Ooops

We almost made it into the garage after work today.

Pink stinks

When I arrived at daycare today to pick up Gus, they informed me that he had a blowout and the only item in his back-up clothing bin was a pair of shorts. Before I could question them, she said, "we would have given him a pair of pants for the day but all we have in his size are 2 pairs of pink pants...and I figured you didn't want him wearing pink pants all day."

That's funny.

And because it is the middle of winter, I had to do it, I had to make him wear the pink pants on the way home. We left them on for only 5 minutes.

They don't look that bad! Real men can wear pink, you know. If it was 1975, he would be the coolest.

Home for the holidays

We made a quick trip to Minot for Christmas. The highlight was spending time with Steph who is now over half-way through her pregnancy. She is adorable and the baby is growing nicely. Unfortunately, we all got the flu for Christmas. Everyone got hit with it except Gus and now that I just said that, he will probably get it tomorrow.

Thank you to everyone for all the good chats, food, and gifts.

PS - my video maker decided to insert some seriously cheesy music behind the slideshow without asking me. It sounds like the soundtrack to the Biggest Loser or an old 90's sitcom or something. I apologize, hopefully you can see through it to the pics. Or press mute.

Proof

Look at this! It exists, hair. Go 'head, zoom in if necessary.

Getting warmed up for Christmas

It's been ridiculously cold here the past week so we've been encouraging exercise to keep the blood pumping. For those yoga-folks out there, I must say - this is a nice down dog, huh? Up on the toes so not to strain the calf muscle, relaxed neck, and nice movement of breath. I'm impressed!

I found the greatest mittens ever at Scheels. They are called paws (hmmm, clever name), but they are perfect for young kids because you don't have to work to get their thumbs and fingers in the right spot. Plus, as you can see, he actually likes to wear them.


Rrrrooooooaaaaarrrr.


Gus received a gift in the mail from the Tufto family in Chaska who we miss dearly. At first rip, he knew it was a book and he was super excited.

He kept feeling it as if to say, is it real?


On a separate occasion this weeked, he got luck and received a matching gift from Josh and Christy. Curious George the monkey. He likes basketball.


After all the fun and gift excitement, Gus was exhausted and crashed, big-time.. Too bad he was so tired because about 15 minutes after he fell asleep, we received guests for the night. Paul, Jaime, Carson, Ashton and the doggie Copper stopped for the night, en route to Minot.

Gus woke up this morning extremely confused. All of the sudden he had 2 brothers and a dog.

Ashton thought his bottle looked tasty. Gus was not impressed. See what I mean about the sharing?

Merry Christmas to everyone! Have a good week. Stay warm.

Class party

Gus has his first school classroom Christmas party last week and these kids can party, I was there. Watch out Class of 2026 - woop woop.

First, they got to decorate their own cookies. I helped Gus with his, not sure if you can see it but that's a P in pink frosting.

Next they all got to open 1 gift. Gus helped Lilly with this one.

Books! Nice.

Here's the best I could get for a class pic. From L-R it's Ethan, Erik, Lilly, Elizabeth, Kaydence, Gus, Avantay, Caiden and CJ (head cut off, oops) way up at the top.


I love attending these types of things, I can't get enough of it. It was so darn cute. One thing it did open my eyes up to was the wonderful world of sharing, or should I say the lack of sharing. That's going to be a tough one to teach. Notice Gus has a firm grip on that book. That's because somebody tried to take it moments before and he was not impressed. We will keep reminding him he needs to share and I will need to remember that it's hard to enforce that rule when there are gifts to be opened.

Snow day, again

We stayed home all day today, again. This is the view from our front door, my favorite part being the indent left in the snow bank from our decorative door.

Ross was outside plowing snow for hours. Our neighbors owe him!

In the end they tabulated 9 inches of snow in Fargo although they say that number could be off due to the amount of blowing snow that never settled. Most roads were plowed by about 3pm. Tomorrow everything should be back to normal and Ross should be extremely sore. Ouch.

Snow day

We were stuck inside all day because of the blizzard. We only saw 1 person willing to brave the storm today, pictured below, and he paid for it.

At first, a snow day sounded like fun!

We took care of some chores,

and by about 3:30pm we were all bored. Gus tried to entertain us to pass the time and it worked.

Work, eat, sleep, repeat

So often we get into the same old pattern, day after day, week after week. Now that Gus is 1, he's fallen into it, too.

Thanksgiving & B-Day #2 in Minot

Thanksgiving has come and gone - here's the highlights from our time in Minot.

We had dinner at mom and dad's the day after Thanksgiving (these pics are not chronological, oops). Gus likes his highchair at their house the best because it has a foot rest and it reclines.

Lindsey, Laura and Grandma Ethel joined us. Gus gets a kick out of the girls.

Grandpa Steve made a fort out of this appliance box. Lindsey and Laura were trying to lure him in....

It finally worked.

Chatting with Steph in Boston.

"Aww stop it. You're killing me Grandpa Steve."

Bird watching with Grandpa Dave.

Bathtime in a really big tub.


Going back in time to Thanksgiving, here's the toddler table.

Sophie is adorable and sweet....and into showing affection. Here she is plotting her next move on the unsuspecting Gus.


Attack! Moments later Gus was crying. It was too cute.


Yum. Potato chips with Grandma Vickie.


Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were cool when I was a kid. I think they are making a comeback.



This is just a great shot of a kid in socks and a diaper.


Gus was lucky enough to get another b-day party while in Minot. Here's his cake, I bet nobody saw a sports theme coming.






Unfortunately, Gus's grandparents were not very excited for his birthday or the cake.

The aftermath!

Thank you, everyone, again!