Soooo Pretty mom

Wednesday was a busy day for me after work.
I had asked my mom to feed the kids dinner so that I could pick them up to go to Kayli's Pampered Chef Party in Balsam Lake. So I got home about 5:10 and rushed in the house to change clothes and get the kids ready. Logyn was a little crabby so I was trying to hold on to him while I was rounding things up. I ran up stairs to change. When I got to the top of the stairs there was a strange but...familiar smell that was more than overwhelming.
I was trying to figure out what it was when the thought hit me like a ton of bricks.
FINGER NAIL POLISH!!!!
Frantically looking around the upstairs.
As most of you know we have white carpet in the bedrooms upstairs so I was expecting the worse.
I couldn't find out where in the world the smell was coming from. So not having enough time to continue looking I grabbed Landyn's clothes and started getting the kids ready. I put a sweat shirt on Logyn and my Mom changed Landyn when she found where the lovely aroma was.
Landyn.... had painted his toe nails.
Very well I may say for a 3 year old boy. He must have been keeping a close eye on how mom paints her nails.

He only painted one foot, he did decide to paint them all a differet color of course!

Parade Days... again

My little cousin Kelly Cecka was crowned a Little Miss Turtle Lake Princess. She wasn't to thrilled about it until she actually had the crown placed on her head and then I think it literally went to her head.

She was all smiles when the pageant was over.

So then the parades started. It brought back some memories of my days on floats and those scorching hot days.

And the cold rainy days.

So far I have taken the boys to 3 of Kelly's parades. Landyn loves the candy, and Logyn just wants to crawl into the street with his brother.

We have plans to see her in all the local ones at least.

Congrats Kelly!

A trip to Como

We were in desperate need of some family time ( away from our house ) so Matt and I made plans to take the kids to the Como Zoo. I asked Keenan if he would like to take Izzak along with so they could have some quality time together, and Landyn would have a buddy to talk to on the long car ride.

We packed a cooler and headed for MN. The ride was great. The kids were well behaved until we got to the zoo. I guess everyone else in MN had the same idea we did. We could NOT find a parking spot for the life of us. We drove and drove, and of course every time we got close to the zoo the boys would flip a lid and wanted out of the car.

We parked a couple blocks from the park and CARRIED everything!

We thought we would eat first being we got to the zoo around 11:00. So we had a nice picnic in the grass. Logyn decided to tear into everything we had to leave to the birds and squirls. And Landyn and Izzak were just too excited to eat.

After the picnic Matt carried the coolers back to the car and we were off to the zoo. The boys loved it! Logyn jabbered the entire time. And Landyn and Izzak we had to remind constantly to stay close to us, there were just so many people there we were afraid we would lose them.

I love this picture of Keenan and Izzak. They were having a great time together.

We tried to watch the monkeys but most were asleep and other times it was too crowded for the little ones to see them.

We looked at the Zebra's which Landyn named them all Marty ( from "Madagascar").

We also watched a sloth which Landyn called Sid (from "Ice Age").

The boys watched a turtle up close and they were tickled.

The turtle...

Logyn decided he was thirsty, but refused to sit in his stroller. I guess he figured mom wouldn't drop him, so this is how he drank his bottle.

Many of the animals were asleep and there were just too many people to see everything, somethings were a little disappointing, but the kids had a great time and that is all that matters

A weekend with the Family

The 4th of July. This is one of our favorite holidays to celebrate together. The weather is nice, we have picnics, and stay outside all day. Matt's sister Susan came home from Menominee to visit, so we had an all LoRusso weekend together.


Friday just the girls went out to the Luck-E for some drinks, chatted about Susan's boyfriend, and had few laughs it was really nice to catch up.

Saturday we decided it would be nice to have a quiet picnic at home with the boys outside. So we grilled some burgers, hot dogs, (mushrooms, and potatoes) for Susan. (She is not a meat eater). I made a potato salad, Mary made some great desserts and we sat out on the picnic table. Logyn seemed to enjoy eating outside while Grandma Mary fed him salad and cheese. Landyn was not so excited about eating (he has not been for a few days). I was trying to snap pictures of the family together and he wanted to take pictures of everyone else.




Saturday night we decided that Balsam Lake was our best option for fire works. We had to break our yearly tradition going to Cumberland for the entire day. Its just too much now with 2 kids and me not knowing if Matt will be home from work the day.

We went to the public beach. It looked pretty nice, and there were not too many people there. We set up chairs and brought a blanket for the kids. Then we realized (being the wonderful parents that we are) we forgot Logyn's diaper bag, and snacks. Great.


So Matt drove home while Susan and I waited.


Logyn loved watching all the people. He especially loved crawling away from us and stealing smiles from everyone.


Landyn was excited for the fireworks. He was so anxious for them to start he was bored with anticipation. But then, as soon as that first loud test firework went off he was done!



"Mommy I want to go home. I don't like fireworks".



