Flash Me Friday - Your Garage

This weeks Flash Me! Friday is your garage (ugh!). Want to participate? Hope on over to Jen's Blog and leave your URL for your blog post, and don't forget to link Jen's blog in your post too!


Here is a picture of our garage




Tom has his high school hockey picture in the garage. ha ha ha.





Here is our storage area




And here is proof we have WAY TO MANY STROLLERS!














What does YOUR garage look like?


Happy Friday!

Happy Thursday!

Finn is on the MOVE people. He has blisters on his toes from using them to launch himself across the carpet. He also has been pulling himself up on everything and then screams bloody murder because he doesn't know what to do. He has finally figured out how to get into the crawling position from his sitting up position, so that is good.





Last night for dinner, I decided to give Finn what we were having (cheesy potato hash browns with ham) and I cut up some green beans. He LOVED it and inhaled it. I don't know why I was so hesitant, he was a champ! I hate baby food, so I am so happy I can finally stop buying that!





Yesterday we went over to the Blairs (our third home, because Target is our second home). It was very crowded, but very fun! Elissa was in town with her two boys and Alissa took the day off and decided to join us too!





Here is Logan



Here is his brother Austin!




Here are the fruit hoggers. It's rough being 2 isn't it Hailey Bop? (do you like the girls' matching outfits? I can't resist buying cute girl clothes for my favorite girls!)



Here is Finn and his Godmamma, Alissa





We have a fun weekend coming up! One of my good friends from Omaha (Katie) is coming up with her husband on Saturday. I saw her in March when she was her for work, but we haven't seen Dusty since New Years Eve 2008. I'm just remembering that we got them hooked on One Tree Hill when they were here. HA. That show went downhill fast. Should be a great night for golf tonight!

Swimming Lessons

As most of you know, I signed Jack and Finn up for swimming lessons at Foss Swim School this summer. The prices are cheaper in the summer and we wanted to get the boys involved in something. For the past month, Jack has screamed bloody murder during the entire lesson. He clings so tight to us and does not want to do any of the activities. Once we are done with the class, he's at home talking about swimming lessons non stop and how he cries at swimming lessons. Ha. Well this past Saturday, we had a breakthrough. Tom was in the water with Jack and after a few minutes, Jack was loving every second of them. Blowing bubbles in the water, floating on his back, participating in the activities, kicking his feet - I was so happy. I was holding Finn in the viewing area and the teacher looked at me, gave me a two thumbs up and mouthed - "he's doing great!". Before this lesson, Tom and I had decided that we would skip swimming lessons for the next year or so until Jack was more comfortable in the water. But then after seeing him at that lesson - we have to keep going. Since they raise their prices in the fall we have decided to let Finn sit this session out. It's just not worth it, he's so little and doesn't understand anything, even though he does love the water and never cries. So I registered Jack for the same class he's in now for the Fall. It goes from September - December, so that is a long time! I'm sure that now after I have registered him, he will go back to throwing tantrums for the rest of these lessons. ha ha. I have been extremely impressed with Foss. I could see us going to a cheaper place for swimming lessons once our kids are older and are getting the hang of swimming, but I really like the teachers, the small classes and the environment of Foss. Just be prepared to have a dent in your checking account :-)

Flash Me Friday - Favorite Furniture

This Flash Me! Friday is your favorite furniture! Want to participate? Just hop on over to Jen's Blog

My favorite furniture would have to be our bedroom set. Tom actually picked this out right before our wedding when I was back in MN. We bought it from Nebraska Furniture Mart and the price was ridiculous. I love it!

Here is the bed and the two nightstands



Here is the dresser






My only complaint is that the handles on the dresser, the screws come loose and they are constantly falling off. And it's a pain to screw them back in and line up the handles. We've looked into getting new ones, but finding the right spacing between the two holes is pretty much a nightmare!


The runner up for my favorite furniture would have to be my piano! But I didn't snap a picture of that, I'm sure it's been on a previous post or something though! Have a great weekend!

Thursday Night Golf League

Every Thursday night I golf with my good friend Alissa and my mom. It's so much fun! The only downfall is that since we only have 3 people, we always get paired with a random. That kind of puts a damper on things. But it's not THAT big of a deal and we get over it. My game needs a LOT of work, but it's nice to get out every Thursday and spend time with my mom and friend. Next year we are hoping we will have a fourth. Tonight, I will not be golfing. I pulled my lower back the other day and it won't stop spasming. Not fun, not fun at all.

Here is my mom watching her ball go over the water and onto the green.



And here is Alissa's shot. I think her ball went over the water, over the green and into the deep dark forest where the foxes live. She has too much power. But don't worry, this girl always finds her ball and about 4 other balls on the way.



