A glance at 2010

I didn't get our letter out with our Christmas cards (I am lucky to have even gotten those out), so I thought I would post it on our blog to give our family and friends a chance to see our year at a glance.

My New Year's resolution, is to make a better effort to keep our family and friends updated on what's going on in our lives. I hope to post at least once a week, so wish me luck!

Friends and Family,

We hope that the close of 2010 find you happy, healthy and counting many blessings in your life. The days are long, but the years pass by so quickly. Here is a brief profile of the Schmitt family in 2010.

John is two and definitely in full toddler mode. He runs, talks, and plays nonstop – especially when the play involves diggers or dinosaurs. He is definitely an assertive little man, but he is equally silly and his antics make us laugh every day. He started pre-school one day a week this year and enjoys interacting with his new found friends. He also loves McDonald’s Playland and swimming at the YMCA.

AJ is five and he started half-day kindergarten this fall. He is learning to read and count and he enjoys making crafts and projects. He also enjoys Sunday school and the children’s ministry at our church. He went camping with Daddy several times this summer, and he really enjoyed that. He also played T-ball in the summer and he learned to hit surprisingly well!

Jen spends her days trying to keep up with her little crazy men and all of the duties that go along with being a (mostly) stay at home Mom. She enjoys her Monday mornings because both boys are gone for two hours. She is part of a moms group through some church friends and she is still working two days a week at the YMCA. In August, she completed a half-mile open water swim at the St. Paul Triathlon.

Joe continues to enjoy his job doing network support at U.S. Bank and he continues to teach information technology classes one night a week. He was fortunate to move to a position where he can teach

bachelor’s level students at his alma mater – St. Mary’s University. He participated in several triathlons this summer and took several camping trips with good friends.

There is never a dull moment. We are involved in several small groups at church and enjoy using them as a mechanism to develop our faith. In addition to some ongoing redecorating and landscaping projects, we are planning a trip to Germany together as well as several camping trips with the boys. We wish you happiness and good fortune in 2011.

Love,

Joe, Jen, AJ, and John

Finally some sun!

We spent last weekend at Deutsche Tage, the local German festival. Although the weather was gloomy we enjoyed our time there and Joe's brother Andy joined us as well. We ate great German food, listened to German music, had German beer and A.J. was able to spend the afternoon watching the model train they have set up. It was a wonderful day.

We have had quite a bit of rain for the last week so we were overjoyed when the sun came out yesterday! The boys and I spent the afternoon outside getting A.J. ready for T-ball. He had his first practice last night and had a wonderful time. We found out we have quite a slugger on our hands, he can really hit the ball! As soon as we got home last night, he had to go out and practice more. I really think he has found a sport he enjoys.

This morning my sister called and invited us to join them at Teddy Bear Park in Stillwater and considering how warm and sunny it was outside, we couldn't say no! We met them in the late morning and let the kids play for quite a while, all three of them really enjoyed it! We then decided it was time for some lunch and thought it would be a great idea to head down by the river and sit on a patio somewhere. We settled on The Freight House. The food was good and we had a wonderful view of the river and the weather was perfect for eating outside! We ventured down to the river once we were done eating and even put our toes in the water, although it was quite chilly. It was a wonderful afternoon!

It has been a really long time!

I have not been the best at keeping up with our blog. We have so much going on and some big milestones, you would think I would be able to post something every once in a while. Oh well, this is just going to be a really long post!

Here is what you missed...

Joe FINALLY received his Masters of Arts in Organizational Leadership! We are all so proud of all he has accomplished, but are so happy he will not be busy with school work anymore! Christmas came and went so fast! We had a wonderful time watching the boys open their gifts and seeing the joy on their faces. A.J. is starting to understand more and more every year what Christmas is really about and that just warms my heart. We spent most of the winter inside and I am a big baby and don't like getting cold and wet in the snow. The boys did manage to get out for a few sledding expeditions and had blast. Easter was really fun, we went to my step-sister Rachel's place for the day and the kids had a blast on the 4 wheelers and trampoline. She hid something like 500 eggs, so there were plenty to go around. We had a wonderful meal and just enjoyed every one's company. A.J. had his birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese and it was a hit. We could hardly get him to leave. And our nephew Gage, enjoyed it some much that when asked how old he was he would say, "3 at Chuck E. Cheese." Needless to say, my sister held his party there too!