Landyn stayed under the sleeping bag for the rest of the night.


Logyn on the other hand LOVED the fireworks. He sat on Susan's lap and screamed WOW! His eyes were as big as golf balls, he clapped his hands and squealed. If only it was light enough for the video camera to pick up his reactions.

Eventually Landyn fell asleep and the fireworks were over.

A photographer in the midst

Last weekend after the Relay it was MY weekend to relax. I was tired of planning things constantly, so I decided that was going to lounge for most of it. Well, you know how it is when you just sit there you start to brain storm. Well I did... needless to say I started looking at the house thinking I was tired of how things were arranged. "mmm I am tired of the couch there, I wonder if it would look good over here... what about the kids' toys where would I put them".

There I am, not giving my mind a rest.

I think it just comes with motherhood ( I think).

Well after basically remodling the entire house in my head I decided to move a few things. I think in my mind I forgot about the kids for a moment because I didn't realize how they would feel about me moving thier stuff around well... Logyn was having a hay day with the coffee table in the kitchen. He figured out how to open the doors and crawl inside the table.

He thought that he was cool beans. He crawled in just to sit in it for 2 seconds, and then crawl out so he could close the doors and then open them to crawl inside again.

It was too cute to pass up, so I had to start taking pictures... (you can tell I'm a mom).

Landyn of course seen me taking pictures of his little brother and had to start showing off, and had to be in everyone of the pictures I was taking by sticking parts of his head in every shot.

Then Landyn decided that he wanted to be the photographer. Sooooo against mybetter instincts I decided to show him how to use the camera... now most of you would say "now don't you think he is a little young", well you don't know Landyn John LoRusso. Landyn must have a photographic learning mechanism in his brain because all you have to do is show the kid something one time and he will remember for years and years.

He did a GREAT JOB! For a three year old! He was way more interested in taking pictures of Mom then his little brother.

And to my suprise he had to be a sweetheart ontop of it all. When I showed him the picture that he took of me on the digital camera he told me that I was "sooo cute and beautiful".

Here are some other photo's the talented photographer took...

Some art interpretor out there may think that this is a masterpiece.

He did catch his brother in action.

Now, this isn't the best picture of me but... Landyn did take the picture.

Sunny Summer Days

So far this year, as anyone that lives in Wisconsin would say, hasn't had many warm days. We had a few roasters with some bad humidity but other than that it has felt like October!

Well a couple weekends ago Grandma Mary decided to take Landyn out to a movie for some quality "just Landyn" time. So Matt and I decided to have some "just Logyn" time.

We went out to lunch at the Hog. It was the first time Matt and I had just taken Logyn out to dine somewhere alone. Needless to say it felt odd the whole time. It felt like we were missing a piece of us, but we knew Landyn was having a good time with Grandma Mary.

It was a REALLY hot day so I asked Matt to fill up the kids' pool. We put it on the blacktop drive-way so it would heat up quickly. I wasn't sure if Logyn would enjoy the pool because as most people know Landyn does NOT like pools or the lake, for reasons I can't explain.

I just plopped Logyn in the water with his diaper and clothes on. At first he wasn't too sure about it, but when I decided to put my feet in also and walk around, he thought it was the funniest thing. He chased me in the water while I ran in circles.

Lisa King, our neighboor and good friend came over while she and Kyrie were on their walk together. Lisa put Kyrie in the pool too. Kyrie was not to keen on the water, especially when Logyn decided to clobber her in the face with is wet hands.

The Relay Dayz

This year was my second year as Team Captain for the Relay for Life, I have been going to the Relay for 4 years and it was my first year on the Relay commitee. It has been a long 9 months preparing for the Relay for Life but the prize at the end was well worth it.

It took months of endless nights on the computer, and a little internet surfing at work :) but it all came together in the end of June.

Our team Eagle Valley Bank raised over $2100.00 this year passing our goal by $600.00.

We had a Bake Sale in April, sold candles at the both SCF locations, had a garage sale in May, at the Relay we sold Taco's in a Bag, had raffles, and the big hit was the Eagle Bucks auction.

It was all a huge success.

I was lucky enough this year that Matt had Friday and Saturday off of work, so I didn't have to worry about someone watching the boys, and I had another hand to help me set up.

Matt brought the boys around 6:00 on Friday and they got to watch their grandma Bonnie give her Chair Survivor speech. It was a HOT day but Landyn was itchin to start running around the track.

He told daddy he was going to race him. So after watching Grandma take her survivor walk, Landyn ran and ran and ran, and Matt of course took his long strides to keep up with him.

Logyn was in the stroller.

Matt counted, and Landyn ran the track 8 times. That is 2 miles! He stopped about every lap and took a drink of water and would start his race again. When Landyn decided he was finished he told Matt "daddy you lost and I won".

Matt said the boys were so pooped when they got home that night. They had baths and were down for the count. It was a great way for the boys to spend time with their dad.