Exciting things at the Taaffe's!

Lots of exciting things are happening at the Taaffe's! I can't believe it's already they 22nd of October, where did this month go? We've had a busy October thus far.

The weekend of the 5-7th, the kids went to Gran and Papa's for the weekend, so we could work on the playroom. A couple weeks prior, Kevin removed the fireplace and sheetrocked the hole. So we spent our entire weekend working on the playroom. Removing the carpet, painting and new flooring.  We weren't going to do the flooring yet, as we figured the new carpet would cost us about $1000 for the playroom and we just don't have an extra grand to spend right now on carpeting. But when we got the fireplace out we decided the carpet looked horrible that we decided to just do the floor as long as we had to move everything. We opted against the carpet and got laminate flooring at Sam's club and it was very reasonable, our whole project, paint, flooring, etc. was less than $500. We still had money stuck away for our Vegas trip that we decided to put towards the playroom. We're very happy with our "investment" and the kids love playing in here now. See the pictures below...

the start of my stenciling

The next exciting thing...

We have a walker! Or I should say...Runner! Just in the last couple weeks he's really started cruising, he's practically running. And he's not stop from the time he gets up until he goes down for a nap and then all over again. I can hardly believe he will be ONE in less than two weeks. Crazy!!

I just have to share this picture...nothing special. Amelia decided to "dress" herself. The shirt she had on, she still had her pants off after her nap time diaper change and wouldn't let me put them back on and then she found the socks in my bedroom, they have penguins on them. Then her cowboy boots. And to top it all off, she had been eating M&M's so she as a pretty face!

Our last exciting thing...

Amelia is now sleeping in a "big" girl bed. We took her crib out last night after dinner and put my old daybed into her room as a bed for her until we get her bunk beds. We let her pick out her own bedding at Target and I think that helped the process along a little. She slept great in her new bed last night. Very little fussing when it was bedtime. Didn't even try to get out, at least not that I know of. She woke up earlier than usual, but I think that was to be expected. She woke up at 5:45 and she usually sleeps to at least 6:30. I think after a week, she'll be in a routine and we shouldn't have a problem. Now if we could just get the potty training thing down. She does great for a couple weeks and then regresses...maybe she's just not ready? She knows everything, just forgets to tell us when she has to go and when we ask her she'll usually go, but not always. Oh well, baby steps!

She made each of us lay
in her new bed with her...

happy fall

As you can all tell...I'm a little behind in blogging! So I thought I'd take this moment to update everyone a bit on the life and times of the Taaffe Family! We're keeping busy...very busy...almost too busy if you ask me!!!

I started taking ECFE classes with the kids. (Early Childhood Family Education...for those of you who don't know what it stands for!) They are offered through the school district and so far I'm really enjoying it! I take Paul on Monday mornings from 8:30-9:30 and then Amelia on Tuesday nights from 6:15-7:45. They both seem to enjoy it as well. There are 2 other boys in Paul's class and one little girl. And in Amelia's class, she is the only girl and there are 3 boys! It's been nice meeting new parents/moms. We have a couple dads that attend the Tuesday night session. Which is neat.

We're both keeping busy with work. Which is a good thing. Our office is starting to slow down a little bit...I'm starting to think the economy is having a lot to do with it.

Last weekend we were at my Mom's for the weekend. One of my best girlfriends is getting married October 27th and last weekend was her Bridal Shower and Bachelorette party. I went to her shower, but opted out of the Bachelorette party to spend time with my mom. We took the kids to a local farm, and the kids really enjoyed that. They had lots of animals for you to see and some you could pet. Amelia liked all of it and especially liked the "Baby Moos". That's all she could talk about! When my mom said we were going there and we'd see baby animals she said "I see baby maminals" It was so dang cute!

On our way up Friday night, we hit a Coyote on the freeway.... Look and see what it did to my bumper. Thankfully, it didn't take out my A/C compressor or something like that...something with the A/C anyway! So that's going to be a nice $350 minimum repair!

Us at the farm on the hayride...

Amelia in the "straw bale maze"
Pauly picking out his prize pumpkin!

Amelia and Paul sitting nice on the straw bale....

...and her laughing her fool head off after pushing Paul off the bale of straw! (Which didn't seem to bother him!)

Paul now has 5 teeth and is walking! He is still crawling a bit, but mostly walking! I can't believe we have less than a month until Paul's birthday, crazy how fast a year goes by!

just a quick update...

Here is a quick update for all you folks. I'm a little behind on updating here...but here goes...