Look what else Alissa can do...

And here I am, chipping away. 




Don't mind my rat's nest hairdo

B.U.C.K.S!

One of my dear, dear friends has been in town for the past three weeks.  Jenny moved to Denmark last year and is teaching over there so she has the summer off. It's been so wonderful to see her. I miss her like crazy. Sadly she has to go back on Saturday. Last night all of us girls decided to meet at Champps for some BINGO, or what they call BUCKS. The Jackpot was up to $500. The 8th round is the Jackpot round. It's blackout and they only call out 63 numbers. Jenny had one number left with three numbers to call. B-3 they announce and Jenny screams BUCKS as loud as she could. HA HA HA. She won the fricken jackpot. It was amazing. Don't believe me? I've got proof. I swear she doesn't always carry this many 20's in her purse.

It's been so much fun having this girl back in town. Maybe someday she'll be living in MN again. But hopefully not before I manage to get my booty over to Europe to see her! 


Tom and I have been extremely busy. In the past 9 days I feel like we have spent a total of 5 hours together. No lie. But things are somewhat calming down, so that is good. Sorry I've been M.I.A from the blogging world, but such is life. Oh and speaking of blogs - you all need to check out my brother's blog and start following it. It's amazing! It's called Never Give Up


I'm also working on silent auction donations for my brother's fundraiser. If anyone is interested in contributing something or has any great ideas, please let me know! You can either leave a comment or write me an email - mfstarkey@gmail.com.

Flash Me Friday - Favorite Art

This week's FMF is your favorite piece of art in your home.  Want to participate? Just hop on over to Jen's Blog and leave your post link!

I'm not really a creative or artistic person, sadly. However when I first moved to Omaha - our house was bare! Tom had hockey jerseys hanging on the living room wall. ha ha. They were taken down probably a year after I moved in. One weekend when my mom was in town she bought us this painting:




It instantly made our house feel cozier and I love the colors in it! It hangs in our living room right next to our kitchen. But just recently my brother's girlfriend Lindsay made this collage for all of us. She used a program and found the most used words on my brother's caringbridge guestbook entries. It is amazing. We still need to get it framed and find a good spot for it. But here it is:



Happy Friday!

Finn's 6 Month Check-Up

Finn had his 6 month check up on Monday and I'm happy to report he is healthy as can be. He was running  a fever on Saturday, but I think it's just teething. Why do I say just teething, ugh teething is so annoying. I hate it. Anyway, here are Finn's stats from last time at 4 months and this time at 6 months.

4 MONTH
Height: 25 inches (50%)
Weight: 14 lbs 4 oz (25%)
Head: 41 cm (25%)


6 MONTH
Height: 26.5 inches (50%)
Weight: 15 lbs 8 oz (25%)
Head: 43 cm (50%)


I looked back at Jack's stats and Jack was 2 pounds heavier than Finn is at 6 months. HAHA, Jack was a chunk compared to little ole Finn. Anyway, yesterday Finn decided to this:





Yes, you are seeing correctly - he is pulling himself up onto the stairs. Please Finn, if you are listening - stop getting into everything, stop crawling so fast, stop pulling yourself up on everything, and if you even THINK about walking before the age of 12 months, I might have to tie your legs together. I'm just kidding. I get a kick out of how much of a mover and shaker this boy is. I think he's just trying to keep up with his older brother, who by the way loves him dearly! Love my boys!

Bren's One Year

I've been working on this post for a few weeks now, but I just wanted to say a little something else. This week was weird for me. I didn't know how to feel. On one hand I was super happy and just in awe of how far my brother has come in one year ago. On the other hand, thinking back to the few days before his accident is really hard for me. I was just so happy and excited for a weekend at the cabin with the ladies and not really having a care in the world, and how I had no idea how quickly all of our lives would change. That's been the hardest part for me.  I just wanted today to come - for me to be able to say, we are in SUCH a better place than we were one year ago...

Today marks the one year anniversary of my brother's accident. I can't believe it's been a year. Wow. I try to not let myself think about that awful early morning phone call from my dad because it makes me feel icky inside and does no good. So instead of reminiscing about all of the ickiness of that day or those first few months, I thought I would focus on more of the positives.

One year ago today, I did not know if my brother was going to live to see tomorrow. One year ago today, I did not know if my brother was going to be able to eat normal food again or speak normally or breath on his own. One year ago today I was wishing that God would take my brother's life just so that he would not have to deal with the burden of a wheelchair or to have to "deal" with being a quadriplegic. One year ago today I was thinking to myself that a brain injury would be a better injury to have than a spinal cord injury. Man oh man, things turned out so much better than I ever could have ever imagined and man oh man, I have come to realize how Brendan's life could be a LOT worse. I have learned a lot this past year.

