Choo-Choo Ride

What a great Memorial Day weekend! We immensely enjoyed our 3-day weekend and I have lots to blog about, but I wanted to get this post up tonight while it's fresh in my mind.

After breakfast on Sunday morning, we headed to the Elk River train station to catch the Northstar Commuter Rail down to Target Field. We rode down which takes about 45-50 minutes, were there for 20 minutes, and then got right back on the train and headed home. It was something fun & different to do. Cody LOVED the train!!! He sat SOOOO good too, especially on the way down. We were pretty proud of him!

As you can see in the photo below, we have become one of THOSE parents....we got a leash ...err, harness, for Cody :O This was Gordon's idea but it may be helpful if/when we got to Disney and State Fair. I don't want to use it a lot ~ someone made a mean comment to us about it :( I tried not to let it ruin my day but I kept thinking about it. Oh well. We just want him to be safe & stick close to us. We just call it his backpack and he really likes it. One of the shows Cody sometimes watches has a backpack as a recurring theme/thing, so we say it's like Dora's backpack and he really thought it was cool then.

Anyway....back to the train....

One of the workers for the train offered to take the picture of all of us - wasn't that nice?

And....they also let Cody sit in the engineer's seat!!!! Isn't that sweet??? :) They suggested it and I don't think Cody knew what to think but at least we got a photo! Heh. I'm sure Grandpa Hart will get a kick out of this post as he enjoys trains.

Our final destination was Target Field, the new home of the Minnesota Twins. We're planning on going to a baseball game in a couple weeks, and I am so excited about it! Watch for us...we'll be in the second row from the top. Oy! Tickets are really hard to find.

Cody was pretty tired out on/after the train...I think it was lulling him to sleep! I must say that it was a really smooth ride and very relaxing.

Finally, here is a little video I took on our way home. I know that I am biased, but it was too cute not to share. I swear that he said "See you tomorrow!" after saying bye to to the trains outside. What do you think? At any rate, I hope you enjoy.

Anonymous

Sometimes I wish this blog wasn't so public.  I have many things that I feel like I need to "get out of my system" today, but I know this isn't the place to do so.  Actually, just writing these statements down helps a little.  

Our Little Piggy

This was just too cute not to share!  He was having an absolute BALL at daycare yesterday.  Thanks Cari for the awesome photo!  It completely made my day :)

Wrapping Up Another Week...

I'm writing this blog from somewhere I've never blogged from before...outside on our patio!  It's a beautiful night, albeit a tad buggy, but inside our house is so hot tonight, so I decided to go outside and attempt to blog outside.  Kind of different!  I'm watching all the birds in the yard and flying overhead, listening to the neighbors scoop up rock from their driveway and put it around their house, watching the neighbor on his riding lawnmower, and witnessing a plane flying overhead as I type this!  What a nice variety of sounds and sights!  When we bought this house, I was kind of hesitant because I could hear the highway and I wanted somewhere farther away from the freeway, but I very rarely notice the road noise now...mostly in the mornings or on rainy days when the pavement is wet...but it's definitely not something that is an issue.

Anyway, its been a good week.  Work was long, tedious and boring, but I worked less than 3 days this week, so I really can't complain.  I was fortunate to be able to take a long weekend, starting today and I don't have to return to work until Tuesday.  Hooray!  I am so grateful for my flexible schedule & realize I am so blessed because of it.

Not too much has been going on.  Our big excitement this week is finding a woodtick on Cody on Monday night.  It was "attached" to his little back, and Gordon freaked out...just a bit.  We pulled it straight out and appeared to get all of it....but we saved the tick just in case...scrapbook item??  Just kidding.  He just had a little bite mark but seemed to be just fine and now I can't even see where it was on his back.  Stupid ticks!  I hate those creepy crawly things.... Of course, once you find one, you keep thinking they are crawling all over you.  They are outside so much at daycare (which I *love* - outside time is so important!), and she can't strip every kid down after they come in from outside, so it's to be expected.  Welcome to Spring in Minnesota!  :)

Before we went to Dairy Queen the other day, we stopped by the local carpet/flooring store and got some carpet and vinyl flooring samples to take home.  Last night, we all went down into the basement (Cody LOVES that he can go down there now and explore....He knows the word 'basement' very well now too!) and did comparing and contrasting with the samples.  I am happy to report that we chose a carpet and vinyl....the most expensive options, OF COURSE!!!  (Is there any other way to do it? - says the woman that picked the $5/tile for the ceiling)  I think it'll look great and I can't wait to get the carpet in.  I think it'll really seem finished after that.

