The McCartan Family

McCartan Kid update

2012-02-03T07:20:00.000-08:00

Maddie: Has been going through some tough middle school/friend drama this year. And so it begins....It's been hard giving her advice and seeing her so upset. She is growing up so fast. She is officially the last 11 year old in Edina without a phone...so we may break down sooner then later as it is now effecting her friendships since there only way of communicating is texting now. She is still playing traveling soccer and is almost done with winter training and gets a little break before spring/summer season starts in April. She is going skiing for the first time next week on a field trip and is mad that we have never taken her before. Sorry Mads your parents can't ski. And as you can see from the picture below-she is still obsessed with Bieber. Yes, that is a huge cut out of Bieber and yes it scares us when we enter the room.

Jack: Has turned into a crazy boy this winter. He now Pew's (which is shooting people) He says " Pew Pew Mommy! Now your dead" Nice that's my two year old. Pretty much anything these days can be a "Pew". He is also into Robots and Transformers big time and for some reason likes the bad guy Transformer Megatron the best. He is going to a preschool class on Wednesday mornings and gets excited to see his friends. He is really into friends right now and wants to call his buddy Ryder all the time but doesn't want to talk he just wants him over to wrestle. Besides physical activity and arts and crafts which are his two favorite things he also enjoys playing Smurfs on the ipad. He calls playing Smurfs "Furf time". P.S. Daddy likes Furf time a lot too!

My WILD 2 year old

2012-02-03T06:15:00.000-08:00

I know it has been a pretty nice winter, but I'm sick of trying to entertain a WILD 2 year old inside. I need to let him run free outside. Yesterday, my sister and I took Jack to the Edina open gym and it was horrible. I thought it would be a nice break from Edinborough park, but I was wrong. It was nice and peaceful until we arrived. Jack ripped the place apart and almost took about 5 kids out and maybe a couple of moms as well. We won't be going back there anytime soon.

Penguins

2012-01-31T11:35:00.000-08:00

Pillow Jumping

2012-01-31T11:18:00.000-08:00

Zoo Time

2012-01-31T11:10:00.000-08:00

Mads did not have school on Monday so we decided go out to lunch and then to the ZOO! Their favorite part was visiting with the penguins. The penguins were following these little colorful plastic cars the kids had in their hands, it was pretty cute!

Fort Time with Jack & Ryder

2012-01-26T08:07:00.001-08:00

Winter Fun

2012-01-26T08:06:00.000-08:00

We have finally been getting out and doing some skating and sledding. Gary got some new hockey skates for Christmas and Maddie got her first pair for hockey skates this year so they have been enjoying the ice time. Jack yells "Hockey" every time he sees a rink and loves it, but mom was a little scared and decided he needs a helmet before he goes back on the ice.

Christmas at the McCartan's

2012-01-02T10:02:00.000-08:00

uncle Joshy love!

Love Birds

Newly engaged lovers

Pretty ladies: Lee, Marti, Brittany, and Suz

Lee and Bob

Michelle and Mads

The Big Kids

The Fam

Grandma and kids

Mark and Marti

Sisters

Siblings-can't you tell!

Cousin love-Jack and Preston playing on the Nook

Aghh cute!

Maddie put on a concert for all of us on Christmas!!

Everyone tells us how much we look alike so we finally got a picture together!

Toast to Nat and Rachel on their engagement-yes with red cups bc who wants to wash 15 champagne glasses!

Jack eating his 10th cookie with his sissy!

Christmas Morning

2012-01-01T10:48:00.000-08:00

Jack's first year caring about opening presents! "more presents"

Mads and her Bieber!!!!

Jack and Ryder

2011-12-21T14:02:00.001-08:00

Sledding, Cookies, and more...

2011-12-15T19:50:00.000-08:00

Holidazzle & Macy's 8th floor 2011

2011-12-15T19:43:00.000-08:00

Kids watching the parade from a warm skyway!

I know it's a bad picture, but someone offered to take it and at least we are all in a picture for once! FYI you should always head out of parade early and then go to 8th floor when we were leving there was an hour wait for the elevator alone.

Happy Holidays

2011-12-15T19:37:00.000-08:00

We had to decorate a kid friendly tree this year for Jack. So we brought out our first Christmas tree and decorated it with all soft ornaments so he could take them off and play with them whenever he wanted.

