Roughin' It

Bar fight?
Nah...

Playground brawl?
Nah...

The real story:
Our poor little bruiser got a bug bite near his eye that caused him to look like he just took on Mike Tyson. Thank goodness for Benadryl. Although I'm still trying to figure out how the pediatric nurses suggest I convince a two-year old to keep a cold compress on his eye to reduce the swelling...don't think that's happening.

Happy Father's Day

Happy father's day to my wonderful husband and father to our sweet boy (soon to be boys). I hope our boys grow up to be just like you - strong, caring, confident, funny, proud, encouraging and loving. I couldn't ask for a better partner in life. Every time I see you with Cade, I fall even more in love...and I can't wait to see you with baby Dane. We are so blessed to have you in our lives.

And happy father's day to our wonderful fathers and grandfathers (and Cade's grandpas and great-great grandpas). We are so blessed that our boys will have wonderful, strong role models to look up to.


Happy father's day to all the wonderful fathers and grandfathers!

Strides for Hope

Last weekend, we had a team in the Wausau Relay for Life in honor of my mom. We were very fortunate that the rain drenched forecast proved wrong and it ended up being a fairly pleasant evening and morning, albeit a bit overcast and cool. Our deepest thanks to all of you who donated to our cause...words can't express how thankful we are. Through your generosity, our team raised nearly $4,100! We're already talking about how we can top that next year!

On Friday evening, they have a luminary ceremony where individuals can purchase a luminary in honor or in memory of a friend or loved one. The luminary bags are lined around the track and at night when they're lit, it's quite a poignant site to see how many people in our local area alone who are affected by cancer. Of course, Cade had to color his luminary for grandma...

Through events like the Relay for Life, we are truly making a difference in curing this terrible disease that takes so much from so many of us. We participate so that one day, families and individuals won't have to go through what we're going through today. Hope will replace sadness and despair...life will replace death...and many more birthdays will be celebrated. In the meantime, we enjoy EVERY minute. We pray. We look for strength and faith to guide us. And we cherish every moment.

"Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours."
Mark 11:24

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

With a lot of apprehension, I took Cade to get his hair cut tonight. If you didn't know, Cade doesn't have the best track record with haircuts. He's screamed and cried during every single haircut and the last time I took him to get it cut, I literally had to hold him in a bear hug the entire time. For his last cut, Grandma Janet and Auntie Lisa took him and it was his best yet. He had to be held but he only cried a little bit..it may have helped that the cut didn't occur at the barbershop that time. Instead, Cade saw his "stylist" Leah at her house, along with her little boy, Maddox. We went with the odds this time again and went to Leah's house for the big cut. We prepped for it all day saying how it was going to be fun to go see and play with Leah and baby Maddox. I'm not sure what made the difference, but FINALLY, we had a successful haircut sans tears. I told Cade I was so proud of him for being brave and he could eat whatever he wanted for dinner. He selected pancakes and strawberries...so breakfast for dinner it was. Here's our happy little camper enjoying his dinner...

And in case you were wondering how long Cade's hair had got, here's a snapshot from a couple days prior. Auntie Lisa's friend Katie asked if Cade was going for the hockey player look...and with his Minnesota Gophers shirt, he looks like he could be hitting the ice. Although I must say that although we agreed hockey would be the only sport we could support the Gophers in (and only when not playing the Badgers), I have to throw out there that it's the Badgers that have been representing at the Frozen Four in recent years.

The determined (and long haired) little man was cutting grass just like daddy on his tractor...one of his favorite activities.

And, as much as I do love Cade's hair long, even I had to admit the shag in the eyes had to go. The little man was starting to do the Justin Bieber head cock.

Now we can only hope that the tides have turned and future haircuts will go just as smoothly as things went tonight. I'll be sure to stock up on pancakes and strawberries.

Memorial Day Weekend

We had a wonderful, relaxing time at the cabin over Memorial Day weekend. Cade loved hanging in his pool...kicking, splashing and sliding around. He was living the good life with his Adirondack chair right in the pool. It was nice that the weather was actually quite warm...warmer than most days in July last summer!

He was really excited to "drive boat"...even if the boat didn't leave the boat hoist. And yes, Cade is sporting the full on surfer dude look and is in desperate need of a haircut.

Unfortunately, the heat got the best of Cade on Sunday and he was not feeling so well. He was such a trooper while being sick. Grandma Janet was a trooper as well...she was on the receiving end of a not so pleasant incident with the little man. Through it all, he maintained his sense of humor as mommy and daddy showed him how to use the bucket to be sick. Fortunately, our little man was back to himself on Monday morning.


All in all, it was another wonderful weekend. And, just like last Memorial Day, we came back to a Tuesday off to work on a house project. Last year it was our master bath...this year, the nursery. Here are a few in progress pics of the office to baby Dane's nursery transition.