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!

The Christmas story

Where do I even begin? Christmas was a blur of sledding/family/great food/ and of course PRESENTS!!

Christmas Eve was great fun! The neighbors came over mid-morning to start the festivities. We played, decorated our yearly Christmas ornament, and then once the little guy woke up from his morning nap, we got everyone bundled up to go outside. What a great time for a storm! I LOVED IT! It was so pretty outside and really set the mood for a wonderful Christmas. We took full advantage by having a sledding party. I could not believe how much fun the kids had. They were taking turns really well sliding down our small hill by our house. (for pictures, view the neighbors blog... I didn't bring out my camera.) Emma and her cousins would jump on a sled or tube and slide right on down. Emma was pretty sure she should go skiing or snowboarding, but alas, we didn't have the equipment :-) Maybe next year. Even Evan had a great time and when put down on the ground, would waddle over to the tube or sled and want to go down. Eventually, we did let him go down by himself, but I was holding my breath the whole time :-)

Here are a few pics of our sliding party last week... not Christmas Eve, but a week earlier I think. I have been meaning to post them for awhile.

The Kiddos jammed on the sled:


Me and my little ones:


AFter the sledding party on Christmas Eve, we enjoyed some KFC with Nana & Papa who came up for the holiday and the littles enjoyed a much needed nap. After that was more sledding, opening up little presents from the kids and then another group of people came over to celebrate Christmas Eve! The Heuers dined on grilled steak (yes, Tim braved the elements to grill)/bread/wine/bread pudding and basically ate until we could eat no more! It was great :-) We got the little kids to bed pretty easily and then waited for Santa to come!

Here is a pic of the whole Heuer clan:




I wasn't quite sure what to expect on Christmas morning. Evan woke up first, around 6:45ish, and came into our room to watch a little Mickey Mouse Club. Emma rose around 7 and lazily came into our room, watched a little TV for about 10 minutes and says "Well Mom, should we go open presents now?" I laugh a bit to myself as this was not what I was expecting from my rambunctious 3 year old. "Well, Emma - what presents are you talking about?" She kind of rolls her eyes and says "MOM! Santa came last night!" I wasn't quite sure if she remembered that it was Christmas or not! After that, she ran downstairs to open presents. I was able to get there first to videotape the whole thing. Emma instantly looked through the presents trying to find her name. Evan started taking off bows and opening random presents. I think Emma was pretty amazed what Santa brought. Here are the pics:

The tree:


Opening presents:


More opening:


The two kids together on their extreme cycle that Santa brought:


Santa was also kind to me this year. He brought me a Sony Reader (yea! cannot WAIT to start downloading books!) and a nice pair of earrings.

After presents, we had a quick breakfast and headed up to the cabin. We had Christmas with Tim's family, ate a TON more, and then relaxed the next few days at the cabin. It was great. We brought up some presents for the kids, some movies, and we relaxed and fished. It was a wonderful Christmas.

Emma is a bit disappionted that it is all over. She really does not want us to take down the tree or any decorations. Luckily for her, we are celebrating Christmas this weekend with my family, so she does have a little more to look forward too.

Have a great New Year!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone!

I wanted to post something short and quick to wish you all a Happy Holidays and to let you know that we are all doing well and had a wonderful holiday!

The kids had a great time on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. It was filled with sledding, presents, great food, and family. It doesn't get any better than that.

We were lucky to be able to spend the weekend at the cabin to unwind and relax. It was a much needed break after another person in our house got the flu (me, unfortunately), Christmas shopping, wrapping, cleaning, and all the other excitment that comes with the holidays.

I have been horrible with pictures lately, but will post some soon, along with a better description of our holiday!

Have a great New Year!

Too much to do, too little time

I think that is going to be my rolling theme. Maybe I should change my blog name to that instead of "Just Another Day". I know I haven't posted for awhile, our lives have been crazy.

Last week was a trip to the water park. Great Wolf in WI Dells. Overall, we had a great time. If you ask Emma, she will chatter your ears off about the trip. Since it was non-peak time and they had many, many rooms un-booked, we were upgraded. We were upgraded to a loft suite, so we had two double beds, a pull-out couch, and a loft upstairs with a bed & TV. Well, the loft quickly became "Emma's room" and she was SO excited for that! She settled in and pulled everything out of her suitcase and proceeded to put clothes in the drawers and dolls on the bed and put her bathing suit on. It was pretty cute.

The water park was fun. It took awhile actually for Emma to get used to some of the rides. It kind of bums me out that kids cannot go down the slides with the parents anymore. It is hard to talk her into going on a big twisty-turvy slide by herself by watching Mama, who goes first and waits for her. She did go down a few, but it took a little convincing. Once she did it, she loved it, but it took a few tries. But, she is only 3, right??