Roasting marshmallow's inside! "Daddy fire! Daddy HOT!"

The one and only Thanksgiving picture of us playing games together!

We took the kids to the tree house playground and we saw the Muppet's over Thanksgiving break!

The kids helped decorate the tree!

Ta Da!

Snuggle time with daddy!

Keeping up with the McCartan's

2011-12-15T16:36:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm behind in the blogging again. I have been having a great time at home with Jack this fall. We usually go to club a few times a week, we used to go on walks/park every day but now we are getting more creative. We try and do at least one art activity each day and go one one cool fieldtrip a week. Mads is home by 2:45 and I get to help her with homework before we get into the crazy evening of running her around all over town for her activities.

We had a fun time over the holidays with both families and I will post some pictures soon. I can't believe Christmas is a week away. I have all of the presents done and wrapped except our game gifts, but I have no idea what we are doing for food/drinks for Christmas. It's funny how I have more time now that I'm home but I'm not as good managing it as I was when I was working since I know I have so much...I can do it tomorrow! :)

Other updates... Suz is coming in town for Christmas and we are very excited to have her stay wih us for the holidays. Maddie has been playing soccer this winter in the Holy Angels Dome and is not a fan since it's from 7:30-9:00 when she gets up at 6:45 am...Tweens! She also is pushing us big time for a cell phone and her and friends are entering a boy craze right now...and it begins. One a good note, she is really getting invovled in church and loves Wednesday night youth group. Jack talks nonstop now and is really funny! He is obsessed with the Smurfs (or as he calls them Furffs) right now and wants to watch the movie all the time! Well, that's all for now. I will post the holiday pics soon and have more updates after Christmas!

Jack and Maddie playing with all of Jacks cars!

As you can see-Jack still has a thing for tooth brushes!

Jack's favorite thing to do at Edinborough is to put a ball that matches the chair and then push them around. He also makes mom hold onto the other ones so other kids don't take them!

Dolphin show at MN Zoo

Dutch and Jack at the Zoo.We spend Thursdays with Dutch and we usually have a field trip somewhere fun!

Maddie at her first middle school concert. Funny things about concert: She was the only one wearing jeans. We didn't know that they started charging for events in 6th grade and we almost didn't see her play and Jack was louder then the instruments!

Family Pictures 2011

2011-12-03T08:31:00.001-08:00

Halloween Party for the little guys

2011-11-01T07:41:00.000-07:00

Halloween 2011

2011-11-01T07:28:00.000-07:00

Maddie and Jack trick or treating last night- what a good big sister she was!

My sister and Sarah

Hallzooween at the MN Zoo

cleaning out our pumpkins

Pictures of the pumpkins from our annual party. No pictures of people this year-just pumpkins!

The Winner! Congrats Nick!

On our way to Naples!

2011-10-30T07:25:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday Gamma Suz

2011-10-30T07:24:00.000-07:00

We were lucky enough to be able to celebrate Suz's birthday down in Florida. We went to a great restaurant called Da Ru Ma (similar to Ichiban's). We had a great time! Hope you had a nice birthday Suz! We love you and miss you!

More Beach Time

2011-10-30T07:21:00.000-07:00

Naples Zoo

2011-10-30T07:20:00.000-07:00

Poor little guy

2011-10-29T16:35:00.000-07:00

Jack showing us his tough guy stiches

Beach Day

2011-10-29T16:33:00.000-07:00

Jack played in this hole for over an hour! Jumping, sliding, diving...

Beach Babe!

It doesn't get much better then smores on the beach

2011-10-29T16:25:00.000-07:00

Fun in the Sun!

2011-10-29T16:22:00.000-07:00

Maddie and I spent an hour making this and then Jack came down from his nap and ruined it in about 10 seconds!

Ewwww!

Finally, we got to see our first sunset on the beach -due to our first non rainy/cloudy day!

First day in Naples-walking in the rain!

2011-10-29T16:15:00.001-07:00

Sanibel Island

2011-10-29T16:14:00.001-07:00

Back home from Florida

2011-10-23T12:43:00.000-07:00

We got home late last night after a long day on airplanes and a trip to the ER for Jack. Jack fell and spilt his chin open right after we got our luggage and were finally on our way home and instead made a stop at the ER for some stitches. He was so good and we were so proud of him. What a long day yesterday was.

