Wisconsin Dells

For Christmas this year, instead of presents for the kids and us, my parents decided to take us all on a little vacation. All of us, which means sisters/husbands, nieces/nephews... everyone. They booked 2 condos at the Wilderness Water Park in WI Dells for a weekend of fun. The chaos/craziness began on Friday. We all got there around 4:00 or so and it was immediately a collage of towels/water/swimsuits. Emma was so excited she would have worn her swimming suit the entire way down if we would have let her. I can't say I blame her though. A whole weekend geared towards her and her little cousins & brother. What can be better than that?

The condos were very nice. They had 2 full bathrooms, 2 huge bedrooms, 2 fireplaces, full kitchen with everything you need to cook there. Which we did... a lot. Leave it to the Brunners to have enough food to feed an entire army. But, it was nice. There was no dressing kids up to go out to eat, entertaining them while the restaurant made the food, it was just casual, somewhat lazy, and nice.

Of course, the waterpark was a HUGE hit with everyone. Emma and Evan had a great time on the rides and stuff geared towards little kids. Evan would have climbed up and slid down in this one area the whole day if I would have let him. Emma had a great time also on the littler water slides. She didn't want any part of the family rides or tube rides this time. Mostly, I think, because they were all in the dark. She is not a huge fan of the dark and to ride an entire ride twisting & turning in the dark is not her idea of fun. However, she loved everything else and told us on the way back that she wants to go back again soon. The nice thing about Wilderness is that they have an indoor climbing park for the kids too. Something that allowed all of us to be dry for a little while, which was a nice change. Emma loved chasing after her cousins in the climbing area. Evan was literally in HEAVEN there also, as they had an indoor play area with tons and tons of little spongy balls. For the big kids, the spongy balls were to be used in the air guns and stuff they had. For the little guy, aka Evan, they were to be used for carrying around. I don't think I have ever seen his eyes get that big as he exclaimed "BALL!" then he would point at another one "BALL" and then run forward to play. It was fun to see how excited he got there. Literally hundreds of balls to be played with. He would walk around carrying as many as his little arms could carry and then would see one more that he just had to have. AS he tried to pick that one up, of course, the others would fall. It was this over and over... it was fun.

The adults had fun too, although I have to admit, being at a waterpark is exhausting. Exhaustion not just from trekking up the stairs to the slides, but from the over-stimulated state that one must be in to parent in a place like that. The constant watching and guarding and jumping in too lift a little one up when he falls and the "okay, Emma is over there with Kristen, wait a minute, where is Kaylee going?" exhaustion from making sure everyone is safe and accounted for - constantly. Fun, but tiring. It was nice that Dad, Kristen, and I got out to ride some more of the big rides after the kids were in bed one night.

Otherwise, we are all good. It seems as though we are going through another batch of colds as Emma is pretty congested and Tim now has what we all had about 2 weeks ago. I just want everyone to be healthy and sleeping good for a little while so I can feel rejuvenated. It has been awhile.

This week brings work, daycare, Emma's dance and gymnastics, and this weekend is Emma's Sunday School concert. Emma started dance and gymnastics at a place called The Little Gym in Woodbury. It is a half hour gymnastics class and a half hour dance class. So far, rave reviews from the little one. Her first lesson in gymnastics class? How to fall safely. She loved it. It basically involved lots of running, somersaults and swinging on the rings. Also, she has her small Sunday School Concert on Sunday. They will sing 4 songs and do sign language for the parents and will partake in cookies and lemonade afterwards. She is excited for that also.

Such a busy time, but such is life.

My Little Hippies

Peace, Love, and Tranquility.....
spoken many times by my Uncle Sam.












Don't you just love these shirts? I do. They were Christmas gifts from Nana & Papa.

All is good here, we had a great weekend at the cabin. Now, of course, the Vikings game is on. Tim is downstairs and I am upstairs. I thought distance would be good, especially after the fumbles the Vikings have been having. Craziness. I have to admit, I feel really bad for Favre - he has been taking a pounding today. Anyway...

I did make it to the Titanic exhibit. It was wonderful. Very sobering, very sad, but very good. It was almost eery reading about everything and seeing the pictures of the people, their belongings, but knowing that they don't survive. It was very much worth the money and I am glad I took a half day to go see it.

We were at the cabin this weekend. Tim took Friday off, so we went up Thursday night. We did some fishing, but nothing was biting unfortunately. Then, we just relaxed. It was really nice.