Labor Day Weekend---Jensen Family Reunion @ Elks Youth Camp in Nisswa. We opted not to go this year for several reasons....#1. Kevin had to work Saturday. #2. Good weekend to work on Potty Training as Amelia was extremely interested. #3. Kevin's Grandma Bev (Kevin Sr.'s mother) had a massive heart attack and was in the ICU. I'm sure we weren't very well liked that weekend for not going camping, but sometimes you have to make decisions and unfortunately they don't always make everyone happy. So we stayed home, I'm sure we were the hot gossip item...but I don't care! I have my own family and am plenty old enough to make my own decisions on what I do! It actually was a good thing we stayed home. Kevin ended up working late Friday night as it was nuts at the shop all day. Saturday he worked all day and Gene was gone most of the day on lock-outs and there is NO WAY they could have closed the station on a busy holiday weekend. They were busy that day working on cars, pumping gas and then doing several lock-outs for people who locked their keys in their cars at the campgrounds. Saturday evening we went and visited Kevin's Grandma at the hospital and then we had dinner with Kevin Sr. and his wife Mary. Sunday we went to Church like usual, then came home and got stuff done around the house. Monday we went to the MN Zoo with my co-worker Katie and her husband and two kids. It was nice to do something with another family that we don't normally hang out with. Amelia had a blast, as Katie's 4-1/2 year old Kami took her all over showing her things!

Last weekend (9/7-9/9), my Grandma and Grandpa Gregg came down. Granny had gotten tickets from a co-worker for the Gophers Football game and asked us if we'd like to go. Her original plan was for Papa, Dad, Uncle Ron and Kev to all go together. But Dad was busy working on his shop in Kilkenny and Ron and Terri had an Army thing for Luke. So Papa had called to see if Kevin wanted to go, then Kev invited him to stay the night at our place and told him to bring Granny along too! Then we just decided that the 4 of us would go. It really was a nice time and we rode the light rail down to the dome. They ended up coming late Friday night which was a nice surprise. Saturday after the game we came back to our house for dinner and my Dad and Mary Jo came over and we grilled steaks. Then had a bonfire, which Amelia really enjoyed. Sunday we headed to the Zoo again, this time with Kevin Sr, Mary, Kev's sister Shana, our brother-in-law Brandon and niece Brenna. Along with Mary's son Eric, his wife and their two kids. We had a great time at the Zoo as well. It seemed a lot different than when we were their previously, the weather wasn't as hot and the animals were doing different things. Which was nice and we seemed to have seen different things.

Tuesday morning we received sad news that Kevin's Grandma Bev had passed away that morning. The wake was Thursday night in Coon Rapids and the funeral Friday in Fridley with the burial being at Fort Snelling. Kevin was the Lector and a pallbearer

Friday late afternoon we got together with my cousin Jake, who is going to school at the U of M. It was nice to see him and spend time with him, we haven't seen him since he moved to the cities. Amelia just adores him and asks to see him everyday (literally!) While at Fort Snelling Amelia was very enthralled in the airplanes and while we were waiting in the funeral procession, she kept asking "Daddy, wanna fly airplane with me?" "Mommy, wanna fly airplane with me?" "Pauly (who was sleeping) wanna fly airplane with me?". We've determined...she's going to be a pilot! She's obsessed!

Saturday...nothing exciting! Kev worked until 8:00 last night (12 hours!!!) The kids and I ran errands in the morning, ran to Mankato to pick-up things for the station and do some grocery shopping. Then came home and make my candies for the church festival. Amelia helped me, we made chocolate dipped pretzels.

Today we went to Mass and then to Logan's 1st Birthday Party! I can't believe he is already ONE! Matt and Kel put on a very nice party, had a nice crowd and Logan got lots of new clothes and new toys and believe it or not...none were duplicates! :)

Potty training has been going okay. The first week and a half went GREAT! With only one accident a day and that typically was during her nap. She was really good about telling us if she had to go potty and she'd go when we'd just take her in there. Now she poops on there, but forgets to tell us when she has to pee. So we've been going through a lot of pull-ups! We've been on the go a lot lately, so I'm hoping now that things are calming down that she'll get better about going! I have to remember, she's only 2-1/2 and we still have time to get her potty trained! We're doing it when she shows interest, which she did, one weekend she only wanted to go on her potty, so we thought great, she's ready. Well she did good for a week and a half. I know she'll get better at it and stop having accidents. We'll get there!

Overall, it's been a crazy hectic two weeks and I'm glad they are over!

