'It's No-ing!!!'

It's time for me to catch up on the past few weeks of life!  I am not doing a post of things I am thankful for this year, as life is just simply too busy to remember one more thing each day, and there are just too many blessings to even list!  I never imagined my life to be so full of joy & happiness and I will be forever grateful to God for his blessings to me!

10-12:  A typical Saturday night at the Gerdes house.. and I am perfectly content just hanging out with all these boys on the weekends!

10-19:  Boston spent the day in Correctionville, IA with Grandpa Ron & Grandma Lisa.  It's an annual pumpkin carving party with Lisa's family.  Paisley, Holdyn & Boston had lots of fun & had a sleepover with Grandma & Grandpa too!

 I'm not sure how much sleep these kids actually get, because Boston always comes home exhausted!

10-23  Brigham's 1st Dentist appointment!  I am sure going back with his brother made it easier for him, but he did great and neither of the boys have any cavities!

Boston is showing off his prize for being cavity free, and Brigs is well... just his usual cranky self!?  I'm not quite sure why he has such a sad face :)

On Saturday, October 26th, my friend Tracy & I went on a bus trip to the Albertville Outlet Malls!  I was a little worried about having to spend 9-10 hours shopping in one place, but Oh. My. Goodness.!  I wasn't even ready to board the bus again at 7:30 PM!  It was so much fun.  

I bought the boys way too many clothes, but at least they'll be looking good! 

I took this picture next to Spiderman for the boys!  

I thought Derek would think I went a little over board, but he was disappointed I didn't buy more for myself!  Next year I will remember that ;)

A childhood friend of mine lost her dad to cancer last week.  As we celebrate our own birthday's each year, and I watch our kids growing up so darn fast, I often forget that each passing year means that everyone is another year older.  It was great seeing Heather and her family, even if the circumstances were hard.  It was fun to celebrate Leo's life & reminisce about all of our fun times growing up together.  Heather, Billie & I were such close friends, and even though our friendship is nothing like it was 15-20 years ago, we still have each other for the hard stuff and I am totally OK with that!  True friendship isn't talking on the phone every day, or seeing each other on a monthly basis, it's knowing you have that person to reply on when you need your friends the most!

Here is a picture of us celebrating Heather's graduation in 1997!  We have all aged so well!  ;)  

10-31:  I just had Mason for the day, so we had a fun day celebrating his 3rd birthday!  This looks more dangerous than it was, the boys were just doing a somersault onto the pillows!  

After they destroyed the living room with pillows & toys, we headed to McDonald's for lunch!

 The birthday boy wanted playdoh from Jame, so that's what he got!  Happy boy!

 An added bonus to new Halloween costumes each year is that it adds to the 'dress up' clothes!  Brigs still uses his costume from last year... although it's getting a bit too small.

 Last week Brigham woke up with a yucky sore on his cheek, and some other smaller spots around his mouth.  It was also really chapped so I was assuming it was from his cold and all the drooling he's been doing from having a stuffed up nose & nothing worse like hand foot mouth!  I also noticed he has one of his back molars in, so that could be part of the mess too?!  Thank goodness his face is clearing up, and it didn't spread.  He also had a rough couple of weeks during the night where he would scream out 'mommy' about 10-15 times a night.
We were getting really frustrated, and figured he was just doing it to be a pain.
Thankfully this has gotten better, and the past few nights have been quiet!

You know when he doesn't feel well because normally he isn't one to just chill out!

 11-2:  Boston is playing basketball now, so this past Saturday the boys & I went and watched him play!  Brigs got a hold of the water bottle and managed to spill it ALL over the court!  My first reaction was to quick grab something to wipe it up before someone slipped,
so his blanket was the mop!  The kid is so obsessed, he still snuggled it soaking wet!  Eww!!

 Shopping with this little honey is relaxing!

Such a happy happy baby!!

Yesterday, we had our first snow!  The first snow is always so pretty until it starts to melt and turns to a sloppy mess!  Brigs just loved the 'No!'  As soon as the daycare kids were picked up, I bundled up the boys so they could go outside and play for a bit.  I figured it would only last a few minutes & they would be complaining of being cold, but they played until I had them come in for supper!  'It's cun paying in the no mom!'  

The daycare kids got so excited about the first big flakes!

All bundled up and ready to play!

 He was a little hesitant at first to walk through it all!

They couldn't be any cuter!

And last but not least.. Shiner Cheer is in the house!  Derek & I discovered this Holiday brew last year and fell in love!  If you haven't tried it, please do!