Brendan fought like hell those first few months and I know that is why he is alive today. He has done phenomenal things in just a year. I can't wait to see what else he continues to do once he gets even more comfortable with his body. And before when I said I used to think that having a brain injury would be better, I was so so so wrong. Brendan is still Brendan, and we all need him. We need his witty remarks, his awesome taste in clothes, shoes, music, his smile. We need him just as much, if not more than he needs us.

When Brendan went off to college a few years ago, he would come home during his breaks and get mad because Jack wanted nothing to do with him. Jack didn't know who he was and was not comfortable around him. Well, now Jack doesn't stop asking me to go to "uncle's" house. He loves Brendan. And Finn, well that kid's face just lights up like crazy when he sees Bren, his Godfather. I love that my boys will have such a great relationship with him.

I also just have to say that I have by far the most amazing family in the world. My brother and I are so incredibly lucky to have such wonderful parents. When my mom and Brendan were in Colorado and my dad was living here, it was chaotic for sure - but we all enjoyed having Grandpa here, especially Jack. He loved saying bye to him in the mornings and watching him leave in his big truck and sometimes if Jack got lucky, my dad would honk his horn as he pulled out of the driveway. While my mom was in Colorado, I'd communicate with her every day, either text, email or phone calls. But it wasn't the same. Most of the conversations were dark and dreary. And I started to realize that it was never going to be the same again. I missed just going shopping with my mom, or out to eat, or to just talk to about my randomness. Sure, I had Tom and don't get me wrong, he is amazing and was so amazing in this time of tragedy - but let's face it, you can't have girl talk with your husband. I just wanted my mom back at home to take care of ME. But she couldn't, she was taking care of my brother - which was obviously 100% more important (thank goodness I have the best girlfriends in the world, and I could lean on them). And when my family came back home in November, I knew things would get better. But again I knew they would never be the same. It was a hard transition for everyone when my mom and Brendan came back home - dealing with Bren's emotional recovery, home health care, my mom going back to work, holidays, birthdays, babies, etc. Now that things have started to calm down and we are all learning our new normal and Bren is getting stronger both physically and emotionally, I realize that, no, things are not the same, they are BETTER. I had no complaints about my family before Bren's accident, but now I just want to brag about how awesome they are. Now we laugh harder, cry louder, hug longer, and live better. And this is all because of Brendan. He is everyone's hero. He's MY brother and I love him. I couldn't imagine my life without him.

So tonight when I go to bed, I'll say a prayer thanking God for keeping my brother in my life. For helping him get his spirits up after such an awful tragedy. For bringing amazing new people into his life, and for bringing our family closer. Don't get me wrong, it still sucks that this happened to my brother and that my family has to deal with this, but you move on the best you know how and I think we are all doing a pretty good job at that. I have learned first hand that life can change in a blink of an eye and I just thank my lucky stars that I am surrounded by such wonderful people, and I do my best to just love them like crazy.

Here is a slideshow I think you will all enjoy. You'll have to excuse a few blurry pictures, I had to dig through old files and cell phone pictures to find a few of these.

Flash Me Friday - Your Outdoor Space

It's FRIDAY! You know what that means! Time for FMF! Want to participate? Just hop on over to Jen's Blog

This week it's Your Outdoor Space


Here is our deck, where Jack wanders out to freely. It's like a huge playpen for him in the summer. And he's really good at keeping the sliding door shut so bugs don't get in.




Here is a view of our back yard. Not a whole lot of running room, but you really can't beat the privacy. Maybe some day we will clear it out and put in more grass. 





So when we feel like running around, or playing in the sprinkler, or riding bikes - you can find us here

So what does your outdoor space look like?

This week has been crazy. Finn is crawling like a madman and Jack was running a fever. And it's my brother's one year anniversary of his accident this Sunday, so I've been flooded with all sorts of emotions. We have a wedding this weekend which we are really looking forward to. It's one of Tom's best friends that he grew up with. Should be a great time! I'll leave with two videos. The first one is showing you how fast Finn is getting from point A to B. And the second is Jack singing his ABC's. You would probably have no idea this song was the ABC's if I didn't tell you. HAHA. Enjoy!


PS - Happy 27th Anniversary Mom & Dad!!

2nd Annual Brendan Loney Golf Classic

Please join us for the 2nd Annual Brendan Loney Golf Classic and Silent Auction on Tuesday August 17th at Fox Hollow Golf Club.    Come celebrate a remarkable year of hard work, friendship and family with Brendan and the Loney family.  Last year we successfully raised over $30,000 which was used to offset the many medical expenses.  This year we are excited to raise money to fund a manual chair with power assist wheels and a pool lift which will be used for water therapy.  This equipment will help Brendan continue to gain independence and strength.   Come chat with Bren, enjoy a day on the greens and donate to a terrific cause.  See you there!