John turned 2 on May 31st and is talking up a storm and running, running (his phrase) everywhere. And we learned a week ago that he can count to 10 and knows about half of the ABC song! We signed him up for "preschool" or Terrific Two's as the school calls it for the fall. He will go every Monday for 2 1/2 hours. He keeps busy chasing his big brother around and "bullying" him out of his toys (he is lucky his big brother is such a softy). He hasn't really shown any serious interest in anything in particular, but he does like diggers and dinosaurs just like another little boy in this family! His passion is being outside or in the water! He could spend HOURS in the bathtub and enjoys the pool immensely. We were so glad when spring arrived early so we could get outside and play. We had his 2nd Birthday party this last weekend and it was a success (despite some crummy weather). He is an amazing little boy, but he definitely challenges me, but maybe he just seems more challenging because A.J. was so easy. But he brings a smile to my face and makes me laugh every day!! The last two years has just flown by and I cannot imagine my life with out this spirited little boy!

A.J. turned 5 on April 7th which means this fall I will have a kindergartner! He is signed up at a local elementary school, Centerpoint and we could not be more excited about it. It looks like a wonderful school and we think he will do really well there. He is also signed up for camp at LADC, his preschool, for a couple of weeks this summer. One of this themes is Rocks and Fossils and he is very excited about it. He has become obsessed with everything dinosaur lately and knows more about them then I thought humanly possible. He still loves his diggers and trains, but I love that he has become more interested in something else. His preschool graduation was last week and I am so sad that chapter in his life is done. He is just growing up way too fast and it's been hard "letting" him. Where has the last 5 years gone, it feels like only yesterday I was meeting this tiny little miracle for the first time. He still amazes me everyday with the amount of knowledge he has. He is one of the sweetest kids I know and I feel so blessed to have been given the gift of raising him!

Joe ran his first marathon in May after a few years break. He ran the Green Bay marathon and was shooting for a time under 4 hours. Well, he came in at 3 hours and 56 minutes, so he was very happy with that. Grammy and Pa Schmitt came with us and we had a wonderful long weekend away. He is set to do several (I think 7 at last count) triathlons this year. He really got the bug last year and just loves them. He is even competing in a half Ironman, his goal being to do a full Ironman before he is 40! He also talked his wife into competing in a relay tri with him this year, EEK! I used to swim in high school, but haven't been "in the water" for many years. So, I am starting my training next week and then I will swim the tri and he will bike and run it. It will be fun to compete in something together, although we are not looking to win any medals, just have a good time together!

We have our annual trip to the cabin with my family planned for the week of the 4th and we are really looking forward to spending time with them all! We have a few small trips to Rochester planned to spend time with the Mike and Jessica and A.J.'s best buddy Benjamin. Otherwise, not many other trips planned, Joe's tri schedule will keep us fairly busy. Although Joe and I are going to sneak away in August to Chicago to see Jimmy Buffet! We are both really big fans and have even turned A.J. into one too! He is really disappointed he cannot go, so we promised we would take him next year. Auntie Jessica, Uncle Mike and Benjamin will be taking the boys for us that weekend, so they get a little mini-vacation of their own. We are just really enjoying this beautiful weather and are very excited about summer.

We also received some very exciting news in the last couple of months! Jess and Jake are expecting a new bundle of joy around September 16th and Mike and Jessica are expecting the first Schmitt girl around September 25th! We are so happy for them all and cannot wait to meet the new little ones!

I will try and update more often (I know I say that every time) so that you don't miss too much along the way! We hope you all are safe and happy!

Here are a few pictures from the last 6 months. I will try and update our pictures site soon.

Christmas is upon us

Just wanted to write a quick post about Thanksgiving and the upcoming holiday. We spent a wonderful Thanksgiving at my sister Jess' house in River Falls for Thanksgiving. We had a wonderful meal and great company. My grandparents even made it up from Iowa to join us. It was their first time seeing John and he took to them right away, especially "old" grandpa as A.J. calls all great-grandparents. We were able to get a 4 generation picture with them, unfortunately I forgot my camera so I will have to wait to post it until I get a copy from Mom or Jess.