The rest of trip was great. We had another bad day of rain and then after that sunshine. The kids had such fun time playing on the beach and in the ocean. Jack got to meet his grandma suz and I think it's safe to say she's in love with him. Grandma got Mads a boogie board and she was hitting waves with dad all week. We finally got to go to Naples Zoo too and the kids got to feed giraffes. We had meals on the beach and s'mores one night on the beach too. It was so sad to leave. Maddie wanted to see dolphins so bad and because of the weather we only saw them once , but on our last day we went down to the beach to check one more time and we saw a baby dolphin jump up and flip. We were all so happy that she saw that before we left. It was a great ending to our week.

Some more recaps...We got to celebrate grandma Suz's birthday down there at a nice restaurant. Grandma was pretty excited she got to spend her birthdayi with her family.

Maddie was in the water whenever it wasn't raining.

Jack freaked out about pushing the elevator buttons every time we were in the hallways.

Maddie was an amazing big sister the whole trip!

Grandma went swimming with us!

The kids were playing between our connecting rooms and one time the door slammed to the room jack was in and he could not open it and it was a connecting door so we could not from our side. I ran to open the door from the hallway but we had the hinge locked on the top so no one could get in to them. So...we were freaking out and then Gary had to be Spiderman and climb over our deck onto the kids bc the deck door was opended. He was our hero and poor little Jack was in there with his sleep sack waiting to get out. Yeah Gary!!!!

Jack and Maddie searched for shells every day on the beach and when the waves came in and out some of the little shells would crawl back in the sand and it was fun to watch, but Jack would yell "eewww guys" it was pretty funny. When I think of more stories I will write more and post pictures soon too.

Florida 2011

2011-10-17T13:54:00.000-07:00

Well we made it to Naples! Yesterday we spent the day in Cape Coral with gamma Suz. We decided to check out Sanibel Island and the kids had a great time. It was their first time seeing the ocean. Mads loved swimming in the ocean and finding shells. Jack thought the waves were getting him and loved chasing the little birds. Today, we went swimming in the rain and walked the beach helping Maddie look for dolphins. We did not find any dolphins, but we did find a shark (Gary is claiming the fish was a baby shark) a sting ray, and a sea turtle. Today and tomorrow are rainy days but we are making the best of it. Tomorrow we are planning a trip to the Naples Zoo. We have lots of great pics, but of course I forgot the cords for the camera.

More fun with friends!

2011-10-13T20:13:00.000-07:00

Jack, Mads, and Izzy (Maddie's best friend and Jacks first love)

Jack and James looking for froggy's

Still looking for their frogs

Steph's mom walking the boys at the Arboretum...so cute!

Cutest kids ever! I think this is the first picture in 2 years where they are both smiling!

Minnetonka Apple Orchard

2011-10-13T20:08:00.000-07:00

Jack and I went with my friend Jess and her kids to the "Minnetonka" Apple Orchard...which is not in Minnetonka by the way...it was about a 40 minute drive in farmland. Even though it was a long drive, we had a great time! Jack, Ryder, and Poppy picked some apples, took a hayride, climbed a haystack hill, had a picnic, and ate some apple donuts.

Corn Maze

2011-10-13T12:47:00.000-07:00

Arboretum with Mom and Dutch

2011-10-13T12:33:00.000-07:00

West Division Champs

2011-10-03T07:48:00.001-07:00

Jack the Wedding Dancer

2011-10-03T07:43:00.000-07:00

Tball

2011-10-03T07:42:00.000-07:00

1st day of Middle School

2011-10-03T07:31:00.000-07:00

Maddie is loving Middle School! It is so fun and scary watching her grow up so fast this year already. She is loving all of the changes and making many new friends. She is still not a fan of being at the bus by 7:15am-Mom is not a fan of this either! All of her friends are boy crazy right now and she has a first crush on Justin Bieber, so I'm not too worried just yet!

Stillwater Trip

2011-10-03T07:23:00.000-07:00

We spent Labor Day weekend in Stillwater this fall. We started with the apple farm and then we went on a cave tour, lots of eating out, shopping, trolley ride, and ended our trip with a brunch cruise on the St.Croix. Maddie brought her friend Izzy along.

