The Cathcarts

Since Jaxson had a great time playing in the sandbox at the apple orchard, I figured we better get him one for home, and fast since the weather will be getting cold.  So I found this ladybug sandbox online and we just got it today and tried it out. Of course he loves it and now I think going to the park is a thing of the past.

"I am King of the sandbox"

"One of my favorite things to do is to throw the sand with my shovel"

Unrelated to the sandbox, but still funny and cute

For about a week now, Jaxson has been super easy to get to take his naps and for bed.  Brad and I are just wondering how long this will last.  Lately, we’ve just been asking, "Jaxson, wanna go nigh nigh?" and he starts heading for the stairs.  He’s been going to bed at 8:30 and getting up at 8:30, but tonight he was super tired and wanted to go to bed at 7:45, so that probably means we’ll be getting up a little earlier tomorrow.  He’s probably worn out from all of the playing we did today.  We made our first trip to the WDM library for storytime with our friends Mike, Brandy, and Jack.  Of course Jaxson loved the stories, dancing, singing, and watching all of the other kids.  Then this afternoon we headed out to the play area at the Jordan Creek Mall, which has become one of our favorite spots. We did manage to play outside for a short time this evening after it dried up a little.  Brad left for Iowa City early this morning for a neuro conference and won’t be home until tomorrow night, so Jaxson and I are managing to find ways to entertain ourselves. 

It was four years ago today that Brad and I said "I Do."  It’s hard to believe that it has been four years already.  The time has just flown by.  I can truly say that the past four years have been the best years of my life.  We have truly been blessed by God for our wonderful family.  Thank you Honey for our wonderful life together and I look forward to the next years to come.

Yesterday, Jaxson and I spent the day in Gowrie with Gma & Gpa Cathcart.  We had a wonderful time.  We went up to Fort Dodge to the apple orchard to pick up some apple goodies.  Jaxson had an absolute blast playing in the kids area, which consisted of goats, a slide, a train, and the best new thing of all. . . a sandbox.  Yes, this was Jaxson’s first time in a sandbox.  He loved sitting in the sand and picking it up and putting it in a bucket.  He even got a taste of it. . . yum yum.  The first time we tried to get him out of it he threw a tantrum, so of course we let him back in to play a little bit longer.  The second time we tried to distract him with the goats, which worked for a few seconds, but then we decided that we would just have to let him cry about missing the sandbox.  So guess what he will be getting in the backyard. We left the orchard with a freshly baked apple pie and some salsa and I can’t wait to get into both of them. 

Grandpa Steve feeding the goat up high

"Here I come, somebody catch me!"

"Hey Mommy, do you like my new glasses?"

Jaxson and I took advantage of the beautiful weather we had today by spending a good part of it outside.  I thought we better do it now since it’s only supposed to be a high of 60 tomorrow.  Of course we had to make our daily trip to the park.  Jaxson’s new favorite thing is to push the stroller around.  He will get it out of the garage and push it right up to the park; he knows exactly how to get there. 

"Hey Mom, this is a tiger"

I went down the slide, now I need to get back up.

"Giddy-up Zebra"

"Look, no hands!"

Petie the Penguin needs a hug

Jaxson has had fun these past couple of days playing with his friends.  On Monday, Anya (daughter of our friends Jason and Brandy) came over for a couple hours to play.  Then today, Jaxson and I headed back to Hubbard for a quick visit with my friend Erika and her son Barrett, who are here from Texas for a few days. The boys played really well together.  It was so fun watch them interact with each other. They seem to have their own baby language that only they can understand.  If only we knew what they were saying. 

Jaxson and Barrett wanting to go outside and play

Our weekend was just that, constantly on the go.  It started on Friday when I went into work from 3p to 12a then came home and got a few hours of sleep so that I could be back to work at 7a-3p.  I got off of work a little early to rush home, change clothes, get Jaxson and head off to Hubbard to my cousin, Brian’s wedding.  While we left for Hubbard, Brad left for Iowa City to the Hawkeye game. Brian and Kristin had a beautiful day for a beautiful wedding.  Jaxson had fun at their reception out at the golf course.  He had plenty of room to run and there were plenty of landscaping rocks to climb in and throw.  What I didn’t realize was that he was getting eaten alive by mosquitos.  I called Brad from work today and he was wondering whether he had a ton of mosquito bites or the chicken pox.  I’m voting for mosquito bites since I got quite a few also. . . let’s hope.  Jaxson and I left the reception as the dance was starting so that we could drop by G & G Winter’s house.  My dad had brought his dog, Butch, in from the farm so that Jaxson could play with him.  They didn’t play too much but we did get to see some doggy tricks.  Then it was off to home and to bed at 12:30am only to get up at 5 and work 7a-7p.  As of right now I’m feeling OK, but I’m sure that won’t be the story tomorrow.  Brad had a great time at the Iowa game of course with a victory against Syracuse.  BRING ON THE ‘CLONES!

