The Ride of all Rides!!

Over the weekend the Williamsburg Fire Department held a poker run.  They needed someone to escort all the motorcycles from Parnell to Williamsburg so Travis volunteered us! 

Words could not explain how excited Pierce was!  I'm pretty sure it was the best day of his life, to date:)

Here we are waiting for the phone call from Travis telling us to come to the fire station....it seemed like years for Pierce!!  And of course we were all supporting the WFD t-shirts:)

 They weren't exactly sure what to think...

 Cash-man still wasn't so sure...but by the end he was in love!

 Pierce was ALL smiles:)

 Here's the truck in Parnell getting ready to escort the bikers back.

My husband left out a few details....like the fact the bikers just got to TJ's in Parnell and wanted to chill for a bit.  So Travis, Pierce, Cash and I bellied up to the bar;)  I felt so idiotic with my kids at the bar (full of bikers) and all 4 of us had the same shirt on!  We looked so cool;)

 Travis was thrilled when I asked a fellow friend and biker to take our family picture in the fire truck!!

Family Christmas photo material;)

 Travis wouldn't let me hang my head out the window to take a picture of all the bikes behind us so the best I could do was take a picture of the mirror!  Still pretty neat!

It was the coolest feeling being in the fire truck with full lights and sirens...having 80 bikers behind you! 

{I actually got goose-bumps}

 Final destination...Sundown in Williamsburg!

It was a great few hours and they will be some Pierce will NEVER forget!!
The fireman street dance was that night and I'm pretty sure it was a good time had by all!  Thank you to everyone who came out and supported the W'Burg fire fighters!  They truly appreciate it!

I want to take a minute and wish my parents a happy anniversary....they are celebrating 35 years today!  They are great role models and I only hope Travis and I can have what they have 35 years from now!  We love you very much and wish you a great day!  Here's to 100 more:)

Catch Up

First of all...holy hotness!  This heat is ridiculous!  Luckily it's going to be in the 80s for the next couple days!!  I was supposed to golf last night but my partner and I decided against it and ate at Texas Road House instead!  It was delicious:)

The kids and I made a cake yesterday!  I have been craving my mom's homemade chocolate cake but I've been nervous to try it (my mom is a great cook and when I attempt to follow her recipes it never tastes as good!).  But to my surprise it turned out great and the kids had fun!

The only problem...that damn cake has been screaming my name!!!!

Side note: one year for Christmas my mom hand wrote all her recipes for my sister and me!  It took her a long time but I'm so happy we will forever have all her recipes (in her writing!).  She also did it a few years later for my sister-in-law!  Such a great family heirloom to have.

We got the boys' room darkening shades in the mail already and I put them up right away!  It was a success...Cash slept til 7:30am!!  That may not be sleeping in to some but it sure is better then 6am!  Pierce...not so much.  He got scared of the wind and storms and was on our floor by 11pm!  I guess we'll see how tomorrow morning goes with him!

Happy Thursday all!

Shredded BBQ Chicken

I "like" Skinny Crock Pot on Facebook and they posted this recipe (and picture) the other day.  I decided to try it last night and it was a huge hit with the whole family...not to mention super easy (which is what I like!).

Recipe:

3 pounds of boneless chicken (I used 4 boneless chicken breast)

2 cups chicken broth

1/2 tsp black pepper

salt to taste (I don't use salt so I left this out)

1 (18oz) jar of BBQ sauce

*Add chicken to slow cooker and sprinkle with pepper.

*Pour broth over chicken.

*Cover and cook on high 4 hours or low for 6 hours...or until chicken shreds easily.

*Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

*Remove chicken and place in roaster or casserole dish and shred the chicken.

*Add 1/4 cup chicken broth from crock-pot to chicken.

*Pour BBQ sauce to chicken and coat well.

*Cover and heat 15-20 minutes.

*Serve on a roll or bun.

I asked Travis to bring home some buns and he brought the really big, yummy buns!  It made the meal even better!  Both boys ate a whole sandwich plus some! 

I have never shredded my own meat and I have to say it was the easiest thing to do! 

If you're looking for an easy, healthy meal write this down:)

Happy Tuesday and stay cool:)





Another Summer Weekend

The weekend went really fast...AGAIN...but we had a good one!

Friday night we went out to my grandma's farm.  Pierce loves being on the farm and loves seeing Great Grandma!  On the way home we stopped at a friends pond where they were having a get together!  Can't wait until the kids get older so we can actually sit and have a conversation;)  Not that I'm wishing them to grow up any faster!!