The kids are great. Emma starts dance/gymnastics this week. She is so incredibly excited and I think she will love it. Evan isn't signed up for anything yet, although we are thinking about swimming lessons the next go-round.

We got a letter in the mail that Emma can do kindergarten pre-screening this year. It seems pretty early to me, but they recommend the kids come in about 2 years prior to kindergarten, so I guess we will sign her up. She seems too little for that!! I am not ready for that yet! Although, I have to admit, after seeing how much my niece loves kindergarten, it has made it easier on me. I know Emma will have a great time as well.

We are all starting to feel a little better here. My throat and ears are still a little sore, but it goes away with the proper medication. Evan still has a slight cough, but nothing horrible.

I am thinking about signing up for grad school again. I know, I can't make up my mind, right? Well, I feel stagnate at work at the moment. I like my job, but I am sick of it. I have been there for about 2.5 years and that is about as long as I have lasted in any position so far in my short career. The problem? I am stuck between a rock and a hard place because I know I couldn't get hired for another position at 4 days a week or working from home. As much as I want to look for something new, I don't really want to, because I am not ready for 5 days a week. But, I need a challenge! So, I am thinking I bide my time at my current position, but start grad school. Ideally, I would like to keep my 4 day a week gig until Evan is in school. Anyway, that is how I am feeling today. Ask me tomorrow, it may be different.

Tim is good. He is very excited about our future puppy and has been reading books, finding breeders, and doing everything he needs to in order to be ready. We aren't getting one until May-June, but he will be ready when that time comes. Emma is pretty excited too. She has been saying how the puppy can sleep in her bed or the kennel can be in her room. Probably not, but I am glad she is excited.

Anyway - off to finish laundry, make lunches, shower, etc. 2 more minutes to go in the game. As much as I hate to admit it, I wouldn't mind seeing Brett win. Notice, I said Brett, not the Vikings.

have a wonderful week!

Green blood is yucky

Monday night, after I picked the kids up from daycare, I was listening to the radio. Lori & Julie to be exact, which I love to listen to. These ladies make my day a bit brighter and my commute seem like 15 minutes long... which it definitely is not! (107.1 from 3-6, they are awesome) Anyway, it is a woman's radio show, so they talk gossip, fashion, books, sex, etc. It is funny. Anyway, I digress.. So, I am listening to them after I pick up the kids and so far, it is a good conversation about a book. (sometimes I need to change the channel, as it is not always kid friendly discussion) Emma didn't want to talk about her day at the moment. She calmly told me after I cheerfully tried to engage her in some sort of conversation, "Mama, I don't feel like talking right now" and pop, the thumb goes back in the mouth. (Which, I don't mind. I keep telling her, if you don't want to talk, fine, just let me know.)

Anyway, so I am listening to the radio (gee, I thought this would be a short blog post) and the woman start talking about drinking brain blood. Why, I don't know, It was part of the book. After that comment, I calmly change the radio station (as I didn't want to answer any questions about it) and tune out. About a minute later, Emma says "Mama, those woman were talking about drinking green blood. That would be really yucky, like when my nose bleeds, red blood though, not green, and I can taste it and it is yucky. Mama, why would they drink green blood?" Ah crap.... So, I calmly tell her that those woman were being silly and no one drinks blood. They were just kidding. "Yeah, Mama, they were just being super silly. blood is yucky. I don't like drinking blood." So, I proceed to tell her how people don't drink blood and again say they were pretending. "Yeah mama, people don't drink blood. People drink milk and water. Blood tastes yucky!! Especially green blood!" Unfortunately, this conversation lasted the rest of the way home and I had to keep reiterating how people don't drink blood, they were pretending. This, of course, to Emma's "EWWW!! Gross!"

So, I am taking a half day of vacation tomorrow! I wanted to take a full day, but work is too crazy at the moment and a full day just isn't going to happen right now. But, a half day will be good; it will be therapeutic. I am meeting the sister for lunch and then going to see the Titanic exhibit at the Science Museum! yea! I am very excited to see that.

Evan continues to feel better and Emma's cold is basically gone. For some reason, Evan had a horrible night last night. He was crying from almost the time I brought him home from daycare, didn't want to eat or drink and fell asleep at 6:30. Then, he proceeded to wake up about every hour & half until the next morning. It was crazy. He wouldn't fall back to sleep without rocking/snuggling/something. I brought him in with us around 4:30 am, where he promptly fell asleep and then started to snore. Loudly, on my side of the bed where I had no room anyway. So, I let him sleep for awhile and hoped I would be able to fall asleep. No such luck, so I brought him back to his room and wouldn't you know it? My alarm clock went off like 5 minutes after that. Sleep last night was basically a lost cause. I think he is getting more teeth, but I am not totally sure.

