry spinach salad with poppyseed dressing, fruit salad with caramel dip, cheesy potatoes, pork and beef tenderloin, chips/dip, soda, water, lemonade, cranrasberry sparkling punch and of course cake. We used Mason jars tied with twine and pink/blue name tags as glasses. We gave them as favors to the guests. We labeled all the yummy food with chalkboard signs that I painted. We hung baby pix of Tammy and Brian on twine around the house and placed vintage alphabet letters on the fridge. We wrapped the silverware in gray napkins and tied with twine. We had flowers throughout the house in burlap or twine wrapped vases. My mom refinished an old window frame and made it into a picture frame....too cute! Tara came up with an idea to make a scrapbook for the baby filled with letters from friends/family. The letters were about Tammy or Brian and things that maybe the baby would never know about them or maybe things others loved about them. That way the baby would know more about his/her parents from the eyes of loved ones. All in all...I think the shower went great! Tammy really enjoyed herself and all the hard work did not go unnoticed. It was so much fun throwing Tammy a baby shower and we can not wait to meet Baby Hartley in April!

Happy Birthday Grammy!

I liked to show Grammy my favorite train videos

Grammy gives great hugs!

-A few weekends ago Brooks got a visit from his Grammy Videmschek. They played all weekend long! We had a nice relaxing weekend of going out to eat, watching movies, playing with toys, and hanging out at the house. She keep Brooks busy all weekend long! He was sad to see her go. Happy Birthday to Grammy!

Happy Birthday Cassidy!

Hanging out with my buddy

I got to help Cousin Cassidy open her presents since I'm a pro!

I got to hang out with Cousin Cameron since

he was home visiting from school

-My niece Cassidy turned 12 years old and we had a birthday dinner at Grandma and Papa McCarroll's house for her. It was so nice to hang out and catch up with everyone. Cousin Cameron is going to school now in Bradenton, FL while training with the U-17 National Soccer team. We were so excited to see him. He is missed so much! Cassidy had her friend birthday party at the Sky Zone. It was a blast!!! I'll post pix and videos below of Brooks jumping on the trampolines. The whole floor was a big trampoline. He LOVED it and keeps saying, "I love jumping!"

-Brooks also had a blast this weekend with Pops Blackmore and Kap'em. He loves playing with him and just hanging out. They played ball, legos, went on walks, and read books to name a few. It is always special to see them together. This is part of a video we captured during our dance party with Pops. He got a kick out of Brooks's silly dancing....what fun!

Ski Tahoe 2012

Heavenly Ski Resort

Check out these views!

Mandy and Toby

Our cute little cabin with amazing views

Another beautiful view

One of my favorite ski resorts....Northstar

I love skiing with my hubby ;)

-Josh and I took a much needed vacation to Lake Tahoe with our good friends, Mandy and Toby. We had a blast! That is once I got over being sick. I got either food poisoning or 12 hour flu the night we got there. I was permanently stuck by the toilet for the whole night and early morning. Needless to say....I missed the first day of skiing. It sucked! Oh well, I guess if I was to get sick, then being in a cabin with a beautiful view was the place to be! After that...I was good to go! We went to Kirkwood and Northstar (two of my favorite places to ski) and ended up in Heavenly with beautiful views! Weather was all blue skies 3/4 days we were there. Snow conditions were not the best because they had a record low snow fall this season, but we were at least able to ski. We couldn't complain. Mandy and Toby were great travel buddies and we can't wait to ski again next year! We are even more excited to bring Brooksy in a few more years. I love seeing all the little kidos flying past me on the slopes...fearless!!

-Brooks was in good hands with my mom. They are best buddies and he loves going over there. So much that he did not want to come home! The whole week we were back from vacation he would ask to go to Gamma's house when we left to go anywhere. He was even calling me "Gamma". Oh well....at least he was taken care of and loved;) He ended up getting sick while we were gone, but Gamma took great care of him. It was SO hard to be away from him, but I knew he was in good hands....Thanks to Gamma McCarroll for taking care of Brooks and also to Tara and Tammy for helping out with the dogs!!! We appreciate it so much.