Fall Traveling Soccer

2011-09-13T10:27:00.000-07:00

Maddie had her first traveling soccer games this weekend. She was really nervous because she doesn't know anyone on the team and was afraid she would disappoint the coach, but she did great! She scored a goal in the first game and gained some confidence. Yeah Mads!!!

Jack playing hide and seek

2011-09-13T10:21:00.000-07:00

Apple Farm

2011-09-13T10:11:00.000-07:00

On our way to Stillwater, we stopped at Aamodt's Apple Farm and picked some apples. It was really fun and the kids enjoyed finding the apples. We were only able to pick apples from certain trees, but as you will see Gary broke the rules and picked the "good" apples in the row over right by a sign that read "no picking from these trees". It was pretty funny. We made yummy apple crisp with the apples when we got home!

Art Work

2011-09-13T10:02:00.000-07:00

Maddie took some clay classes at the Edina Art Center again this summer and made some awesome pots and other items below including a toad house. We also made some melting crayon art and lots of painting. Jack also has been doing daily art projects and now experienced finger painting for the first time. He did not want to do it at first because it was too messy.

State Fair 2011

2011-08-29T13:06:00.000-07:00

This weekend Adanna and Mandy came into town and we had a great weekend. On Saturday, we went to the State Fair and had a movie night. On Sunday, we went to the park and the Edina Pool. At the fair we went to the Butterfly House and it was really neat. The girls loved it and Jack was not a fan of the butterflies getting to close. We did end up buying our own Crysilis's to watch hatch- we will post some pics soon. At the fair, we ate Swedish Potatoes, Corn dogs, ICEE's, grilled Chicken on a stick, Fruit Salsa, Milk....it was all yummy!

James and Jack

2011-08-29T12:51:00.000-07:00

James is Jack's bud and they usually get together a couple of times a year since he lives in Kansas. They take a little bit of time to warm up each time they see each other but they are so funny once they do. This summer they were laughing, talking and hugging a lot.

James giving Jack a lift!

Mads and Libby playing with James in the pool

Best Friends!

About 2 seconds later they crashed onto the floor and hit their heads and were both crying their heads off!

Summer

2011-08-29T12:42:00.000-07:00

Jack and his buddy Mikey having a blast in the mud!

The only pic I have of the 2nd place-championship game this summer b/c my camera battery died! Yeah Mads!

Jack checking if this is the right size to throw to the ducks

Jack insisted all summer that he put on his face sunscreen

This summer we probably fed the ducks 3x a week! Jack loves them!

Edina Pool- where we spent most of our mornings

Mads and Jack bought Tattoos and he wanted the whole pack on at one time!

McCartan garage sale

2011-08-19T14:36:00.000-07:00

We had our first garage sale & lemonade stand a few weekends ago and made out pretty well. We still have a lot of stuff to get rid of but we are slowly selling it on Craigslist now. Maddie was so excited to have her sale b/c she was never able to since we are on such a busy street.

Summer Updates

2011-08-16T12:19:00.000-07:00

I have written in a while so I thought would catch you up with what we have been up to this summer since the 4th of July up north. The kids and I have been usually going to the zoo and swimming weekly all summer. We go on daily walks and feed the duckies-Jack's new favorite thing to do. We are busy from 8-8pm but some how I am getting board. I think I really miss adult communication on a daily basis. Thanks to my sister, Gary and I are now going on Monday night dinner date nights. It will be nice to try some restaurants that aren't kid friendly. I cannot believe I am not going back to work next week. It is such a weird feeling, but a good feeling. Gary is about to go out of town for two weekends for football drafts so I'm sure the kids and I will have some more adventures to post soon.

