where to start

so much has changed in the past year i am not even sure where to start. for those of you who don't know we are now living in eagan, mn in a HOUSE.  we went from living in a one bedroom apt to a big, spacious house. i can't even begin to explain to you what that does for a little kid! i have cable for the first time since i left for college...along with a kitchen table....and a yard...and a washer and dryer. it's amazing. last night we had kindergarten orientation at zander's school which is .6 miles from our house. check out his school here. it is CRAZY that he will be 5 in july and starting school on sept. 6th. time flies when you're having fun! i am going to try and be a more active blogger now that we have internet. i feel so spoiled with all these luxuries! 

Zander love love loves to help clean.

BIG Day

Today Zander celebrates his 4th birthday. We are in Park Rapids this week as we have been for all of his birthdays. There is a Toy Story 3 themed party. Yummy cupcakes just came out of the oven. Beach day all afternoon, Zorbaz tonight for supper/karaoke and a fireworks display by papa tonight. Z already snuck into the bedroom and found two presents from mom and opened them. It's going to be a good day by the excitement on his face!!

much needed update!

As you can see, I am not very good at updating our blog. I always say I am going to be better at it- I will try harder :) Well, the past couple of weeks have been really busy/crazy/overwhelming at times, yet really good. Last week Zander, Punky and I moved back up to our apartment in Mpls- for good (we hope!). I started two new jobs. One is at MN Masonic Homes in Bloomington. I work as an Activities Leader in the Alzheimer's unit. My first few days I have just been shadowing a lady named Carolyn who has been great. The first hour of work was a little overwhelming. I didn't know how I would do, but now I look forward to it! I leave that place feeling awesome. The residents truly love the time that we spend together- and so do I. It is a very rewarding job, even if every time I walk into the room I have to reintroduce myself to some of them :) The residents are at all different stages of Alzheimers. It is a very sad to watch at times because some of the residents are quite young and when you look at them and watch them you think gosh why are they here? But then you ask them a question like 'did you get some juice yet?' and they respond 'yes yesterday I went for a walk outside'. I don't know how many times the residents have been told me that the name Ashley is so beautiful and that I am the prettiest lady they know. Love it. My other job is at MOA at the store Aerosoles. My good friend Chandra is store manager there and she gave me the opportunity to work for her to make some extra money-thanks Chandra! My first day of work I sold almost $500 in product in 4 hours. I thought that was pretty good! The only difficult part is finding someone to watch Zander for me, while my shifts are during non-business hours at times. So, that is still a work in progress. Ally helped me out last week as well as my friend Stacy. Stacy and her fiance Tom took Zander to Nickelodeon Universe- Z had a blast, minus the haunted house ha :) Well, I am off to work. Hope everyone is having a great Monday.

go-carts & mullets

PNG=Paffrath Neighborhood Gang

Here are some pics of Zander and his best friends. Now that Spring is here we spend every chance we can outside. Ethan&Sofie live right next door, Dru&Andi live a few house down one direction, and Russell&Thomas live a few houses down the other direction making our block the central meeting point. It is so much fun watching them all ride their bikes, jump on the trampoline, play baseball, etc.

Zander taking a break on the trampoline

Zander, Ethan, & Sofie

Ethan and Zander "wrestling"

Sofie, Ethan, and Zander devising a plan

Sofie

Sofie and Z making silly faces

Sofie, Andi, Zander, Dru, Ethan

fun filled day!

saturday was zander/mommy day. we started the day by baking brownies. mmmm so good! then zander's friend Teagan came over while us mommies talked. they had been together about 5 min. and we heard giggling. we found them covered up sitting in bed just giggling away. it was to cute. teagan follows zander around like a puppy dog and does whatever he does. after that zander and i went to the mankato mall to find him some new sandals for this summer and for something to do. we went to Barnes & Noble and read a book about sharks and a book about reptiles- zander's favorite things to learn about lately. we went to target, got a bag of popcorn, and walked around the store looking at all the new spring toys. next we hit up scheels to look for some Keen sandals- which i highly recommend, esp for little boys. this is the only shoe that can handle the ware and tare of zander! his last pair last two years and the only reason we need new ones is because he outgrew them. they are in near perfect condition. this year he chose the green/camo ones. lastly, we hit up the play place. we came home, had dinner, played, and went to bed early!