So, as said before, a half day of vacation will be fabulous.

Here are some pics of us being home - all weeek - sick. Emma was milking it for all it was worth (just like when her Daddy is sick - ha!) and Evan, was well Evan.

sickness update

Finally - kids are better :-) Happiness in the house. I finally got a full nights sleep last night. That has not happened for 3 weeks! It was a welcome change. Unfortunately, something that is not so happy, is now I have the cold. Go figure. It alwasy happens. Tim NEVER gets sick when the kids do, I always do. The caretaker of the house, the soul of the family, the maid/cook/servant/under-paid coworker always gets sick and never gets to sit and relax. Sad, but true :-) HaHa!

We had a great weekend! Sledding, shopping, book club, work Christmas party (which meant a date with my husband :-), Viking game... ergh.... and kids are healthy!

Pneumonia and ear infection

My poor little kiddos. This was not a good week for them. I noticed they were getting colds on Sunday. Actually, Evan has had an on/off cold for about a month. The hard part is that he has been getting a lot of teeth lately also. They say that along with teeth comes running nose/cold like symptoms, so it was hard to tell with him. Anyway, Monday started off like normal. My alarm went off at 5:20am and my day started. My day however, took a turn for the worst at 8am when I saw my daycare providers number on my caller ID at work. That is never good.
So, Evan had a fever and was looking pretty droopy. After a call with Tim, It was decided that I would go and get Evan, bring him home, then Tim would come home in the afternoon so I could get some work done. It basically went downhill after that. Emma wanted to come home around 1:30 that same day as "I just can't breathe Mama!". Tuesday they were at home with us also as Tim and I juggled schedules again. Wednesday they were home with me. Emma still had a bad cold. Evan had a low-grade fever, bad cough, runny nose, etc. However, I thought they both had turned the corner. Emma, yes. Evan, no.
Today, I took Evan to the doctor and he was diagnosed with walking pneumonia and an ear infection. Seriously! My poor little guy! I feel so bad for the poor little one and I feel like a horrible Mom! I had a doctors appointment for him last week for his month-long cough (and yes, the Nurse line told me to wait about that long) but then I cancelled it because I thought he was doing better. I guess not. Anyway, he is now on medication and will hopefully turn the corner soon. The good thing is that this whole week, Evan was still acting pretty good. His eating habits had changed and he was droopy when the fever hit, but with Tylenol, he was his happy go-lucky self. Emma is already feeling better. No real concerns with her, which is good.
Other than this stressful week, everything is okay. I am playing with my new phone the Palm Pre!! Love it so far! I am really behind on work, but it is what it is, right? Luckily, some much needed girl time on Sunday with Book Club and my work Christmas party on Saturday. So, Tim and I will have a date, which is very nice and needed. This week has made us cranky... at each other :-) Never good.

Here a Nuk, There a Nuk

everywhere a Nuk, Nuk!

Evan is at that age where we are starting to trim away the baby stuff and introduce big boy stuff. We are cutting back on bottles and giving him sippies,giving him bowls & spoons instead of letting him use his hands and what could potentially be the hardest: taking away his Nuk's (pacifiers for those who may not know.)

At his last doctors appointment (which, on a side note, Evan is tiny for his age. A whopping 23# for the 25% percentile, his height is the 25% too. Odd, I know since his parents are very tall), I asked the pediatrician if having the Nuk could delay his speech. The answer: yes, cut out if you can. So, I told Tim and told daycare and that is the plan. We won't cut it out totally, just during the day mostly. Evan is not so much on the band wagon on this one. It seems as though he has taken to storing them around the house so he knows where one is if needed. Most of the time he does well without Nuk's AND he has been talking a lot more. However, at the oddest places and times, Evan will come out sucking on a Nuk and smiling away. If he is mad at something or someone(Emma) he will walk away and come back sucking on a Nuk. I will be cleaning and will find Nuk's at the oddest places: toy box, tool bench, under chairs. The oddest spot: in a lamp shade. Yea... figure that one out?! Not sure how he planned to recover that one, but I am sure at the time of placement he thought, "Ah yeah, this one is golden!"

Speaking of improving speech, I was watching a certain football game today and towards the end, I was staring in disbelief at a play and just happened to yell out "AH - SHIT!" Emma looks at me and yells "MAMA! You are NOT supposed to say Shit. It is a bad word!" Tim is almost dying laughing. At this point, I am still rather upset over the football game, but still manage a smile. I needed it at that point :-) Tim and I are not sure how she knows that is a bad word, but she had to keep me in line.