I am not exactly sure what the next step in the basement project is, but our plumber is coming down in a couple weeks to install the shower and toilet.  I think we do the flooring before that happens, but I'm actually not sure - ask the project manager (Gordon)!  We have been trying to find a vanity and are not having the best of luck.  We looked at several stores and finally chose one we liked....only to find out it was out-of-stock and they were unable to order it for us!  GRR!  So mad that they still had the display out.  We really wanted to get a darker wood vanity, but there is just not many options to choose from, so we'll see.

So, the basement project is coming along.  Hopefully I'll have some more progress photos to show you soon.

I was able to do some garage saling this morning on my day off, and I found a few treasures, but nothing worthy of a photo.  Here's what I can remember:

• Tonka dump truck (smaller; plastic & metal) - 50¢
• Tonka Chomper (just like the one here) - $2.00 (will be taking the batteries out soon, auggh!)
• Motorcycle & 4-wheeler toys for daycare - $2.00
• Beach/swim hat for Cody - 50¢
• Nine West purse for me - $1.00
• A few shirts for Cody - 25-50¢ (cute truck/machinery/snowplow designs)
• Play vacuum (Cody's is on the fritz; this boy loves to vacuum & gets GIDDY whenever we take ours out) - $1.00

I think that's actually it!  It's funny because I always think I'm missing out on Wed/Thur/Fri garage sales when I'm at work...but often I don't find much during the week if I am able to go.  The grass is always greener?  It actually seems like I get better junque on Saturdays!  Maybe it's just the location I'm shopping in, I dunno.  It's a bit annoying going saling around where we live, because it's ALL baby/kid stuff...which is all good since I have a kid...but honestly prefer looking at the "misc" stuff.

Well, it's getting dark out here and I don't think I'd better be typing away in the dark with my neighbors looking at me like a crazy woman.  (Although when you can see the neighbors TV from across the pond/swamp, and you can tell what he is watching on it, now that is just crazy!)  

I hope you all (all 8 of you that read this! Har.) have a great and wonderful weekend.

Nummy!

Since I thought I had taken meat out for supper, but actually hadn't (woops!), we decided to go to Dairy Queen for supper last night.  Cody ate almost his entire hamburger (oh Lord, help us when this boy is a teenager!) and his meal came with a free ice cream cone.

His new word is "Nummy!" and we must have heard it at least 30 times, at least one after every lick.  It was one of my favorite moments ever!

What a fun treat for a gorgeous spring day!

Question for the Email Subscribers

Hi!  I have a question for those that subscribe via e-mail to my blog posts.  Can you see the photos in your e-mail?  I get a copy of this and I can't see the photos when I look at my email on my phone.  Can you see the photos on your e-mailed version of my blog?

Hint - there is a question mark graphic in this very post!

Please let me know via comment or e-mail!

Thanks :)

Laws of a Toddler

1. If I like it, it's mine.

2. If it's in my hand, it's mine.

3. If I can take it from you, it's mine.

4. If I had it a little while ago, it's mine.

5. If it looks like mine, it's mine.

6. If I think it's mine, it's mine.

7. If I'm doing or building something, all the pieces are mine.

8. If it's mine, it must never appear to be yours in any way.


Cody's new favorite word is MINE - you can see how this applies to our life right now!  :-)


(Thanks to Simon @ Facebook, who also has a 2 year old, for these words of wisdom!)

Garage Sale Finds 5/12 & Other Items of Note

I hope you're not getting tired of all my garage sale bragging!  I know that I am so lucky to be able to go garage saling so often and frequently during the week.  I know most normal people have jobs to go to and kidlets to watch!