Mads ended up finishing second in soccer and was really sad they didn't win again. However, she did try out for traveling soccer and made the teams which starts this September. Wish us luck! I think we will lay low and enjoy the games and not get caught up in the drama- a lot more fun that way. She is playing a fall for 6 weeks and then the summer team is from April-Aug 1st. Good thing Jack loves seeing his sister play soccer. Maddie has been enjoying time with me and Jack and doing some art camps with girl friends again this summer. She got Bieber Fever this summer as she watched the Justin Bieber movie "Never Say Never" with a friend a few weeks ago and they were going boy crazy. She wants to put posters of him all over her room. Tweens! She starts middle school in a few weeks so I am trying to enjoy that she still wants to spend so much time with me since I know it will change soon. We are now doing big girl things when we have time away from the boys like shopping, pedicures, hair apts...girl stuff. I cannot believe how old she is. She is still asking me for a cell phone nonstop and when she can move into the basement. I have a feeling we have some fun years coming up with a toddler and tween.

Jack is still such a happy little guy. Not so little anymore though. He is really adventurous and jumps off the furniture all the time. He loves swimming with his Maddie and kicking balls. He is really talking a lot more and finally putting 2-3 words together. My favorite things is how polite he is. After you give him anything, he says "tank to". It's so cute. He went to his first movie a few weeks ago. We saw Smurfs while Maddie was at Art camp and it was raining. He was a little scared so he stayed on my lap the whole time. Then we took him to CARS 2 this past weekend and he was good for about 45 minutes and then he was running up and down the rows saying "Mom, this one" as he was pointing to a new seat. So, we might not go back to the movies for a couple of months. He is also obsessed with watching Mads play the Wii. When we walk in the door the the house he says" Maddie, Mom kick or game (which means you play Wii and I watch holding a remote). As I am writing this, Jack is in his crib saying " Mom, game" when he should be asleep.

Minnehaha Falls

2011-08-16T11:55:00.000-07:00

More 4th of July Pics

2011-07-17T19:26:00.000-07:00

Splash Pad at Como Town

2011-07-17T19:17:00.000-07:00

Maddie the violinist

2011-07-17T19:16:00.000-07:00

Jack driving his tractor

2011-07-17T19:15:00.000-07:00

Soccer Champ

2011-07-17T18:52:00.000-07:00

Maddie's been having a great time playing soccer this spring/summer. She had a awesome season scoring 1-2 goals in almost every game. She is playing for champ title again tomorrow night at 6pm unless the heat index does in fact get to 105. She is also trying out for traveling soccer in 2 weeks. We will keep you posted. Go Maddie!!!

Como Town

2011-07-17T17:26:00.001-07:00

4th of July at Keskey Cabin

2011-07-17T17:03:00.000-07:00

My hunk

Jack was so in love with Max but he called him "Nat" all weekend

The tweens fishing

Dangerous

Nikki love

Jack thought the little shower at the pool was like a splash pad

Maddie and the other big kids had a sand castle contest and they all won!

More Summer Fun

2011-07-17T16:54:00.000-07:00

The kids have had a blast this summer. Mads went away to church camp for a whole week and also to a friends cabin for 4 days. We have been making trips to the MN zoo, Como zoo, parks, walks, lots of feeding ducks (Jack is now obsessed with "gucks" by the way), Keskey cabin, and swimming at the Edina pool and the beach pretty much every week. It has been such a busy summer and looking forward to some more fun!

Maddie scaling the house again

Jack is in love with the hose this summer!

Beach fun!

This is the candy poster we made Maddie for when she got back form camp!

Thanks Grandma Suz

2011-07-17T16:45:00.000-07:00

Thank you grandma Suz for all my presents you sent me. I really like my computer and I wore my outfit to my bday party. I miss you and can't wait to come and see you! Love JACK

After Party Pics

2011-06-28T14:12:00.000-07:00

More Celebrating

2011-06-28T14:09:00.000-07:00

Maddies Rockslide camp blog

2011-06-22T20:35:00.000-07:00

Here is Maddie's camp blog Rockslide at Camp Shamineau. She is only in the videos a few seconds here and there so you really have to pay attention. Looks like she is having a blast and we miss her tons! We will write about her adventures when she gets back. Enjoy the link by clicking on the title of this post.

Happy Fathers Day!

2011-06-22T14:37:00.000-07:00

This year for fathers day, the kids gave Gary a big tin full of grilling goodies and I think they were a hit. We went for a walk around the lake, played outside, Maddie/Daddy went to the range, and we grilled yummy food. Thanks for being such an amazing dad to my two little ones. They really do love you Gary! Hope you had a great fathers day!

HaPPy BiRthDaY JaCK!!!