We had a very busy weekend. Emma saw her first movie! I took her to Alvin & the Chipmunks on Saturday. She did well! Emma really liked the popcorn and sat okay for most of the movie. Towards the end she went from my lap, to the chair, so standing. Overall though, I call it a success. We went to a dog show in St. Paul to start researching our future dog. It turns out we will most likely be getting a puppy in the spring - A Chesapeake Bay Retriever. Tim wants another dog for hunting, which unfortunately doesn't sit too well with Emma. She loves dogs sometimes, but she tells me she is afraid of hunting dogs because of a computer game where the hunting dogs eyes are yellow. They scare her. I think that once we get a puppy, she will forget about that. Anyway, I am not so certain about getting a dog, but I do love puppies. Tim told me that these breeds are good hunters, very good with kids, and very trainable. AND, I can run with it, which would be nice :-)

Here are some random pics that I have been meaning to post.

Tim found this little pedal tractor up in our garage. Needless to say probably, but the kids loved it. Emma thought it was cool to hook it up and pull Evan around. Evan loved it too.



You have to admit, it is pretty cute! And of course, if Emma has to do something, Evan does too:




And Aunt Kristen, I guess:


Although, she doesn't appear to be the best driver. Here she is almost running into Emma. Evan thinks it is pretty funny though :-)



Here is Emma before we went to the Children's Theater.




And out getting our Christmas Tree



And decorating the tree







Off I go to work on my blog book. . . maybe.

The biker gang

This was my kids tonight after we came home from work/daycare:



Santa brought them the Fisher Price Smart Cycle to play & get some exercise on. Plus, their older sister gave Evan a little guy trike for Christmas. I joked at the time that they can start their own bike gang. Tonight - they did. Emma wanted to go for a ride tonight and of course whatever Emma does, Evan has to do. He jumped on his bike and took off also. It was pretty cute. It didn't last for too long, but they enjoyed it while it did.

Chee!! (That is Evan speak for cheese!)


The kids and hubby are great; I am great. I think we are all happy to be back in our normal routine. We love the holidays/the days off/the family time/cabin time/etc, but after awhile, it is nice to get back to the normal routine. I think it is easier on the kids, easier on me, easier on everyone. Sure, kind of sad because the hustle/bustle and excitement are over. However, sometimes hustle and bustle are over-rated. :-) Now, I am in the deep-freeze funk, probably BECAUSE the holidays are over.

New Years was fairly uneventful in the Heuer household. Tim and I celebrated with the kids early, because come on, if Tim and I cannot make it to midnight anymore, either can they. We decorated clock cakes (from the Nick Jr. Max & Ruby cartoon) had pizza for supper, and then watched Mickey Mouse and ate popcorn. Evan is pretty funny now. As soon as I get to the popcorn popper, he goes to our cupboard and grabs an ice cream bucket. He then runs over to me and lifts the ice-cream bucket in the air - just waiting for the popcorn! When kids went to bed, Tim and I made some fondue, drank some wine, ate a little lobster and just spent some much needed time together. It was fabulous. No, we didn't quite make it to midnight, but when you have kids that get up in the middle of the night and are usually awake by 6:30, midnight isn't that desirable.

some pics of the evening. Hats & noisemakers courtesy of daycare.






The rest of the weekend was spent with more family! We celebrated Christmas with my immediate family on New Years Day. The big surprise for the kids was the monkey pajamas AND a trip to Wisconsin Dells for a weekend in January! After that - the cabin. Once again, it was nice to relax there after holiday craziness. We played with new toys and did some ice fishing. Even Emma and Evan enjoyed the ice fishing! We all caught a fish and Evan caught many minnows. He loved sticking his little chubby hand in the minnow bucket and trying to catch them. "ISH! ISH!" (that is Evan speak for fish) He, along with Emma, would also take the ice scoop and catch them that way. I think the minnows were very happy when the little hands decided to leave them alone.

Other than that, it is back to life. A few of my New Years Resolutions:
1)Organize. My house, my mind, everything
2)Patience. With little kids, with husband, with work, with little kids (did I say that already?)
3)Blog book is a must!!
4) 10 mile or half/marathon??? At least a 10K.
5)try to sit back and enjoy the little things. Also,try to record them so I don't forget them. Life goes by so fast and I don't want to get to jumbled with the busy-ness of it all.

Have a great weekend everyone!