I went into work late this past Wednesday, and hit a few sales in the morning before I had to get back home and get to work.  I only went to 3 sales, including 2 in our own neighborhood  (I always do well around here!) - I think I did pretty well :)

Here's the goodies:

• Bag of play food for Cody's kitchen $1.00
• 3 books of trucks, cars & emergency vehicles 75¢ for all
• 2 containers of rubber stamps (resell at ebay or at our garage sale) $1.50
• bunch of stickers (shhhh don't tell Kaelyn :)) 50¢ for all
• belt for me (!) 25¢
• shirt for Cody 50¢
• And drumroll please......

YAY!  A Radio Flyer Trike!  I'm so thrilled over this find.  I've been wanting to get a trike for Cody, although I'm entirely sure he can reach the peddles or will know quite how to do it.  But for $5, I couldn't pass it up.  This trike retails on Amazon.com for $55!  And it's funny because I got it at one of our neighbor's houses - I can actually see their house from our front porch :)  

Look!  He can haul his stuff around in the attached compartment :)

This will be a perfect pair with Cody's classic Radio Flyer red wagon (which I also got at a garage sale, last summer, in near-perfect shape, also for $5!).

Kind of funny, I ended up running the mom of Cody's best-buddy, Anthony, at the garage sales in our neighborhood!  It was funny because we had saw each other at daycare drop-off that morning, but apparently were both having some much-needed mom time, sans little boys, that day :)  I felt silly because we were probably looking for similar things for our boys, but we kept the competition friendly.  In fact, I had picked up the trike and told the seller that I wanted it but I wanted to look around more.  Well, Anthony's mom was looking at it and I felt soooo silly when I said I was going to buy it.  Oops :)  

I went into work late again today ~ I think I could get used to these half-days!  But I was crazy busy at work when I got there so maybe I should have worked all day.  Definitely made the afternoon go by fast.  I was a good girl and stayed home all morning and got some things done.  We are planning to have a garage sale during the Albertville Friendly City Days so I have been cleaning closets and going through things to locate items to sell.  My pile is growing rapidly!  I was able to go through the coat closet, my office closet, bathroom closets and finished the linen closet.  I also went through my jewelry boxes and picked out a bunch of stuff to get rid of.  It feels SO good to de-clutter!  I think all I have left to go through is the master bedroom closet, Gordon's office and the bins downstairs.  Then pricing will commence!

Since I was home this morning, we also had the final City inspection of the basement today.  IT PASSED!  Wahoo :)

We decided to go ahead and do the bathroom, and our neighbor came over tonight to give us a quote on the framing, drywall, etc. We paid him for materials and he plans to start next week.  Then, our friend Chad, who just happens to be a plumber, will be coming up in a few weeks to do the plumbing and install the shower and toilet.  We have been waffling back and forth as to whether to finish the bathroom and we finally decided last night to just go ahead and do it.  I didn't want it always kind of hanging over our head that we will need to do it someday.  If we do use the bedroom in the basement as a guest room, it will be nice to have a bathroom down there.  We definitely are tired of the dust & construction, and I'm personally getting tired of writing out checks :) but hopefully we can get the bathroom done in a timely fashion.

Ahhhh...it's after 10:00pm once again, and I actually have to work a full day tomorrow.  Shocker!  I hope I can do it :)

Rainbow Foods Shopping

I ventured into the world of Rainbow Foods double-couponing a few weeks ago.  Every Wednesday and Saturday, you can double up to 5 coupons, up to $1 each, when spend $25 or more (before coupons).  Occasionally, they have double-double days where you can double up to 10 coupons.  OH, the joys!  Hee-hee.  

Anyway, I was able to make a quick trip to Rainbow after work yesterday.  I couldn't get the whole receipt in the scan but I thought I'd share the end result.  I doubled 9 coupons - silly me for not doing the whole 10, huh?  ;)

Bottom line, I got over $48.43 of groceries for $12.57!