I can't believe Christmas is a little over 3 weeks away! The year has gone unbelievably fast and before we know it we will have a 5 and 2 year old! A.J. is getting very excited for Santa to come and to be able to celebrate Jesus' birthday. He has been walking around the house singing Christmas carols for the last few days, it's adorable. We will be picking up our tree this weekend and then finishing all the decorating as well. I braved Black Friday by heading to Toys-R-Us at midnight on Thursday and I will never do that again! I was able to get almost all of my nieces and nephews done, but I am not sure the 2 1/2 hour wait in line to check out was worth it. I think I will stick to the a.m. sales instead next year, they don't seem to be quite as crazy! Just have a few more presents to buy and then I am done. And I am DEFINITELY getting a head start on wrapping this year, no more waiting until the night before!

Other then that, not much else to report on this end! Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and has a very Merry Christmas season!

Not much new...

...but I thought I would send a quick update to keep everyone in the loop. We have had a busy couple of weeks spending time with family. The weekend of the 13Th and 14Th we hosted the Rochester Schmitt's at our house. Mike, Jessica and Benjamin all had Friday the 13Th off, so Joe took the day off as well and we spent it together. We headed first to the Children's Museum and all three boys had a blast. Especially John, he was in heaven to be in a place where he could touch whatever he wanted and was never told NO! A.J. and Benjamin had so much playing and figuring out how everything worked, it was amazing to watch their minds in action. After the museum, Jessica found a wonderful place for us all to have lunch. She picked it with A.J. in mind, the Java Train Cafe. We had a wonderful lunch and A.J. and Benjamin had a great time playing in the "caboose" and watching the model train. After our bellies were full the moms and kids headed back here to do some playing outside and have a nap, while the dads headed off to do dad things. After the men got back, us ladies were able to go out and have dinner and have some time to ourselves, it was wonderful! Jessica and I always have so much fun together. Saturday we all headed over to Grammy and Pa's for dinner and more quality time together. It was a wonderful weekend spending time with them! And the boys has so much fun together, it is such a joy that they get along so well. Here is a little video to show how much fun they all have together!



This last week we spent again with the Rochester Schmitt's (boy, they are going to get sick of us)! Jessica headed up to the cities on Thursday evening so we could attend the long awaited premier of New Moon! And of course celebrate her birthday. We started the evening at The Square and had a wonderful dinner and delicious drinks. We then headed to the theater for the 12:02 am showing and were glad we got there as early as we did, it was packed! We were going to try and sit with my sister and her sister-in-law as well, but there was just not enough seats for all of us together. The movie was great, a lot better then the first in the saga, but we were exhausted and ready for bed! Then Friday evening was the usual birthday ritual, getting the Schmitt "sisters" together for dinner. We surprised Jessica with dinner at Fuji-Ya and had a yummy dinner!

Saturday morning we then packed up the car and headed down to Rochester for the rest of the weekend. We had a wonderful time playing games, watching movies and just relaxing and spending time together. Sunday before we headed home, we all went to the "really fun" park and watched the boys play. I think we had as much fun watching them as they did playing. We then headed home and spent the rest of the night recovering from our fun, but busy weekend!

We are really looking forward to spending Thanksgiving with my mom and sister and family this weekend. My grandparents are even coming up from Iowa and this will be their first time meeting John. We have a lot to be thankful for and A.J. has been rattling off his list already this week. He is also very excited because after Thanksgiving is Christmas (he isn't quite sure how the timing works, he thinks Christmas is this Friday)! I can't believe Christmas is just a little over a month away. Where has the year gone!? I will post some pictures from Thanksgiving next week (if I remember my camera), but here is one picture I couldn't resist posting!

Apple Orchard and Halloween

I can not believe it is November already! Christmas will be here before we know it.

We have been enjoying this wonderful fall weather. We spent the afternoon a few weekends ago at the apple orchard with my mom, Jess, Kristi and the kids. They had goats and chickens, a wooden train to play on and of course the wagon ride out to the pumpkin patch and corn maze. AJ had a blast playing with his brother and cousins and could not WAIT to get on the tractor for the ride out to the corn maze. It was a beautiful day and afterward we all headed to Jess' house to have some pizza and watch movies. I have added few pictures of the wonderful afternoon.

We decided on very short notice this year to continue our tradition of having a Halloween party. We sent out the evite, decorated the house, figured out costumes (well at least all of the men in my life did, I did not have such good luck with that) and purchased the refreshments for the party. We started the day out at church at the annual Hallelujah Festival with Grammy and Pa (Joe's parents) and then Mike, Jessica and Benjamin joined us for trick or treating in White Bear. (Picture courtesy of Jessica). Then once the boys were home and their candy sorted carefully (both the boys have allergies), our guests started arriving. I was too busy talking and did not take many pictures. But thankfully Jessica took a few and I am stealing a few from her (thanks!). AJ had a few friends join him at the party and the boys had a wonderful time. They are all within 2 years of each other and got along great. John dressed as a dragon and was so good, he wore his costume all night!

