Valentine Love

We don't do much for Valentines Day at our house. Aaron and I got some sushi take out, shared a bottle of wine, and were just going to relax and watch a movie. We enjoyed our dinner, knowing that upstairs Zackary is awake and playing but was being quiet. We frequently go through this in the evening. We try to put him to bed but he takes several trips downstairs to visit us, plays, sings, switches beds from his to ours, and back and forth. Since Aaron had bought two boxes of chocolate covered strawberries and forgot to give Zackary's to him, we decided to break down and let him join us for some yumminess. As you can see he was thrilled and enjoyed a couple of strawberries while giving us plenty of entertainment.

Official Hair Cut

We had to do it. As you might know, Lane had a bit of a comb over 70's style going on. It was so dang cute, but it was time to ditch it. He was beginning to sport a sweet mullet and that is where I have to draw the line. I tried a couple of times to have his hair cut/styled so it was still long and it just wasn't working out. It was time so we headed to Gilbert Barber Shop for Felipe to take control. He has cut Zackary's hair several times and does a great job. It turned out so cute. I can't believe how BIG he looks with an official little boy haircut.

Lane you're so handsome!

Puddles

So it has been raining a bit more than usual this year. Which is wonderful, except when you have 2 little boys that are thrilled to play, stomp, and get totally filthy...then proceed to track it through the entire house, some how. Lane watched Zackary jump in the puddles in the back yard then took action himself and really figured out how to make a huge mess.

Zackary digging some serious holes in the backyard with all his tractors. Notice the rain boots. Funny story... we were shoe shopping and he continued to choose any shoe that was bright pink...we told him he could pick out any color of crocks (this is the only shoe that is easy and fits his 'brick' feet). Of course he choose the bright pink ones. Aaron drew the line there. Zackary kept going back to the rain boots and wearing them all over the store. He had the choice of boots or crocks, obviously he choose the boots. He actually wears them all of the time. They are easy and have come in quite handy this year!

Lane finding any puddle of water he can to jump and stomp in. Needless to say he was soaked by the end!

Lane

I just had to post some super cute pics of my little Laner. Just relaxing outside having a little drink. I think he is mean muggin' me for taking too many pictures? But I love these pics.

Memories of a dream

Memories, that is all I will have. Today it's officially over, done, gone. Our business that we had such great dreams of. Sleepless nights, money, worries, fun, the American Dream, pride...I'm not sure how I really feel, there are so many emotions running through my head. What we created, thousands of hours, thousands of dollars, thousands of ideas...its all over. Why I'm saying this tonight is because we spent several hours moving our last few things out of the office. We no longer have access, we finally found someone to lease the space. I guess it still didn't feel 100% real because we still had an office with some of the equipment. The first picture is the start, the dream, the energy to make it work.

We expanded, it was great, we were doing it. Still not making much, but enough to move forward. We had the most wonderful, loyal clients. We became friends with them, we enjoyed every part of it. Even the late nights. We had employees and renters. What happened? What changed? I'm still not sure. I do know that we gave it our all. We put everything into it that we had and that we knew. I can say that in the last 5 years I have become a new person. The learning experience was amazing. Something that I would never trade and would never have learned anywhere else. I became insanely close to the most wonderful woman. Mary. We have shared so many ups and downs and our families have become one. I would never want to take on this venture with anyone else. This has changed me as a person and opened my eyes to so many different things. It has helped my learn what really matters, what to worry about and what not to. I have so much respect for business owners, no one knows what really goes into owning a small business except for those who have tried. This brings tears to my eyes, tears of joy and tears of sadness. No more sleepless nights worrying about what the next promotion might be, what will work, what is our competition doing, but then again there won't be any proud moments of having a successful event, a great sales day, the... WOW you did this! I guess life throws you curves and someday I will know the real reason why everything happened the way it did.

NYE 2009

What a great night this was! Our great friends hosted a party this year. What's so nice about that is...they life 'scooter distance' away. This means Aaron and I get to ride our awesome long board scooters home. We got to get fancied up for the event.

I love a good excuse to get dressed up.

The cocktails were flowing...as you can see!