2011-06-22T14:31:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Jack's bday this year with a paddle boat ride at Centennial Lakes and a trip to Chuck E Cheese. He was so excited to go to Chuck E Cheese and had a great time. He has had his share of cupcake frosting lately and still has more to come. We are celebrating with Gary's family/friends this weekend and my family when my brother gets in town next week. Lots of parties!

Jack attacking his Elmo balloon

Jack riding in his new wheels

Our Week with Adanna!

2011-06-16T20:52:00.000-07:00

Adanna came to visit us for a week and we were busy! On Sunday, we went for a bike ride to the park and went out for ice cream. On Monday, we went for a hike and played at a park. Tuesday, we went to the zoo. Wednesday, we went to Edinbourgh Park (indoor playground). Today, we went to Centennial Lakes and had a picnic and fed the ducks and then went to the Edina Pool. Tomorrow is Jacks Birthday and we are so excited to celebrate! Jack is in love with Adanna and she is not liking it. He is like a cat and wants to be around her more because she doesn't like it. It's pretty funny! Here are some pics of our week together!

At Jack's favorite park!

Maddie was so excited that the goats were chewing on her bracelets.

Jack wrestling with Adanna!

Meltdown about where mom placed the jello on the bench during our picnic!

OK 2 seconds later!

Feeding the ducks

Pool buddies! The went on the zip line and I have video I will post later!

He had so much fun today that he left kicking and screaming.
Can you believe this cute little face would do that?

Jack's last day of daycare

2011-06-16T20:34:00.000-07:00

The gang!

Jack and Marty

One last wrestle session with Noah!

And why not take down Ellen too!

Maddie's last day of 5th grade...off to Middle School!

2011-06-16T20:30:00.000-07:00

Maddie has grown up so much these past few years. I was looking at pics from when Jack was first born and she still had such a "little kid" face and now she looks so grown up. Here are some pics from her last day of school. I cannot believe I have a almost 6th grader in my house....Already today she was telling me she's the only one without a cellphone and she needs to be texting her frineds because everyone else is...sorry Mads not until 7th grade!

Graduation Ceremony

Bubbles

2011-06-16T20:21:00.000-07:00

Jacks two new obsessions are bubbles and duckies! He loves bubbles and if anyone says the word he says "shoes" and gets his shoes out and then says "bubbles" to go outside. He cannot step outside without his shoes or hat on-I think from daycare rules. Here are some pics of Maddie's purple bubbles-one from when she was sharing and one from when she took them back.

Jack's daycare friends

2011-06-09T19:48:00.000-07:00

Jack made some good friends at daycare this year and liked to say their names all the time. His last day of daycare is tomorrow and he is really going to miss them. Here are some of his new friends. His best bud is Noah- they rough play and chest bump all day and his girlfriend is Ellen (but he calls her "Ella").

Sage, Ellen, Cole, & Jack

Cole, Jack, Marty with 2 baby Maya's on her lap, Sage, Ellen, and Noah

Jack and his rough house buddie

Duluth

2011-06-09T19:37:00.000-07:00

Gary and I headed to Duluth last weekend for some alone time. We had great time relaxing, eating out, and hiking in Gooseberry Falls. We are planning on taking the kids up there over Labor Day weekend in the fall. It was so much fun to have some time together and thanks to my sister for watching Jack all weekend while Mads was at Girl Scout camp.

Maddie's Orchestra Concert

2011-06-09T19:27:00.000-07:00

Maddie had a orchestra last week and played great. Jack was so proud of her that he yelled yeah and clapped. He also yelled "oh there it is" when he found Mads. I have a video of mads playing that I will post soon too!

More Zoo

2011-06-09T19:22:00.000-07:00

Our little Soccer Star

2011-06-09T19:11:00.000-07:00

Mads has been kicking butt this spring in soccer and so far has scored a goal in every game! Yeah Mads! If you ever want to catch a game. She plays every Monday and Wednesday at 6 or 7pm.

Spring

2011-06-09T19:03:00.000-07:00

Linden Hills Festival

2011-06-09T18:59:00.000-07:00

We took the kids to this festival a few weeks ago and they had a blast. Jack was loving the games/live music and mads loved climbing the rock wall. Maddie also climbed the wall at REI last weekend and kicked mom and dads butt.