baking & swimming

yesterday morning zander and i started our morning off with making eggs for breakfast. we have been eating a lot of eggs lately because zander's favorite thing to do in the kitchen is crack the eggs! after he finished his eggs he wanted to crack some more eggs so he suggested making some muffins. well, then he saw the cookie mix and opted to go with that. they were oatmeal cookies, but then Z suggested we add some chocolate chips. apparently that wasn't enough and we needed to add some M&M's. we finally got all our ingredients mixed together, and then he told me, "you can finish making them". typical! :) not even 5 min. later he came back into the kitchen asking if the cookies were done. this repeated several more times for the next 10 min. while they were baking one of zander's lines to papa were, "papa i'm baking cookies! i'm thinking you and grandma are really going to want one!" after lunch zander & i, and his friend teagan from school and her mommy went swimming! zander just got new goggles so he was super excited to try them out in the pool (he had just been wearing them around the house).

blah blah blog

well, that pretty much sums up this blog for the past, oh YEAR! i love reading blogs. i read all my sisters blogs, friends & families blogs, even random blogs. but i always feel like no one really reads my blog anyways so there really isn't a point. but who cares?! SO, i am going to try much harder at updating my blog! i was chatting with a friend of mine (his name is Victor) about his blog. he is from sweden, and is currently living there now. he golfed at the u of m, which is where i met him. his blog is about his journey as a professional golfer- and one of my favorite to read. i find it quite interesting because i don't know much about golf, and people who don't golf much often think of it as a "lazy" sport. it definitely is not. he trains everyday and is always trying to better himself. check it out for yourself: http://blogg.aftonbladet.se/victoralmstrom

the best christmas yet

dear zander,

this has been my my favorite christmas thus far with YOU

they get better and better each year

more and more fun

i love your comments and facial expressions

oh, to be 3 years old again!

you are my favorite person, zander.

love, mommy

sunday funday

the bed turned into a jungle gym

i love you zander brighton

my favorite person in the whole world.

being silly

so funny

giggling

wrestling match

Me in a headlock

Zander and I had such a FUN afternoon yesterday. We went to lunch at Joe Sensor's with auntie ally. We watched some football and played Zander's favorite game, Buck Hunter. He was very well behaved. Then we dropped ally off and went back to our apt to hangout. We were playing cars and reading books and then Z heard something. It was "CrEePy cRaWleeS" (it was actually Punky under the bed). Zander protected us from them by being a wolf and growling at them when we heard them. It was too funny. When Punky finally came out from under the bed Zander was soo surprised..and relieved. He could finally leave the bed. And of course, we had to wrestle. I am honestly sore today from our wrestling match. I am starting to get a little concerned about how I am going to feel in a couple years after our wrestling matches....I don't foresee him 'taking it easy on mom'.

the past month...

here are a few pics from the past month....

when we were walking up the stairs to go into the stadium zander yells, "this is awwwesome!"

this has got me thinking....

So yesterday I went to lunch at The Nook, which I HIGHLY recommend. It is across the street from Creighton Durham Hall HS, and has absolutely the best burgers. EVER. Well, the place is quite small and lives up to its name bc it is a nook. So we sat at the bar next to another woman. She was very nice and was chatting with me. She leaned over and whispered to me that she had a message for me, that she had this intuition about me, told me i was a beautiful woman and she wanted me to take the note and read it later. She gave me the note and then told me to read it, and if I wanted to keep it I could. This was her message to me:

Do not wait for true Love to find you. find true love for yourself. then, love will come your way

Do not wait for world peace to have inner peace

Do not be afraid of death for if you cease to exist, then you'll never know that you existed!