This is the pre-ride picture. We made it home safely. Aaron and I on our scooters and Andi and Scott on their beach cruisers. I packed sneakers and sweats to wear over my dress. Here are some snippets of our ride home.
~ we heard the loudest hiccups, out of a large man, in a suit, riding a scooter
~the loudest cows that we've ever heard mooing at 3am
~laughing and scooter riding don't mix (maybe it was the drinks? who knows?)
~moderate size bruise, but the dress was fine
~trampolines and alcohol aren't friends
I managed to get up and work 10 hours the next day without any problems. What a night!
Happy New Years!

Christmas Morning

We had a wonderful Christmas this year. Zackary was really into all that goes with it. We left out cookies and milk for Santa and an apple and banana for the reindeer. In the morning we found our stockings filled with goodies and the BIG present Santa left for us...

A TRAMPOLINE!

Zackary jumped and jumped and jumped and jumped!

I can't believe how magical Christmas is. This is how I remember it as a child. Now that we have children, Christmas became magical again. Santa, stockings, surprises, decorations, presents wrapping paper... the list goes on and on about all the fun things about Christmas. I know that there is a lot more to it than that, but 'the little things' that is what children love. To see the smiles, the excitement, the thoughts, the surprised looks, its all priceless. If we could all just go back and appreciate the simple little things.

Merry Christmas!

Sledding

Here was the start of our attempted sledding trip with 2 apparently tuckered out boys. We might have been driving in the car about 5 minutes and I turned around to find this. We were cracking up because they reminded us of the little boy in The Christmas Story that couldn't move because he was so bundled up. They both look so stiff sleeping in the car seat. They surely weren't comfortable. Oh the beauty of being little with the ability to sleep anywhere.

And here we have Aaron, so PROUD of his Onsie. As you all might know, I'm not a fan of anyone wearing a onesie after the age of 1, with very few exceptions to this rule. And my 6'4" husband wearing his ONSIE...

not the exception. Really!

We had a good time sledding, however as you can see the snow was coming down pretty hard and horizontally right into our faces as we were headed down the slope. The sledding didn't last very long, but just perfect for the little ones.

Polar Express

We got to go on the Polar Express this year with Laura, Glen, and Lauren this year. We have never done anything like this. The kids had a blast! We took the 6:00pm train to the north pole to see Santa. We read the book, sang songs, drank hot chocolate, and ate cookies. What a great experience this was for the kids.

Only slightly manic by the end!

After seeing Santa the kids were thrilled. They had to so off their new bells from Santa.

Cookie Time

Cookie decorating time is here again. We are making it an Allan family tradition every year at Christmas. This was our 2nd annual. I'm pretty sure everyone ate more than we ended up making, everything was so tasty. Zackary had piles of sprinkles on his cookies and down his bandage. We also celebrated our Christmas with the Allans the same night. Tons of food, cookies, and presents. What a great night!

Slight Accident

Well, we had our first bike wreck. Just 2 days after he go his bike we spent some quality time in urgent care thinking we would need stitches. Luckly we didn't but we will be wearing this nice large bandage for quite a while. He really did well with everything. I'm pretty sure he caught the entire fall with only his chin. Poor guy, I guess all boys need some scars...

3rd Birthday

Today we celebrated Zackary's 3rd Birthday. Wow 3 years old! My baby is 3. It is so wonderful to see your child grow up, but it sure never seems real. Zackary is such an amazing little boy. He is so sweet, sensitive, energetic, caring ,and beautiful. We are blessed with such a perfect little boy. Here is some of Zackary's things
~ weighs in at 36lbs and 41 inches tall (he is the size of an average 4.5 year old)
~ full of energy of course
~ has a full six pack, quads, hamstrings, and delts...maybe we have a future athlete
~ he is an awesome host, he offers everyone juice boxes and suckers
~ he has such a sweet disposition
~ is learning to test his bounderies
~ enjoys watching movies

We celebrated his birthday at Marley Farms Petting Zoo. This is such a great place to have a party. We got several bags of feed for all the animals, 2 jumpy houses, a hay ride, picnic area, and the entire petting zoo all to ourselves.

The kids had such a great time, I think the parents did too!
Thanks to everyone who celebrated with us and for all the wonderful gifts.

Nana and Papa showed up after the party to give Zackary his brand new Big Boy Bike. It is a small Radioflyer bike, it reminds me of my childhood. Same colors and everything. He was doing so well riding for the first time. No Fear!

The night ended with him passed out on the couch at about 6:00pm.
Zackary, you are such a blessing to us. You have brought us so much joy and love. Everyday just gets better with you. We love you so much.