Some highlights ~

• Keebler Sandies Cookies - $3 less $1 doubled coupon = $1 each
• Ken's Salad Dressing - $1.69 less $1 doubled coupon = (31¢) money-maker!
• Frigo Mozzarella String Cheese - $3.00 less $1 doubled coupon = $1 each
• Oscar Meyer Deli Creations Sandwiches - $2.00 less $1 doubled coupon = free!
• Nivea Body Wash - $4.55 less $4 coupon = 55¢
• Uncle Ben's Rice - $2.15 less try me free product coupon = free!
• Totino's Party Pizza - 10@$1.25 each less $1/5 coupon doubled less $3 off your next order promotion when you bought 8 pizzas = 45¢ each!  [I know some people think these pizzas taste like cardboard, but we rather like them :)]

It Was a Good Weekend! (Plus a basement update)

I guess I'm on a posting roll tonight!  Hope you don't mind all the posts.  It's been a great weekend.  We got a lot accomplished, did some fun stuff, and also had time to relax.  Friday night, we had dinner at home and then went to Lowe's to look at bathroom stuff.  We have decided to go ahead and finish the bathroom in the basement.  We wish we would have just did it all at once, but circumstances changed and as they say, hindsight is 20/20.  

My agreed-upon tasks were completed on Friday, so I was able to go out garage saling on Saturday morning with my best-garage-sale bud, Careen.  It was a ccccccoldddddd morning.  I woke up to a just barely, but definitely snow-covered, frosty neighborhood.  Yes, in May.  Yuck.  We wore winter jackets and gloves.  Yes, we are die-hards!  :)  Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of my finds, but I can probably rattle them off for you because I'm sure you're just *dying* to know, right?!

• White wastebasket - $1.50
• 8 bottles of Gap - Close perfume, new in the boxes - $2.00 each  (For resale; hoping I didn't make a big mistake on this one!)
• A few bottles of shower gel (Bath & Body Works and Victoria's Secret) - 25¢ and 50¢ each
• Shoelaces & a few pillowcases - free!
• Handy Manny cloth doll & toolbox with a few tools - 50¢ (I was soooooo excited about this find; Cody LOVES Manny!!)
• A few shirts for Cody including one with a motorcycle (one of his new words) and another with guitar/mic stands - 25¢ to $1.00 each
• A few books for Cody - 25¢ each
• White serving bowl - $1.00
• Plastic tablecloth for craft projects - 25¢

I think that's it.  I have high hopes for the perfume, but time will tell!

Got home around noon on Saturday and we had lunch and put Cody down for a nap.  Thankfully Cody napped for 3 hours (I know, I know...we are SO lucky), because Gordon and I had a ton of work to do in the basement!  Earlier in the day, a load of garbage was taken to the dump, so in the afternoon, Gordon and I picked up the rest of the garbage, washed down the majority of the walls, Shop-Vac'ed the floors and mopped all the floors.  Then we took all the stuff our of the "storage" room (aka the future bathroom) and sorted through it.  Surprisingly we have a decent pile of stuff for the garage sale (we're planning to have one in June) or at least items we're willing to go through and pick out stuff to sell.  We're not getting rid of any baby stuff.....just in case :)  We were super thrilled about how much we got done.  Thank goodness for long naps!  Amazing how productive you can be with home tasks without a 2 year old pulling at your pant-leg and asking telling you to "come on!!"

We were able to get the basement in such good shape that Cody will actually be able to be down there now without us having to carry him.  Yeah!

Here are a couple of recent photos from the basement.  Wish I would have thought to take photos before moving the stuff out of storage, but oh well.  You get the idea!  The painting is (95%) done, the ceiling is done, the lighting is done, the trim is done and our custom cabinet is done!!!  Wahooooo!!!  Next will be carpet!  We visited a local store the other day and were impressed by the service and locally owned feel, so I think we'll probably end up going with them.

So, anyway....back to Sunday....Cody eventually woke up :) and we got cleaned up and headed out for an early Mother's Day meal.  It was nice to beat the crowds and get a night off from cooking.  

Today (Sunday), Gordon made breakfast for all of us and then we did some shopping and more projects around the house.  One of the things that we did is bought a new organization system for Cody's toys.  I was hesistant, but eventually came around to this idea that Gordon had.  And, I'm so proud because he noticed it was on sale at Target this week for about $16 off.  Yahoo!  But if I see this at a garage sale next weekend for $5, I'm gonna be mad :)  Before we just had Cody's toys downstairs in two clear bins.  They worked okay but it was hard to see everything unless you dumped the entire thing out.  I was able to pack away lots of toys that Cody doesn't play with much anymore and just keep out the favorites and newest items.  I am really trying to control myself at garage sales this year on the toy-front....I really am :)

After getting all the toys organized, Cody and I were fooling around with the camera and we got this picture.  I think it's pretty funny.  Happy Mother's Day to all the moms, moms-to-be, and in-waiting moms :)

Such a Boy!

