First Haircut!!!!

After many "oh what a beautiful little girl!" comments, I knew it was time to get Emmett's haircut.

For Henry's first cut we went to the cheapest place possible. The lady knew nothing about cutting kid's hair, and therefore it was a terrible experience that scarred Henry for life. He hates getting his hair cut.

I decided to go to one of those ridiculously overpriced kids places for Emmett's first cut, hoping it would be a fun experience for him. It was!! He loved playing in the little jeep he was seated in, and I don't think he even knew he was getting his haircut until she was almost finished and pulled out the electric clippers. Then he freaked out, Overall it was worth the money for a good memory, cute pictures, and one VERY cute little boy haircut.


cute, but ragged.


Before....


oh so sweet and cooperative!



Freak out time!


Still a little shaken up over his lost locks... but SO HANDSOME!!!!

Dylan's birthday remembrance

Last month we had a little birthday remembrance for Dylan at his gravesight. It was so nice to be a part of such a wonderful occasion... Celebrating the life of such a beautiful boy! We were able to release balloons with messages to Dylan, have a "moment of noise" in his honor, and our family made some birthday card signs to put in the ground. It was a beautiful day, and I know that Dylan was watching us and laughing along!


Car full of Balloons!!! What a fun drive!


Carl Frederickson.


Henry and our cards for Dylan.


Balloons to heaven.


"Moment of noise"

Hard drive hard times

We had a scare last week and almost lost our ENTIRE hard drive. The moment Brian told me we might lose everything my immediate thought was "NOT MY PICTURES!!!!" I thought about the fact that I haven't had a picture printed in years unless it was to give to someone else. About how grateful I was for my blog, I would at least have that, but I didn't start that until Henry was 1... all of his baby pictures would be gone. And lastly I thought about Dylan. MaryEllen will remember him because she's older, but without pictures, will my boys even remember their cousin?

Fortunately, I am married to a computer geek. It took a week of hard work and 1 very expensive software program, but we got it all back. (pictures and music, that is... documents are another story, but I don't really care about those.) I've enjoyed over the last few days looking at the pictures I so took for granted before! We are taking serious precautions now and are backing up like crazy!!! Here are some pictures I found that made me laugh. I'm so glad we have them. This day was one of my favorite memories of Dylan. He and MaryEllen had so much fun squishing Francesca in the hammock!

Alzheimers Run at East Lawn

This is the 3rd year that our family has participated in the Alzheimers 5k at East Lawn downtown, and every year we have a blast!

It was Henry's first year doing the kids 1/4 mile. He was so hilarious... as he ran into the finish he was going all serpantine, wiggling his legs and running all over the place. Brian ran with him and said he did that the entire time. What a wierdo!!! He had so much fun and had the HUGEST smile on his face when he got his little medal.

MaryEllen moved up an age division this year into the 6- 8 year old 1/2 mile group. I was so proud of her! She was obviously one of the younger kids running, and she hung right in there with the older kids.

This was my second year singing the National Anthem and I am proud to say that I over came my fear of the green metal platform. (It's a rickety stairway with a platform and rail at the top... last year I climbed to the top and started singing, like I was supposed to, but I was so scared that the thing was going to collapse under me that my voice shook for the first half of the song! I've sung the National Anthem at more events in my life than I can count, so I don't get nervous about that at all... but that platform! Yikes!!!!) I think I sounded good... better than last year at least!

Brian, Emmett, and I all did the 5k. Emmett and I took the first mile at a leisurely 22 minutes. I'm not kidding. One drawback of singing is that the starting gun blows just as I'm getting down, which means I have no choice but to join the slowpokes at the back of the pack. I tried my best after breaking free from them, but was still disappointed with my time. Meanwhile Brian, who has a potentially surgery requiring pulled muscle in his thigh and hasn't run in who knows how long, put in a clock busting time of 31 minutes. Amazing!

We had a great time and are happy to have this event as a yearly tradition for our family. We are proud to honor Brian's Grandma Lucienne's memory and hope we can continue for years to come!

Henry at the start line.


Finishing strong!


Daddy helps him show off his gold medal.


MaryEllen is Excited to get running!


Proudly sporting her medal.


Trying not to look nervous...


and facing the green- staired monster.