Tomorrow morning at 8:30, Pauly starts his ECFE (Early Childhood Family Education) class. Amelia will go with and go to Sibling care! Then Tuesday nights Amelia has her ECFE class at 6:15. I'm very excited for both of these and can't wait to meet some new people with kids the same ages as mine. I'm totally stepping out of my comfort zone, but I know this is important for both me and the kids to do!

With that being said...I'm heading to bed!

PS-I forgot to mention Pauly got a new tooth on Thursday. The maxillary (upper) right central incisor! Pretty exciting! It's definitely my easy teether! We hardly know he's ever teething. He had a bit of a fever when he got home Thursday after daycare, and I said he must have gotten a tooth...sure enough he did!

the tale of two moos...

Just as I promised. The story of Amelia and Paul's moo adventure! At the end of Amelia's visit to the Helping Hands Farm, she got to get finger puppets (I had a coupon!) and then I said "Okay, let's pick out something for Pauly." So she picked out a cow for Paul (pictured above). And she also got one for herself! We paid for them and then headed outside to meet up with Daddy and Pauly. She carried the bag with the "moos", her finger puppets and a magnet photo frame. We got outside and she took out Paul's cow and said to Paul (while giving him his new toy and gift from her) "Here Pauly, I got you a moo!" in her sweetest little 2-1/2 year old voice. It was the cutest thing ever! She was so proud of what she got for her brother and just couldn't wait to give it to him, she was practically running to him with it. Well, Paul definitely enjoyed the cow, for the short amount of time he got to have it. You see, these cute adorable little cows are made out of foam! Not foam like a sponge, more like the compressed foam that they make those little stress balls out of. Well the 9 almost 10 month old...sticks EVERYTHING in his mouth, so it's definitely not a wonder why this wouldn't go to his mouth as well. We weren't paying much attention, as he was enjoying playing with his new toy his big sister got him at his first State Fair. Well, I just happened to look down and noticed the cow's nose was missing...well the little booger, bit it off! Those two tiny little teeth sure can do a lot! So we had to take it away from him, which made him cry. So what does his big sister and best friend do? She reaches back and says "Pauly here's my moo" and give her cow to him. What a nice big sister. However, we had to take it away from him and then put them both in the bottom of the stroller, so no one would be eating foam! Amelia's cow is now as she put it "Daddy, moo broke", as some how on Monday evening, one of her cow's legs came off. We think Paul got ahold of it again! Needless, to say, both moos are going into their memory boxes with the date of their fair visit and maybe a short note written on them as to what happened! So there my friends you have it, the tale of two moos! In the picture above, Paul's cow is on the left...note it's missing nose!

...on a stick

Yes! We did it! We attended the Great Minnesota Get-Together aka the Minnesota State Fair! It is our one thing we look forward to all summer long and is always on our to-do list! It's a tradition we share with our kids and hope that someday it is something they look forward to as well! We went yesterday.

We love going...call us nuts. But we love it! I think it's our love of people watching! Both kids seemed to enjoy it as well. We ate a sampling of food... We started our day off with Cheese Curds (we shared a small basket) this is the first time in 4 years we've had cheese curds at the state fair. Then I got Kettle Corn...this is one of my fair favorites and a must have! Then Kevin had boneless chicken wings on a stick and Meli had a foot long hot dog, that she dipped in Kev's remaining ranch dressing for his chicken wings. Then Kev had Spaghetti and meatballs on a stick...I tried it and it was great! He had seen it on the news the night before and just had to try it! It was a meatball with spaghetti noodles mixed into the meat, battered and deep fried and covered in marinara sauce. Amelia had buttered noodles...from the same stand. I had a few of those as well. Next I moved onto a bacon wrapped turkey tenderloin on a stick...I must say this was my favorite! Kevin had a beer...I stuck to soda! Next I had a deep fried Milky Way on a stick...yum-o! I look forward to this every year...they are very good and very rich. I had a steak fajita...which wasn't as good as in previous years. There were more fajita toppings than steak. That pretty much topped out our day...oh and Kev had a pepperoni and sausage calzone...which was suppose to be on a stick as well...but wasn't! All in all, it was a great day food wise. We picked up some Sweet Martha's cookies for someone in Kilkenny (Gene called with the request right before we left the fair) we had a small sampling of those in order to get the lids on the buckets!

