Toy Story 3

Sunday night we took Devin to his first movie!!! We saw Toy Story 3 and it was great and I even cried. He did so well. He sat with Ben for the first part and then switched to my lap, but never took his eyes off the screen. He seemed to enjoy it. We went to Wells to see the movie, that way it was a little cheaper in case we had to leave early. Maybe we will have to do it again sometime soon.

The Fair

It is that time of year once again. The fair has returned to Blue Earth for yet another wonderful year. Last night was the first day and of course we had to go for supper!!!! We did a little walking around and Devin got to ride a few rides last night. He enjoyed the animals and really like the cows! I am not sure what his new interest is with them, but there was one getting it's hair cut and he would have stood there for forever watching if I would have let him.

This year one of my friends thought we should enter our jam in the fair and I decided ok I thought to myself, "why not go big or go home!" So, not only did I enter jam, I enter photos and scrapbooks. I entered 2 different jams and a salsa, 5 photos, 2 scrapbook albums, and 2 2-page layouts. I am very happy to say that I received many ribbons and a few Champions. But the one I am most proud of is my Reserve Champion on my 2-page layout featuring my dad and Devin. These were the last photos I had of him and it means more than you can imagine receiving ribbons for my work.

I also received a Champion on this photo of Devin and if you look in the bottom left is another photo that I took and I received a blue ribbon for that one.
I also received a Champion for my raspberry jam right behind Mandy's Grand Champion ribbon!!! We did a great job.
Tonight will be day 2 at the fair. More food, rides, and walking around enjoying the sites of the fair.

Green Giant Days

Wow, what a busy weekend we had. We started off the weekend on Friday night out at the Green Giant for some music and games. Ben entered a bubble blowing contest with a few other people that we know.

Devin had fun dancing to the music and running around. We got hit with three rain showers while we were there and during the last one we all got totally drenched. And at that point the rest of the music was done, so it was onto fireworks. We went over to the school's back parking lot and watched from there with a group of our friends near one of the fire trucks. Devin just wanted to go home, I think beside being wet and starting to get cold he was very tired. We watch the fireworks and Devin cling to Ben's neck the entire time and didn't want to see the BOOMS and kept saying all done and wanted to go home.
On Saturday morning Both Devin and Austin along with the neighbor kids did a half mile kids run. I walked with Austin and Ben walked with Devin and boy that was one long walk with those two. And this was right after we got done running 2 miles.

Yes, I said we. Melissa and I have been training for the last few months to run 5K's this summer and this was her first race of the summer. I am so proud of both of us!

I got Ben to run the race also. We did awesome and he only came in 20 seconds before me. I took 1st place for my age group and he took 2nd place for his age group.

After the race, lunch and naps it was time for the annual parade. I was a nice parade and we ended up with a lot of candy. Devin is in heaven with all of that candy!!! We had supper at our house with my brother and his family and then Ben went with Mandy to their class reunion, while we watched a movie and relaxed. Sunday was a day of doing nothing. It felt so nice to just relax and enjoy the day. I ended my day with a girls trip to Albert Lea to see Eclipse!!! It was great and can't wait for the fourth movie to come out. I might have to re-read the book again.

Potty Training or atleast the start of it!

So, we have decided to start focusing on potty training at our house. When we get back from swimming Devin always wants to take a shower and as soon as you turn the water on he will start peeing. We will catch him and say, "no, we go potty in the potty." And he will stop and then as soon as we are not looking he will start again. So, I have tried to get him to sit and he throws a fit, so we decided that daycare would be the best place to start. That way he can watch others and then maybe want to join in. Yesterday was the first day of this routine and he sat once with a little fit and then the second time he sat on his own, but did nothing in the potty. Today he sat and there was nothing and then the second time he sat and nothing again, but got up and did the potty dance and so they had him sit again and turned water on (to hopefully help) and HE WENT POTTY IN THE BIG BOY POTTY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He was so happy when I asked him about it and did a little happy dance. I hope we can stay on the same path, but I know that he is young (2 1/2 years old). The weekend starts for Devin and I today, so we will see if I can get him to sit for me or if we will have to wait again till Monday. I am so proud of my little guy!

5K Race

So, yesterday was my very first official 5K race. If you don't know a 5K is 3.2 miles. Myself and two other ladies went over to Briceyln for their "Chicken Run". I did not have my normal running buddy with me, but I did have my personal trainer with me. She runs about my speed so that was nice. She pushed me a lot more than I think I would have pushed myself. Out of the whole 3.2 miles I think I my have walked a total of 1/2 mile. Which is great for me, I have only ran outside 1 mile at a time with walking. It was pretty windy, which made it that much harder to run certain directions and boy it was HOT. But I finished and I wasn't last and my time was 33.38 minutes. I am very proud of that time. It is about 11 minutes per mile. I have done two other 5K work-outs the first one being closer to 45 minutes and the other being somewhere between 35-40 minutes, so my time was awesome!!!!

Sprinkler

We know have two sprinkles since I found this fun ball that is a sprinkler. HE likes to play with this one a lot. He can push it around and around the yard.

I love how the water and the sunlight makes sunspots!

Strawberry Picking

On Monday, Mandy, Chloe and I went to Heron Lake to pick strawberries. We had a good time and got lots of berries. I came home with 32lbs!!!! Then on Tuesday I went to the Farmer's Market and got 8 pints of fresh raspberry to jam jam with.

I made strawberry jam, strawberry-rhubarb jam raspberry jam and raspberry-rhubarb jam!!! YUM!! I also froze both the strawberries and raspberries whole for fresh fruit later on.

Father's Day

For Father's Day we went to Arnold's Park for the day. We had such a good time at the park. Devin was able to ride all of the small rides for free and we just brought a few tickets for us to ride the train with him.

Of course he had to ride the Merry-Go-Round more than once. He really likes the horses.
He had a blast jumping as long as the girl was helping him go up and down. He has been a tramp a few times, but he likes to run around it and fall down. But he asked to jump and walked right on and waited for the girl to strap him in. He was all smiles!

After the park we ate and walked down by the lake. He would watch the water and throw rocks into the lake.