Jack ate a whole piece of pizza and was very proud!

Go Mads!!

Park Time

2011-06-09T18:51:00.001-07:00

New Hoop

2011-05-16T20:47:00.000-07:00

Gary is so excited about his new hoop so I better get these pics up and I will post the rest of my catch up pics tomorrow. It should be noted that Gary now goes by "Dr Mc Dunk" and Mads goes by "Swift".

Our initials are carved in the cement!

Zoo Babies!

2011-05-16T20:37:00.000-07:00

Pretty cute big sister!

Jack loved feeding the goats. He thought it was so funny how they attack you for food.

You can't tell in this picture, but this was the start of Jacks Chest bumping days. He was going around and chest bumping all of the goats because we liked rough housing with them. Now he chest bumps his friends at daycare too.

Random April/May pictures to catch up

2011-05-16T20:29:00.000-07:00

A much needed update

2011-05-09T08:02:00.000-07:00

I had a great Mothers day weekend with my family. Saturday we went to the Lake, had a picnic, got ice cream at Sebastian Joe's, and worked in the gardens. Jack was sick again all weekend with a 103 fever, poor little guy. He is doing better today finally. Maddy made me a hug coupon book full of great coupons and Jack made me a card and "painted" (he did not, the daycare lady did, but oh well) a bird house for me at school. Gary also got flowers from the kids for me. We went up to Elk River to spend some time with the family as well. I will post pictures later.

Gary and I have really been working hard on the gardens this year in the cold until this weekend when we finally had a nice day. We landscaped the driveway and our putting a basketball hoop in. Will post pictures of these as well. We are both looking forward to summer and enjoying the work we have done outside with the kids.

Jack is so funny right now. He is talking a lot more. He has so many words and now and copies most of what we say. He loves making animal noises and pointing to things and saying "this". He also justed learn how to say purple which is a pretty cute one. I will try and get some of his words on video. He loves being outside, but is very worried about silly things once he's out there. The other day he got upset because the mulch was on the driveway and kept saying "oh no" until I got a broom and cleaned it up and put the mulch where it belonged. He is obsessed with slides at the park and goes up/down them 30 times. We finally broke down and got him a slide of his own for the backyard.

Maddie is doing great. She is growing up so fast. She is so excited for summer break and for Middle School. She is such a great big sister and is starting to babysit for a little bit here and there to prepare for lots of babysitting to come. She starts summer soccer in a week which should be a lot of fun because it's the same team of girls who won 1st place last summer. She really is growing into a young lady and wants to do all things mommy does. She has been hounding me to get pedicures and shopping trips...here we go.

That's all for now. I promise to be a better blogger and will update lots of pictures today when Jack is sleeping.

MOA for the Cuz Birthday Celebration!!!

2011-03-27T15:31:00.000-07:00

We took the girls to the MOA Nickelodeon Universe for their birthday a few weekends ago. The girls were very brave and went on most of the rides. Jack tried to be brave and then when the rides moved he turned into a big time weenie and hide in moms lap. It was so fun to spend time with Mandy and Adanna and we hope they visit us again soon.

Buzz Boy

2011-03-27T15:20:00.000-07:00

Edinbourogh Park

2011-03-27T15:18:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Maddie

2011-03-22T13:00:00.000-07:00

Maddie had many birthday celebrations this year. We celebrated at home with the family, we went out to eat, she had a party with her friends at PINSTRIPES, and went to MOA with Adanna/Mandy to celebrate Adanna and hers together. I will post the MOA pics later. I cannot believe how big my baby is. Every day I look at her I tell her to "stop growing up". We love you Maddie and are so proud of the young lady you have become!

Random Pictures

2011-03-22T12:50:00.000-07:00

Packers Win the Superbowl

2011-03-22T12:42:00.000-07:00

Gary went back to Wausau, WI with his friends/family to watch the Packers win. Before he left, he made sure the kids were ready to go with their packer gear (cheese head, stickers, and a program). Side Note- when they won he ordered a football, glass, towel, a hat (really ugly) and t-shirts for the family.