The kids seemed to enjoy themselves. I took Amelia to the Little Hands Farm. It is a neat little interactive exhibit just for kids, to see what it's like working on a farm and how your food gets from farm to table! They collected things throughout their visit. First we got feed for the animals (a baggie of corn) then we rode the tractors...see picture below. Then she fed the chickens (all animals fake of course!) and got to collect a fake egg and put in her bucket. Then she picked a carrot from the garden for her bucket, then fed the sheep and collected a bag of wool, then she fed the cow the rest of her feed and collected a carton of milk. Then picked an apple from the tree. Then we visited the Farmers Market, turned in all of her things she collected and earned a play dollar to buy something in the "store" they could pick from cans of vegetables or small single serving boxes of General Mills Cereal...she opted for the Lucky Charms...which she has never had before and seemed to enjoy. I don't particularly like to give her sugar cereal...but oh well, it was a special day! After we got done with the farm, we visited their gift shop and Amelia got some finger puppets and I told her to pick out something for Paul and she picked out a foam cow for him and one for herself as well....the story continues below!

Here she is riding a pedal tractor...couldn't quite figure out the pedals so she was being pushed around!

Here she is just at the tail end of the farm, after we collected all her goodies, she's telling Daddy and Pauly all about her adventure (They are standing outside the fence!)

Mr. Pauly pants cruising in the stroller, enjoying his first MN State Fair!

Time for a little snoozer!

Watching the Canadian Mounted Patrol...in her handy dandy Home Depot apron! (Amelia and Daddy were building a project at the Home Depot booth and she got an apron...just like the employees at Home Depot. We got one for Pauly too!

Canadian Mounted Patrol, putting on a show outside the cattle barns.

Waiting for the parade to start...Big slide! Amelia and I are on the far right side of this picture in the middle of the slide. Right between the yellow and Green. Amelia loved this!

Overall it was a good day at the fair. The weather was nice, sprinkled a few times...large drops...nothing serious. Nice breeze. Nice company and good food. Check back for the story of the two moos. I'm too tired to write about it tonight...it relates to Amelia's visit to the Helping Hands Farm and her gift for Paul! Goodnight.

Relay for Life...

First and foremost, I have to thank each and everyone of you who supported me when I did the Relay for Life. What an incredible event. I raised just shy of $300 for the American Cancer Society thanks to all of you very generous people and I sold 6 luminaries for another $60. I am very proud to say I was a part of the 2007 Relay for Life at the West Ottertail County Fairgrounds in Fergus Falls. It was a great event and I plan to participate again next year and hope to raise even more money.

It was very incredible to see all of the luminaries lit...I heard a few people say they estimated that there were 30,000 luminaries. The white ones designate someone who has lost the battle to cancer and the brown bags designate someone who survived their fight with cancer or are still fighting a courageous battle. Someday I surely hope to see a lot more brown ones than white ones. The luminaries lined the walking path.

Below are just a few pictures from the Relay. Some are ones I took and others are one's my mom's friend Carolee took.

this spelled out hope...

There were a lot of neat designs with the luminaries...including this heart... My good friend and "sister" Sara and I...this was after a LONG night staying up...I think this was taken about 5:30 a.m. as we were starting to help clean up the fairgrounds and our "campsite"
The few sole survivors of the all night event...

from Left to Right: My Aunt Roxanne, my Mom Carrie (Colon Cancer Survivor), my step-sister Sam, Stephanie (mom's friend Carolee's daughter), me, Friend/Sister Sara and Carolee (my mom's friend from High School)

We won the "Best Team Theme" award...we dressed up as pirates and won! We got a traveling trophy and hope to take it home again next year as well!

Thanks again to everyone for their support! I truly appreciate it. I can't wait to participate next year!

Sorry this update has taken me so long to get on here. It's been a crazy few weeks around here!

First Dentist Appointment...

Amelia had her first dentist appointment yesterday. I wanted to take her in to get her use to what they do during an appointment. She did great when we got there. We came in the back door and typically she sticks right by me when we stop at my work, but yesterday, she marched right up to the front. I stopped in the hall way to visit with Dr. Winn and she kept on walking. I was shocked...usually she's shy when we ware at my work! She played with the toys for a minute and then Julie (the hygienist) brought her back into the room, with Paul and I in tow of course! Amelia did great---in my opinion anyway! She sat in the chair and let Julie look in there a little bit, she held the big mirror while Julie looked in there with the little mirror. Julie just brushed her teeth a little (as seen in the picture above) with a toothbrush instead of a prophy cup. Amelia didn't like the idea of being tipped back in the chair...I think just because it was something new for her. So we ended it there, so she wouldn't be scared for her next visit. She did great, and she even came home with a brand new Tigger toothbrush!