We are so lucky to have such a sweet little boy!  And that he is, all boy, evidenced by this short video. I just love the sound effects, don't you??! (Please excuse Cody's cough and my voice at the end.)

Flowers

Just wanted to share a few photos of my miniature flowerbed in our front yard.  It's not much, but it's a start & it makes me happy!  I absolutely love the cone-shaped flowers (I can't remember what they are called) ~ they are just so cute!  I want to plant more :)  I wasn't sure if my tulips would bloom so I was ecstatic that they did!  Yay for Spring!!!

Toddler Boy Clothes Jackpot!

More garage sale find bragging.  I hope you don't mind!  :)

I was able to sneak into work a couple hours late on Thursday morning, so I couldn't help but check out a few sales before I headed into the office.  I went to one right across the road from our house, and I hit the mother-load of little boy clothes.  I also went to a few sales by my work where I got a few things.  I had to take a picture of my finds, JUST for you!  

I'm not sure how many items I actually got, but if I do a quick tally based on the picture, it looks like I got about 13 short-sleeved shirts, 5 long-sleeved shirts, 1 pair of pj's and 4 pairs of pants.  I also got myself (!) a Vikings #28 (Peterson) t-shirt, a pair of capris, a pair of shorts and another top.  Also got Cody a pair of sandals and a pair of brown Stride-Rite shoes.  I also got Cody a Tonka Truck book (not pictured)...he has been really into trucks & heavy equipment stuff lately.

I was excited because many of the shirts just look like Cody and the styles that we usually put him in.  My favorites are the John Deere "The World is My Sandbox" t-shirt (will be for next summer), the Polo Jeans shirt and the loader/truck shirt (left of the John Deere shirt).  Actually, I really love everything.

So, drumroll please.... I spent approximately $15 total on the above items!!!  Can you believe it??!  I'm pretty sure the Stride Rite shoes alone would be well over that.  

Needless to say, I am thrilled :)

Here are a few other photos I snapped of Cody the other day.  He just make me laugh.

(Doesn't really look like him, but it's too funny not to share!)

(Hrrm, future career?)

I had the day off today (Friday) and Cody and I were able to spend the whole day together at home.  We had to hang around the house as the State inspector was scheduled to come and do the final electrical inspection.  IT PASSED!  Now we just need the final City inspection and we'll be done with inspections!  I need to take some photos - the ceiling is completely done!  It looks so nice and Gordon has the satisfaction knowing that he put the final tiles in himself!!  He took a couple days off last week and it really helped to get the job done.  

So, anyway, Cody and I had a good day, but we were both so tired.  The weather has been so darn dreary and it rained ALL day.  I had a massive headache and felt bad the majority of the day.  But, we both took really good naps, and they felt SO good.

Garage saling is on tomorrow's agenda, but SNOW is in the forecast for this evening.  NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!  That's just not right.  Say it a'int so.

To all mothers and mothers-to-be reading this, including my own (who is really feeling miserable and needs your prayers), HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!

What Are Your 5 Favorites?

Saw this on a blog that I follow and thought I'd play along.  

Here's the challenge:  What are your 5 favorites?  Any category, food, movies, color, etc.  Just any 5 different categories.  You can use the same ones I have on my answers, or different ones.

Here's mine:

Color:  Cobalt Blue

Car:  I always do a double-take on an Audi TT convertible

TV Show:  "The Big Bang Theory".  This was definitely an unknown show up until maybe this year.  It's on Monday nights and is an awesome show!!  Very clever.  I would have to say "Modern Family" comes in at a close second though.  I laugh and laugh at that one.  It is so good. Definitely set up your DVR it if you haven't seen either one!

Food:  Junk Food.  Sad, but true.

Hobby:  Garage Saling!  Duh :)

Anybody else want to participate?  Leave your answers in a comment or post on your blog and leave me the link.