Saturday Travis worked in the morning.  The boys and I had our friends over (Stacy, Demi & Karli) to swim in the kiddie pool!  The kids had fun and the dads (Mark & Travis) brought us all lunch!  They left and we took naps:)  I did a few spray tans then we took off to golf in Solon.  It was Solon beef days so we were the only ones on the course!  It was perfect!  We had 8 people and we were all able to golf together!  The girls kicked the boys butts...btw;)  I don't think the boys took that so well!  We ate supper at Gus' in North Liberty and headed home.

Sunday morning my wake-up call was Cash's finger in my eye!  I haven't been poked in the eye in forever and I'm not gonna lie...it hurt!  I wasn't able to open my eye for a good 45 minutes!  I wasn't sure we were going to make it to church because I couldn't open my eye!  I sucked it up and we made it to church.  We grabbed Super Value chicken and mashed potato's and gravy for lunch (TO DIE FOR!).  Travis canned green beans ALL afternoon and the boys and I napped!  We went to my parents for supper (zucchini pizza!).  The kids ran around swimming and my dad put the sprinkler under the trampoline!  They had so much fun!

I ended the night by ordering room-darkening curtains for the boys' room!  I cannot wait for those to come in!!  They were $10 at Wal-Mart!  No joke!

Happy Monday all!  Go out and make it a good week!

Norwex Demo: Kitchen Sink....

My mother-in-law is a Norwex consultant.  I have a lot of their products and love them! 

I decided to do an experiment and let my sink get gross.  I'm embarrassed to even post these pictures but I'm doing it for the "after" pictures and to show how Norwex  works!

This is the right side of the kitchen sink.  It catches all the empty soda cans and recyclables.  As you can see it can get pretty gross....

 I'm going to blame a little on diet Pepsi and a little on Williamsburg's hard water!

 I got my travel pack enviro-cloth wet with warm water and cleaning paste....

 I wiped it down and the whole process took less then 5 minutes (you would think I scrubbed but I didn't have to because the paste took it all off fast).  And this is the outcome....

 Looks like a brand new sink!! 

 Gotta love Norwex!!

If anyone wants my mother-in-law's information I'd love to give it to you!  Message me:)

[And please don't judge me on my yucky, gross sink....I'm really not a dirty person!!]

He's Not a Baby Anymore:(

We had a new baby start in my daycare so we got out all the baby stuff!  My youngest baby here is 18 months so it's been a while since we've had the swing, bouncer & BUMBO out!

After Cash was born I did away with the huge, gigantic swing and bought a swing that sits on the floor and can easily be stored. 

I'm not sure what I was thinking because this is what I deal with all day.....

I'm constantly telling him to get out of the swing!!  He's 32 pounds and is way too heavy!!

I realized he's not my baby anymore:(

{check out those tree stumps for legs!}

On another note.... I've heard my mom say 100 times "choose your battles!"  Pierce does NOT want to wear a shirt anymore and I've been fighting him every morning for a good month.  I finally got tired of it and decided I'm losing this battle and I gave in!

I have to admit it's kind of nice only picking out shorts in the morning and moving on!

We are home everyday and don't go anywhere so it's not a huge deal but he knows he has to put a shirt on if we are lucky enough to get out!

Doesn't he look super comfy though;)

Happy Friday to all of you!

Vaca 2012 Part Two

We made it to Minneapolis on Friday afternoon and what do you think the kids wanted to right away....swim of course!  Thank goodness for lots of cousins and grandpa's because I didn't have to get in!!  The boys were well taken care of!

Pierce wanted these goggles on with his swollen eye and everything!  I was a bit nervous about it but he was fine!

 All the women sitting around watching the swimmers!  I was right there next to them!

 Cash & Tiffany in the hot tub! Isn't there some rule about little boys shouldn't be in hot tubs?  For some reason I think my brain absorbed this information but I don't remember why!  Oh well...he loved it!

 This is my all time favorite picture of Pierce and grandpa (my dad).  They were both smiling so nicely at me and as I snapped the picture Pierce did a fist drop:)

 After swimming we all hung out in the amazing courtyard of our hotel.  The kids were able to run and play...but couldn't escape.  Perfect!  I brought my spray tanning tent because a lot of my cousins and aunts wanted to be nice and tanned for the wedding on Saturday!  I did all that and then we all went to bed for the big day!

Here we are all dressed and ready to go waiting for the shuttle!  Cash was giving Kaleb "kisses" and we were all making sure he wasn't going to hurt him:)

 Travis and I...minus the kids because Pierce caught an earlier shuttle with all his friends;)

 My parents...Ed & Vanessa!

 Cash thought he was cool in the shuttle because he didn't have a car seat!  I was a bit nervous but we all made it safely!  Looks like he was in good hands...best cousin and babysitter ever!!

