Happenings this week...

Maverick works on standing with Brody's help.

Aw, Brody smiling nicely for the camera.

Brody shows off his latest daycare project.  A little Valentine mouse made out of kisses, paper, string, and glue.

Cute!

My blue eyed Mav-man.

Zoo

Brody at the penguin exhibit.

Mara enjoys the zoo too.

Maverick had fun watching penguins swim by his level.

Omi helps the kids find cool stuff to look at.

The three older kids stop at the turtle statue.

Barry and I were both off for Martin Luther King Day on Monday! We went to the zoo with my mom and dad, Claire and Max, and Heather and Mara in the morning. In the afternoon we sent Brody and Maverick with Omi to daycare while Barry and I went and walked around the mall and had a bite to eat, all in peace and at a leisurely pace. We ended up buying PJs for Brody, an outfit for Maverick, and absolutely nothing for ourselves.

And on to happier moments...

Maverick is always so happy when he gets attention!  He's enjoying the new quilt that Audrey made for him!  On the back it's a giraffe pattern and if you look carefully, the front is an actual giraffe shape made out of a bunch of quilting shapes!  This is a cell phone picture, I'll take a better picture later.

Barry bought a bike with birthday and Christmas money so he has a new toy to work out with and enjoy.  The minute he brought it home (and inside the house), Brody just had to have his inside too!  He wanted the helmet, that was not a requirement for him to sit on his bike in the house.

My new memory card for my camera tanked. My camera says it's damage, my computer card reader doesn't think it exists, nor does the card reader at work. The nice IT guy at work can't get the info off either. The good news is that this card is new, which means I didn't lose a ton of pictures! The bad news is that I had to buy a new one a mere month after I bought this one. Thankfully through my blog, photobucket, and sharing Christmas photos, I have most of my photos. I take photos daily, so I know I'm missing some, but it could be worse since I know people lose everything they own in fires and floods. It's a reminder to backup photos often and to invest in quality memory cards.

Sick Kids

Maverick catches some much needed sleep in my arms.

Max & Brody share his blanket on the couch watching Seasa-mini Street after they woke up from naps.  Brody is pretty miserable here.

Again, Maverick catches some shut-eye in daddy's arms this time.

It's been 2 weeks of sick kids. Last Sunday (as in January 6th!) Maverick got sick with some upper respiratory gunk. Then last Tuesday (as in January 8th!) Brody got the same sickness. The two of them were pretty miserable last week and are still recovering this week. Thankfully I only missed two days of work, but I think both kids are just about ready to be done coughing and having runny noses. After the stomach bug over Christmas, I'm ready for a healthy house. Last year for Brody's birthday, he was sick. I'm hoping for everyone to be healthy come birthday time.

Skol Vikings!

Brody & Maverick cheering for the Vikes, cousin Mara cheering for the Pack.

Go Vikings!

Watching the game closely!

Even Mav knows the Vikes are #1!

Audrey Visits MN

Celebrating NYE

Audrey reads a new book to Brody

Mav, such a good helper on the computer!

Unwrapping kisses for peanut butter blossoms.

Audrey with her boys, Brody & Mav

Kelly reads a bedtime story to Brody

Skating practice

A smile during skating practice:)

Audrey came to Minnesota for Christmas. We got to see her before and after Christmas and in between she went to Galapagos with her family! She swam with a whale shark...I can't even believe it! We had a lot of fun playing with new toys and books, skating, baking, and visiting. Her sister, Kelly, came over too and we all rung in the new year! Brody loves Audrey & Kelly. He often mixes up their names which is hilarious to me since I've known Audrey since we were 5 and I've known Kelly since she was born. Audrey headed back to Seattle now and Kelly went off to study in the Bahamas before going back up to school in Duluth. We'll sure miss them!

Odds & Ends

Me & Maverick enjoy the first snow day.

Maverick gets a chance to try out Brody's rocket.

Mav seems to dig the rocket, he just needs to work on balance a bit more.

Brody LOVES to help when Barry makes pizza.  He's spreading out the sauce for BBQ chicken pizza, our go-to kind.

I'm catching up on a few miscellaneous pictures for the last couple of weeks that didn't fit into other posts.

The Last Christmas

Brody opens his new tractor from Omi & Papa

Excited about his TinkerToys from Claire!

Maverick enjoying attention, any attention!

We had our last Christmas celebration on Saturday, December 29. We opened presents from my family and had a nice day at the farm.

Christmas Day

Maverick kicking back and enjoying the day.

The three bigger kids (Claire, Brody & Max) open stocking presents at the farm.

Mara poses for a picture in her baptism outfit.

Mara, Maxwell, Claire, Broden, Maverick

Brody opens his stocking presents on Christmas Day morning before church.  He got a tractor and a wagon (big square baler) from Santa.  Just what he asked for!

The whole Docken crew after Mara's baptism during Christmas Day mass.

On Christmas Day we woke up and Maverick and Brody opened stocking presents from Santa. Brody was excited by his little tractor and wagon. Then we headed to church to celebrate Christmas and Mara's baptism. I am one of Mara's Godparents so it was especially special. All five kids did pretty well in church behaving. After church we celebrated Mara's baptism with some caramel rolls and fruit before heading back to the farm for the day. We even fit in a game just the adults when most of the kiddos were napping!

Ely Christmas

Standing on skates (just kidding, he's leaning against Barry since this is the second time he was ever on ice with skates).

Shooting the puck on the ice in boots.  He seems to have a decent natural stance.  Although he shoots the opposite of both Barry and me.

Getting a little snowmobile ride back from the point.

Uncle Eric got a toy chainsaw for Brody and he took it out on the ice to help Grandpa drill holes in the ice.  He's sliding down the kayak entrance/exit by the water.

Maverick really LOVES his blocks from Uncle Eric.  I went to Target the other day and he was holding one in his carseat and never let it go until we got back home over an hour later!

Christmas 2012 in Ely with Grandma Cindy, Grandpa Steve, Maverick & Brody

Santa was busy in his workshop and built Brody a barn/shed for all of his many farm implements and animals.  Here Brody is just finding it in Grandpa Steve's shop.

The finished product of the gingerbread house we all made.

Attempting to ski for the first time.  Don't worry, he'll have many years to practice!

Brody hitched a ride back to shore after the hard work of clearing a rink.

I have an equally cute picture of Brody sitting in this very spot on the dock only he's in his swimsuit and Barry is standing in water, not on ice.

Brody is cutting pieces of fondant for the gingerbread house.  Look at that intense concentration.

Brody helped daddy and Grandma Cindy shovel off a rink on the lake.

Cindy had a matching stocking made for Maverick that is the same as those that Barry's grandma made many many years ago.

Brody's walking out to check the ice fishing holes.

Grandpa Steve reads a note from Santa for Brody.  It told him to go searching for his present in Grandpa's shop.  His present was a big red barn!

Yep, Mav is still sucking his thumb.

The roof of the barn folds to one side or comes off completely for easy access.  It also has sliding doors on both ends to drive tractors and balers in and out.

Loves the chainsaw.  When Uncle Eric has kids, I think we'll be getting them electric guitars and drum sets:D

My two boys in front of the Christmas tree in Ely.

Maverick

A nice smile from Brody in his Santa PJs.

We went up to Ely December 21 to December 24. We had lots of fun opening presents, making pizza, licking the spoon with french silk pie, making a gingerbread house, shooting the puck, trying to skate, trying to ski, and more! Maverick enjoyed eating toys (mostly the Little People gas pump and his new blocks) and being held as much as possible! It was cold, but fun! Lots of pictures because I just couldn't narrow it down anymore.