Seasons of Change

I realized the other day that I still had a blog that was active and alive on the WWW or World Wide Web. It actually made me sort of sad when I went back and looked at my blog that there has been a whole span of time that has been undocumented. When I started my blog I was so excited about the idea of using it sort of as a time capsule, or journal that the kids could read when they got old that would show them snippets of their life, and now looking at it it looks as if I just took a hiatus and that is disheartening.


At this time, I don't think I am going to go back and update everything about the past few years..rather I am just going to progress going forward with a quick bullet update and then focus on the future going forward.

• Asa turns 5 in August. He has spent the last 2 years playing soccer which he loves, but is taking a break this summer to pursue Gymnastics. He loves anything that has to do with Cars, and can actually name most models of cars on the road when we are driving. Sometimes he even outsmarts me when I am wrong about what type of car it is.
  
• Aria turns 4 in October. She has spent the last 2 years dancing and just loves the costumes! She is also taking a break this summer to pursue Gymnastics. She is such a girlie girl, and loves makeup, lipstick, dresses, high heels, and would happily give you her last M&M if you asked for it.
• I am still at the same job which now has evolved into a full blown actual company. O'Brien-Staley Partners. I am now the HR Specialist.
• Adam is selling cars at AutoNation Ford in White Bear Lake, and will be going back to school in the fall.

I am going to try my best to stay active posting a few times a week so that I have some consistent documentation of Just Another Day In Paradise.


Happy Belated 4th of July, and I will be updating soon.

1 week

I have a lot to update you on...what i am MOST excited about right now, is that less than one week from today (Monday)...Adam and I are going on a cruise!!!

Adam surprised me with this for my 30th birthday, so i have no idea where we area going, except that we are porting in Miami, and will be gone until Saturday. My only task is to write up the babysitters notes. Thank you Thank you Mom, Dad, Andrea and my brothers for helping out throughout the week.

CAN'T WAIT!!!!
Lots to update on though as well!

Turning 30

This post is about 3 weeks late, but turning 30 was definitely not as bad as i thought. I heard once from i think jessica simpson on a talk show that when she turned 30 she was no longer an old 20 year old but was a young 30 year old. I like that, and i embrace that. I had a party out at a restaurant with friends on Saturday, and went out to the Melting Pot with my hubby on my actual birthday which fell on a Wednesday. Because i didn't plan anything extravagant, the birthday gift that came from my boss and the office was so cool. I took the day off on Wednesday, and then came back into work on Thursday and Friday my brother in law and family were coming into town. About a week before my birthday my boss asked what my birthday plans were and i mentioned what i wrote about above, and also told him that my mother in law and brother in law had talked about going to the zoo on Friday. The week of my birthday came and my boss presented me with my birthday gift: Tickets to the zoo for Me, Adam, Adam's mom, my Brother In Law, Niece Lily, Nephew Issac, Asa and Aria. Money to spend at the zoo, Monorail tickets, and a "special" tour of the Grizzly Coast. SO FUN! We got a behind the scenes special tour of the entire exhibit, Asa and Lily got to "prepare" food for the bears, saw their lair where they slept, and got to go on the roof on top of the exhibit and throw ice treats down to the bears. It was so fun because we could see all of the people behind the glass and they looked up at us and watched us as we gave them treats. We also were able to call their names, and have them do tricks. I don't think i will EVER get this experience again, and it was just the neatest thing.

 Asa and the new penguin exhibit.

 Asa by the sleeping bear. They were all sound asleep until we came with the ice treats, and then they all woke up!

Where the bears sleep at night

 Asa helping put all of the bears food together.

 High five and knucks for the zoo keeper.

 The zookeeper said it took some 42 locks to open and close every night in order to get the bears from the outdoor enclosure to where they sleep at night. CRAZY!

 Here come the bears! Once they saw us on the roof they knew they had treats coming.

Haines doing a trick!

 When we were on the roof, Asa picked up a rock and threw it over the edge and Kenai got it and put it in his mouth. You can see the rock in his hands...oops!

 Then he kept the rock in his mouth, leaned back and grabbed his feet!

It was such a hot day, so we had to take run in the splash pad!

Asa Turned 2!

My little monkey turned 2 on August 4th. Can hardly believe how fast time has gone. Party on the 6th for him with the family and it was just a blast. Love you so much Asa John!

Prayers

We found out over the weekend that Adam's grandpa Al has lung cancer. It is the "wet" kind of cancer so it is the fluid in his lungs that is cancerous. Adam's mom and grandpa are going to the Dr today to get a more formal diagnosis, so please pray!

I think hearing this news is even more difficult because it is almost the one year anniversary of loosing Al's son Chuck (Adam's dad).

Sickness and an OFFICIAL crawler

Our house has been really sick this past week. Asa got "the cold" on Thursday, I got it Saturday and spent 2 days in bed, and then Aria got it Sunday. I am finally feeling a bit better, but man it really put me out of commission for the last 5 days.

I know it could have been much more difficult for me to be sick and take care of two kids if Aria hadn't become so independent lately. She has taken off and is crawling all over the place. Asa was the same way. There was no scooting, army, or tummy crawling for either of them. They both were bound and determined to get where they were going and that meant learning how to crawl and crawl fast. Adam or i will walk into the kitchen, and Aria will be in the living room. All of the sudden we will look down at our feet in the kitchen, and there she is grabbing our toes looking up at us with a huge grin. This has made things easier also because she follows Asa around. Asa will go over and sit in his toy corner, and Aria will crawl over and play with him. She will just sit there and watch him, and he will read her books (in his own language) and show her toys. If Aria cries, Asa will grab a toy, bring it over to her, and show her how it works.

Love my little sitting beauty! Prayers for us to bomeome healthy again :)

Easter