There is an after life. I see, feel, hear, dream of ghosts.

If the hippies/baby boomers were right we are all one. then essentially you are God, me, him, and Mr. T!

THE SECRET TO LIFE IS......LIVING!

smile

"where there's a will there's a way" DO IT.

I have read this over, and over, and over since yesterday. There are so many things I could say about this message but it would go on for pages. One thing I do have to say is that I find it extremely chilling, intriquing, inspiring...especially the part about ghosts because those of you who know me well, my life goal is to be a paranormal investigator and wish I had the intuition that this woman, psychic mediums, etc have. I think they are the people who are intouch with themselves, the world. So anyways, take it as you wish......

halloween through the years....

2009- Age 3

2008- Age 2

2007- Age 1

2006- Age 3 months

Zander's favorite costume so far is his CHICKEN costume....that is my favorite too. He had a lot of fun trick or treating...and eating his candy of course. I was able to sneak a few pieces but he keeps pretty good tabs on it so it was a difficult task.

Last Sunday, Zander came up to "the cities" with me. Every time I exit onto the 4th St./Univ. Ave exit off 35W North, Zander asks, "are we in your cities mommy? is this your cities?" I LOVE it! And then of course we have to drive by THE STADIUM. I warned him before we drove by that we couldn't go inside, we could only look because it was closed. Of course there were ppl in their cleaning from the previous nights game and he wanted to know why he couldn't go in there. These people looked like ants and he of course could see them 2 blocks away. After that we went to our apartment where Zander told me it smelled. So I asked him if it smelled bad and he said yes. So, we spent the next 2 hours cleaning. I learned that the Swiffer is excellent for kids haha and he loved Swiffering!

weekend recap: scooby doo, wrestling, and more scooby doo.

Zander and I had a nice little weekend together. Not too eventful, but entertaining as usual. Friday Papa, Zander, and I went to Outlaws to eat. Zander behaved well, and ate great! Madison's (zander's gf) mommy was there and Zander was so excited to go say hi to her. Some of his friends from school were there as well. I swear he knows more people in Springfield than I do. Saturday we woke up, watched a few cartoons (scooby doo) and then went to the park. Zander opted to ride his bike all the way to Riverside Park rather than get a ride in the stroller. I warned him he might get tired on the way back, but he was convinced he wouldn't. Well, he was not happy with having to ride his bike all the way back. He did it, but cried the entire way. We spent the rest of the day wrestling, playing catch, pretending to be super hero's, watching cartoons, etc. Sunday Zander finally got to play with his best friend Ethan. Whenever Zander is with Ethan he is really LOUD and excited. Ethan is the complete opposite: quiet and laid back. Must be why they get along so well.

a day in the life.....

walking across the bridge to the west bank

(i think it is odd that no one else is on the bridge with me considering i took this mid-day. kind of eerie)

love this view of the city

new theme

Well, I have decided to change the idea behind our blog. Since Zander is staying with gma & gpa during the week I decided to update the blog based on what I am up to each day (or every other) so he knows what i'm doing "at my school and in my cities" as he calls it. Now, each day Zander can check our blog to see if I have updated it or not. I think this will be fun for Zander and I because he doesn't really like talking on the phone, but he does like looking at pictures on the computer. On the weekends, Zander and I will post together! We will see how this works....

Waking Up a Viking

probably the funniest song. ever.

Jen & Mike's Wedding

trouble

sisters w/ hattie girl

zander w/ his gf/cousin madison

auntie, niece, uncle

This weekend we celebrated the marriage of Jen (Amsden) & Mike Altermatt. It was a beautiful wedding, & a ton of fun! Zander wanted to dance all day, however when the dance actually started he wanted to go home and watch cartoons. On Sunday, Zander decided to get the hose out and spray grandma, auntie ally, and mommy with the hose. It was hilarious.