Please click on the following link to learn more about golf, dinner and how you can make a difference by donating to the silent auction:

http://www.wix.com/craig_bensonstarkeyc/BrendanLoney

Accepting Donations and Registration today.   Act now registration will close on 7/31.  

Questions?   Contact Jodi at jodi.benson@genmills.com

Dear Santa

I know you are probably wondering about the title of this blog. Santa? It's only July! Well I am reading this book called In Praise of Stay-at-Home Moms by Dr. Laura Schlessinger. I picked it up at the library last week because I was kind of in a rut about being a SAHM, and nobody makes me feel better about my decision than Dr. Laura! HAHA. ANYWAY - I thought this forward from one of her readers was really funny and I wanted to share it. I didn't want to wait 5 months until Christmas time.

Dear Santa,
I've been a good mom all year. I've fed, cleaned and cuddled my children on demand, visited the doctor's office more than my doctor and sold 62 cases of candy bars to raise money to plant a shade tree on the school playground. I was hoping you could spread my Christmas list over several years, since I had to write this letter with my son's red crayon on the back of a receipt in the laundry room between cycles, and who knows if I'll find any more free time in the next 18 years.

Here are my wishes: I'd like a pair of legs that don't ache (in any color except purple, which I already have) and arms that don't hurt or flap in the breeze, but are strong enough to pull my screaming child out of the candy aisle in the grocery store.

I'd also like a waist, since I lost mine somewhere in the 7th month of my last pregnancy. If you're hauling big-ticket items this year, I'd like fingerprint-resistant windows and a radio that only plays adult music, and a refrigerator with a secret compartment behind the crisper where I can hide to talk on the phone.

On the practical side, I could use a talking doll that says, "Yes, Mommy," to boost my parental confidence, along with two kids who don't fight and three jean skirts that will zip all the way up without the use of power tools.

I could also use a recording of Tibetan monks chanting "Don't eat in the living room" and "Take your hands off your brother," because my voice seems to be just out of my children's hearing range and can only be heard by the dog.

If it's too late to find any of these products, I'd settle for enough time to brush my teeth and comb my hair in the same morning, or the luxury of eating food warmer than room temperature without it being served in a styrofoam container.

If you don't mind, I could also use a few miracles to brighten the holiday season. Would it be too much trouble to declare ketchup a vegetable? It will clear my conscience immensely. It would also be helpful if you could coerce my children to help around the house without demanding payment as if they were the bosses of an organized crime family.

Well, Santa, the buzzer on the dryer is calling my name, and my son saw my feet under the laundry room door. I think he wants his crayon back.
Yours Always,
Mom

PS One more thing...you can cancel all my requests if you can keep my children young enough to always believe in Santa.

Flash Me Friday - Your Kitchen!

Want to join in on Flash Me Fridays?!?! Just hop on over to Jen's Blog

This week - show us your kitchen!!

My kitchen is not anything exciting. Our appliances are a tad outdated, but hey - they do the trick. And I wish I had more counter space. Our kitchen walls used to be yellow, which wasn't horrible - but we love this maroon color.





My favorite thing about our kitchen is how much light it brings in in the morning. When we first moved back to MN from Omaha, we rented a townhouse in Minnetonka and we backed up to this huge retaining wall and had NO light in our house. I felt like I was living in a dungeon. So I knew I wanted a house that would let in a ton of light. I also love that we don't need shades on our windows in the kitchen because we don't have any neighbors behind us (you can kind of see in this picture below).






So, what does YOUR kitchen look like?

Have a safe and happy fourth of July everyone! Sorry this post is a day late, yesterday was a crazy day!

Finn is 6 months!!

Happy 6 months my dear sweet Finn!



You are seriously the sweetest boy in the world. We have come a LONG way since the day you were born. Here is what you've been up to:

• You have been sleeping through the night for almost 2 months now, thank GOD! Your bedtime is about 7:30 and you rise and shine around 7 AM.
• You've been eating baby food for close to 2 months too. You HATE fruit, which is opposite from like every other child I know - but we still love you. And I still force you to eat fruit, because well - that's the kind of mom I am. ha. It has gotten better.
• You still spit up a ton, but it's gotten better. 
• You've been scooting yourself across the floor for about a week or so and I am NOT ready to have two active boys.
• You always give your biggest smiles to your brother, you can't stop staring at him
• You love to make spit bubbles and ooo and ahhhh and squeal.
• You love the water. Bath time, swimming lessons, soon you will love Grandma and Grandpa's pool too.

Here is a video of Finn scooting the other day.