 Hanging out on the patio at the reception!  I think everyone in this picture was a 'Spratt'.  There were 50 of us that made the trip!  So lucky to have such a big, fun family!!

 Myself, Joanie and my mom!

 I'm pretty sure the Spratt's took over 80% of the dance floor!  Such a good time! 

{That would be my sister in the upper right corner...having a great time!}

 The only picture I got of the bride and groom!  They are so perfect for each other!

 Me and my seester;)

 Here are some of our photo booth pics!  Kellie and I took the boys in and I think Pierce thought we were crazy!  Kahne went right along with it:)

 See Pierce's face....scared!!!!

 Such a great time had by all!  I want to thank everyone making it a weekend we'll never forget!  It's not everyday you and your family of 50 gets to spend a weekend in a hotel together having a blast!!

Vaca 2012 Part One...

Last Wednesday we took off for Wabasha, MN.  We were scheduled to leave at 10 (Travis' plan...he's a little OCD!).  Pierce woke up with what we thought was pink eye.  We called his pediatrician and they called in drops for us (without being seen).  At the time I was happy they did this!

We were 30 minutes late leaving town...which really irritated Travis;)  We left at 10:30 and arrived around 4.  A big thanks to Dora and Clifford the Big Red Dog for babysitting in the back of the Traverse:)

My aunt and uncle own a bar/restaurant on the Mississippi...Slipperys. That was our first stop.  The boys enjoyed feeding the ducks!

 We ate supper then headed to my cousin Chelsea and Chad's house.  Here are the boys riding the 4-wheeler.  Cash was almost asleep when they returned!

We are thinking Pierce got bit by a bug on this little ride...

 Here's Chelsea and her cutie-patootie son Cody!

 This was Pierce's eye the next morning.  We took him to the ER in Wabasha.  They said it's not pink eye and to stop the drops.  The doctor thought it was an infected bug bug bite and do Benadryl and warm compresses.  Poor kid was in a sleepy haze for the day!

 We arrived at the eagle center and got out of the vehicle and realized we forgot a shirt for Pierce!! We were going boating the rest of the day so it didn't even cross my mind!  We were those parents who had the shirtless hoodlum running around!  Don't worry...we bought him a new shirt!

 Only family picture we got the whole vacation....we are in our suits and my husband is wearing a stupid cut-off shirt!  If you know me you know I HATE when he wears cut-offs!!  Geesh..so embarrassing!

 My cousin Emily and Tim were brave enough to let us take their boat out while they were out of town!  It was the perfect boat for our crew and we had  wonderful day!  We were so grateful for them and the boat!!

The kids enjoying a snack...

 Pierce thought he was pretty cool helping drive the boat...and eating a beef stick!

 Catching some rays with Amber...

 Parked the boat and played on the sand bar.  The kids had a great time but I have to say...I am NOT a fan of sand!  It was everywhere!!  Each kid got a dip in the water and a hoist in the boat!

 Got hot so we jumped out for a while!  Pierce is catching a ride with Travis;)

 Ryan and I in the front of the boat enjoying a beverage...

 ...Amber and Travis in the back of the boat hanging out with the sleeping kids:)

 And this brings us to our Friday.... :(  Pierce woke up and his eye looked even worse!  We called the ER doctor back and he said we needed to go to see an optometrist.  We made an appointment an hour away from Wabasha...but closer to Minneapolis where we were staying Friday-Sunday.  The optometrist looked at Pierce for 2 minutes and decided it was cellulitis of the eye!  He gave us a few options: Option #1: admit him to the hospital and give him an IV with antibiotics every 12 hours for 3 days! Option #2: give him one round of the IV antibiotics there then make our way back home to the UofI hospitals to be closer to home. Option #3: consult a pediatrician and see what he thought!  We went with option #3 first then we would take further action if needed!

 Luckily the pediatrician didn't think it was cellulitis and he thought it was an infected bug bite!  The two doctors had some discussing to do in the hallway and left me shaking like a leaf in the room!!  We weren't sure what was going to happen!

The two decided Pierce would be okay with two injections in his legs and a 10 day antibiotic.  THANK GOD!  After about 4 hours at the hospital they sent us on our way to Minneapolis for a family wedding! 

The optometrist actually called us on Monday wondering about Pierce.  I thought that was very nice of him! And...turns out he was right!  We had a follow-up with our pediatrician Monday and she said it was a minor case of cellulitis but whatever they did worked because he looks great now and everything is fine!

Pierce's eye looked 100 times better when he woke up Saturday!  We continued our vacation and we only missed out on Nickelodeon Universe and the Aquarium at Mall of America.

The rest of the vacation blog will continue tomorrow...