Joe and Kaiser decided to do another theme this year, Smokey and the Bandit. When another couple found out, they joined in the fun and dressed as two characters from the movie as well. There were a lot of fun costumes, just wish I would have taken some pictures of them!





Thanksgiving is fast approaching and we are really looking forward to it. We will be spending it at Jess' this year with my Mom and family. There should be a lot of food (can you same turkey AND ham) and wonderful company. We have most of our weekends booked up already through Christmas, it's amazing how busy we get this time of year and we are really looking forward to spending lots of time with family. Christmas will be split this year as usual, Christmas Eve with Jen's dad and family, Christmas Day with the Schmitt's and I believe the weekend before Christmas with Jen's mom and family (not sure on the exact details yet). I will try to post more often, but you all know how I am :)

It's about time!

Well, I thought it was about time to post again, seeing as it has been over 2 months! Sorry, I have not been very good about posting.

Where to start...

We have been dealing with a lot of health issues here at the Schmitt house. The boys and I all ended up with the Swine Flu the first part of August. It lasted about a week for all of us and thankfully no one around us caught it (including Joe). We all just had really high fevers and were very weak and sore- A.J. describe it best when he said, "My skin hurts!". We all got over that and then I started have some severe migraines. I went to the doctor and was sent in for a MRI and they found a lump. The lump was biopsied and found to be just a cyst on the back of head near my spinal column. They drained it (twice) and the headaches have gone away. I have to go back in to have another MRI to make sure it's gone. The cyst was the best possible news, so we are thankful for that! Then 2 weeks ago, John woke up having a lot of trouble breathing, so all four of packed up night night blankets and headed to the E.R. His breathing didn't not improve, so they admitted him. He spent one night in the hospital and was sent home the next evening. He is taking after his brother in the breathing department after all. It was total deja vu. We spent 3 nights in the hospital with A.J. around the same age for the same issues. Although A.J.'s was food allergy related, John's just came about because of a cold. But we are all home safe and sound now and just enjoying the new fall weather.

Joe and I were able to escape to a B & B for a night in August and just celebrated our 8Th wedding anniversary last week. I can't believe we have been married that long! It's even harder to believe we have been together for 15 years this year! Time sure flies. Joe also enjoyed a his annual Guy's Camping trip this year with his buddies and had a blast as usual! He also finished 4 triathlons this year. He improved his time with each new one and thinks he finally found a sport he loves (and I love watching him compete). I was able to get away for the weekend with my wonderful sister-in-law, Jennifer. We headed to Duluth for the weekend and had a wonderful, relaxing time. Shopped, ate, slept in and visited Split Rock Lighthouse. It was a much needed weekend away and great to be able to spend so much time with Jennifer!

The boys have been busy just playing outside and spending time with grandparents. A.J. is still into his diggers and trains. But now has become really interested in dinosaurs as well. My little boy is turning into a little man. He still amazes me everyday with the knowledge he has!

John has FINALLY started walking! He was a late bloomer, just like big brother, but he figured it out. He is so proud of himself for it too. It has also seemed to help him feel more independent so he doesn't feel the need to screech all the time now when he wants something, he just goes and gets it. He still isn't saying much- mama, dada, A.J., nigh nigh and nana- are about all he manages so far, but he does do a few signs- all done, more, drink, eat, fan, light, dog and bye bye. I can't believe my little baby is 16Th months old already! Where does the time go.

Here is a picture of the boys at Como Zoo. This is John's first ride!

We are going to have a pretty busy fall and winter ahead of us, but it should be a lot of fun. This weekend we are going to go out and cheer on Mike as he runs the Twin Cities Marathon. Next weekend the Schmitt men are heading to New Ulm for Oktoberfest so the Schmitt women and boys are heading to Grandma's house to have a girls and boys night. The following week I am heading to Rochester to spend with evening with my sister-in-laws to celebrate Katie's birthday! Before we know it, Thanksgiving and Christmas will be here. I will try to post more regularly now and as things happen in our lives. I will be posting new pictures and videos to our Flickr site soon. We hope everyone is happy and healthy!

Here they are waiting for the Sparky the Seal show at Como Zoo.