"Hey Mom, tree bark doesn’t taste too good"

The new Mr. & Mrs. Brian Tidman

Uncle Randy

Uncle Kenny and Aunt Marilyn

"Rock-a-bye baby"

Butch doing doggy tricks

"Mommy, I think I made a mess"

We had a fabulous time in Chicago!  We left on Thursday morning with our friends, Jason & Brandy McArtor.  We got to Chicago early that evening and headed out to supper at Chicago’s famous Giordano’s for some Chicago-style pizza.  Our hotel was downtown, so it was nice to be able to walk everywhere and see a lot of Chicago.  That night we headed back to the hotel because the boys wanted to watch the Cubs and Bears on TV and all of us were a little tired from the drive.  On Friday, we met up with our friends Brad and Sarah Buffington from St. Louis.  Brad came with us to the Cubs/Astros game at Wrigley Field.  To get to the game we had to take the train, which was not fun.  We were packed in this train as tight as it could possibly be, without any air conditioning and it was about a 30 min. ride.  It was not a fun time. The game was also pretty boring.  There were hardly any hits and they ended up losing.  I think the most exciting thing was the fight that we saw in our section out in left field.  Of course it was two guys yelling at each other because one was throwing peanuts at the other, but it was still entertaining for us.  We’re happy that we got to see Wrigley Field and the Cubs play eventhough they didn’t win.  That evening we headed out to the Navy Pier.  Our intention was to go to the Hawkeye Huddle (pep rally) that was being held out there, but once we heard that no one too exciting was going to be talking, we left and went to eat.  We ate at Bubba Gump Shrimp, which was excellent.  While we were eating, some Hawkeye fans sat down at the next table and it just happened to be a group from Hubbard.  Jay and Jennifer Sheldahl (Swenson) and Adam and Karen Guard.  I graduated high school with Jennifer and I have known Adam since I was a little kid, so it was nice seeing and talking to them.  It seemed that everywhere we went, there were people dressed in black and gold.  We got stopped several times on the streets by locals who wanted to know what was going on with all of the Iowa people in town.  The city was being taken over by Hawk fans.  On Saturday, we got up and went on a boat tour of Chicago.  It was very neat to learn about the history of the city and all of the skyscrapers.  After the tour we headed to Soldier Field for the big game.  Of course Brad was very excited about this because he loves the Hawks and the Bears and he has never been to Soldier Field, so he was like a little kid in a candy store.  We met up with Brad’s friends, Ryan and Emily Larson from Gowrie, who were tailgating.  We hung out with them before the game and got to have some brats and hot dogs.  The game wasn’t all that exciting, but it was still great because we were in a great stadium and we won, which is all I cared about.  Brandy and I knew that if they lost, it was going to be a VERY long car ride home from Chicago.  On Sunday morning we headed back to Iowa.  We couldn’t wait to get home to see Jaxson.  I have to admit that I did miss him, but it wasn’t as hard to be away as I thought it was going to be.  When we got home, he gave me a weird and confused look, which wasn’t quite the reaction I was expecting or hoping for.  He was quite upset when Grandma Pam and Grandpa and Grandma C left.  This morning he seemed much happier that we were home. 

service here, a PB&J sandwich will cost you $16.00!

Jason and Brandy in front of Harry Caray statue

It was Iowa day at Wrigley Field so they had BJ Armstrong sing the 7th inning stretch

View from the Navy Pier

The Hawk semi pulling up to the Navy Pier

Adam and I at Bubba Gump Shrimp

Jennifer Sheldahl

Sears Tower (3rd tallest building in the world). It

would be the tallest if they counted the antennas

on the top.

Steph VanDinther (Brandy’s college friend), Brandy, me, and Sarah Buffington

Brad on the boat tour in front of Navy Pier

Look at all of the black and gold!  There were over 45,000 Hawk fans and only 15,000

NIU fans.

Brad Buffington, Jason and Brad

Tailgating with Ryan and Emily Larson

In front of Buckingham fountain.  This is the fountain on the beginning of the show

"Married with Children."

To see and hear more about our trip, check out Jason and Brandy’s website at www.mcartor.net