Childrens Museum

2011-03-22T12:36:00.000-07:00

Maddies Artwork

2011-03-22T12:13:00.000-07:00

These are some of Maddies Art Masterpieces. The girl on is being entered in the Edina Art Fair this April. She's pretty excited and proud of her artwork as are we. You can check out the website to order mugs...

Holy cow it's been a while...

2011-03-13T10:33:00.000-07:00

OK....I know I've been a bad blogger lately. Apparently I post too many pictures with my entries and I am out of the free space and have been to lazy to buy more. You will be happy to know that I have finally made the purchase of 20 GB only to find out that it takes 24 hours to update...So I will be back soon with a hundred updated pictures and stories including trips to the Children's Museum, Madison's Birthday, Packers Superbowl, Nickelodeon Universe at MOA, Maddie's 50's dance, Edinborough Park, Jacks new buzz haircut, and some other cute miscellaneous pictures. Stay tuned...

Body Bowling

2011-02-18T15:46:00.000-08:00

Dancing with Kinect

2011-02-18T15:44:00.001-08:00

Ice Cubes

2011-02-18T15:44:00.000-08:00

Electronic Lover

2011-01-29T13:32:00.000-08:00

Jack is obsessed with electronics right now. If anyone is on the computer or ipad or cellphone....he wants it. He is actually really good on the ipad and I plan on making a video and sending it to Apple. Here are a few funny clips with him on the computer.

The kids playing on the ipad together!

So funny....what is going on in his head?

Happy 33rd Birthday Gary

2011-01-29T13:25:00.000-08:00

For Gary's Birthday this year we celebrated with lots of food. On Friday night, we went out to dinner at Ichiban's and then Saturday we went out with some friends to Murry's and finished his weekend celebration with the Packers winning the NFC championship game and wings from Famous Dave's.

Sledding

2011-01-29T13:21:00.000-08:00

We went sledding the first weekend we had that was not -20 and Jack is still not a fan of snow. He was upset pretty much the whole time b/c he wanted to come home. Mads on the other hand decided she wants to learn how to snowboard and practiced the whole time.

ZOO

2011-01-29T13:14:00.000-08:00

Jack was really into Snoopy and kept making us get into line to see him again and then he would run away!

Jack was playing in the water with his new friends forever and having a great time as you can see!

Happy New Year

2011-01-01T10:45:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year! Last night the McCartans had their usual stay at home, make too much party food, some sparkling grape juice & Champagne, and watch the ball drop on TV.

Jack is talking up a storm now. He is saying: mum, ni-ni (night-night), na-na, foo ball (football), moo (milk), ball, blue, up, bup & mup (we are not sure what these are), uh-oh...and more... He is absolutely obsessed with our Ipad Gary got with his Christmas bonus. He loves playing with trucks/cars and balls. His favorite thing to do is dance to music and demands we put it on in any room we are in. He recently has gotten into coloring with crayons and playing with play dough but every once in a while he still tries to eat them. He is starting to throw little mini fits with a really funny slow motion fall and then a few hits to his own head when he is really mad.

Mads is loving 5th grade but is counting down until summer already. She just had a 2 week break and is dreading leaving family on Monday b/c she loves hanging at home with us. Over break, she took a Red Cross Babysitting Training class and is now a certified babysitter. She is really into her super skinny jeans and anything from Aeroposatle or Abercrombie Kids. Her favorite gifts from xmas were: a necklace from dad, Kinect, Dance Dance Revolution, pillow pet, and HEX bugs. She is also really excited that Rachel is living with us downstairs after being gone for 4 months.

We had a great 2010 and are looking forward to 2011. Gary was too good to me this Christmas and finished our wedding ring that we started a few years ago,and it is beautiful! We had a blast with family this holiday. It was so great to have Rachel and Josh back in town and Pops, Mandy & Adanna staying with us. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! We wish all of our family and friends a great 2011!

Cheers!

Here are some attempts at self timer pictures with our new camera

Jack thought the blinking light with the timer was really funny

Jack thinks he's playing Kinect too!

2010-12-30T15:44:00.001-08:00

Spinning Football

2010-12-30T15:44:00.000-08:00

My first remote control car

2010-12-30T15:43:00.000-08:00

Gary's New Favorite Jack Photo

2010-12-30T14:36:00.000-08:00

We miss you Joshy

2010-12-30T14:30:00.000-08:00