Evan did pretty good. He liked the little baby section and was pretty proud to climb up the baby slide all by himself and slide down. He also thought it was pretty cool that we had a staircase in our room and was constantly going up and down, following his beloved sister. We are discovering his love of sports already as there was a pool that had 2 basketball nets and many balls floating around. He could have spent all day in there with one of us, hanging on to the balls and trying to make some baskets.

Tim and I decided to cut our trip a night short though. We checked in Thursday afternoon and were scheduled to check out Saturday. Due to absolutely no sleep Thursday night (because of colds, kids, etc) we left the dells Friday night so the kids could sleep on the way and we would all be in our own beds. It was wonderful. All-in-all it was a good time. I enjoyed the Shopping outlets next door and Tim enjoyed a nap, along with the rides of course.

Last weekend was jam-packed with Christmas tree buying, decorating, Christmas shopping, Sunday School, Birthday party, colds, and catching up on sleep. The Christmas tree is fun. I couldn't believe how excited Emma was to decorate it. Evan was too, but that usually was more trouble than anything. His favorite thing right now are the bulb ornaments on the tree. Everynight he takes at least two of them off the tree and throws them in the air - "BA! BA!"

This week was a long week with colds and a tummy bug of some sort. Evan has been suffering from a cold for about 2 weeks. It is not a horrible cold, just long lasting. His nose has been running and he has been coughing. I went out and bought a humidifier last night for him to ease the cough a bit. Emma also had a cold last weekend, plus a nice visit from a stomach bug. Now, I am here to tell you that there is nothing worse than waking up to a screaming kid at midnight "MOMMMY!!" and going into the room to find that they are having stomach problems. Enough said, I am sure. That is when the real parenting kicks in I think. Both Tim and I go into super drive to clean and calm her down. It is not something that I want to experience again for a long time. Hopefully whatever she had is not contagious and we do not get it.

This weekend we are around here with no huge plans. Finalize shopping, wrapping, plus a date night out. A much needed date night. For Christmas, the neighbor and I are swapping baby-sitting, which is great. I am thinking we should do that once a month :-)

That's all. I am tired and feeling really behind.

For anyone that wants to feel a little lift right now or wants to feel as though they are doing some good, think of donating to St. Jude's Research Hospital. One of the radio stations I listen to up here (K102) is doing their radio-a-thon for St. Jude's Children hospital. What a wonderful time to do it, in my mind. As I am running around, stressing about what to buy, what to cook, etc, it is great to be reminded of how LUCKY I am. They are trying to get people to become Partners-in-Hope, which is a $30/month commitment for a year, but honestly just want anything that someone can spare. $5, $10 whatever. There is nothing worse than hearing stories of 1 or 3 year old suffering from a horrible cancer/disease and really not having any hope. They go to St. Jude's and maybe their life is extended for a few months, or a few years, whatever. But all donations go to research and helping those families. Sometimes I feel as though I am in a rut and not doing any good, wish I was doing more, etc. I donated money on Wednesday and I instantly felt better. I was recently surprised with a raise at work and feel very happy that some of that raise money will be going to helping out some families that need a little lift themselves.

Anyway, I probably spent too much time on that, but I know I get so wrapped up in all the trivial things of the holiday.. the cards.. the cookies.. all the presents, that I needed to remember how fortunate I have it and that the important thing is family and health.

Bah Humbug

It is too bad when the innocence of a three year old is taken advantage of. So, I think I mentioned in my last post that the kids, my Mother, and I celebrated Dazzle Days (or some other catchy title) in Durand last weekend. It was full of holiday spirit... exotic petting zoo (reindeer, camel).... Christmas music... and carriage rides. So, kids and I are in line for the carriage ride. Behind us is a white trash family. Sad, I know, but true. Talking trash, talking loud, being obnoxious.. I am sorry, but stereotypes happen for a reason... Anyway, we are almost to the front when WTF (white trash family) start talking about Santa and have the AUDACITY to say something about how Santa is not real. WTF!! Emma, bright blue eyes wide, looks up at me and says slowly, "Mama... Santa is real, right?" SERIOUSLY!! WE ARE AT A HOLIDAY FUNCTION!! I look at her, almost feel like crying, and say, "Yes, Emma, of course Santa is real. You just sat on his lap, remember?" (which she did earlier at the Dazzle Day bake sale.) I shoot the family the worst possible look, kind of a "I would totally cardio-kick-box your ass if my two little kids were not here right now" and turn back around to reassure Emma. The mother of the WTF said some lame-ass thing like "okay kids, stop talking about Santa like that, you know he is real." Whatever.. damage done lady.

Emma hears everything. Even when I think she is not listening, she always is. She is so impressionable now and to have some punk-ass kids ruining Christmas fun for her makes me so mad. That night on the way home she brought it up again. We were driving home and she was watching some movie when out of the blue she says, "Mama, Santa is real, right?" Of course, pleading blue eyes searing into my soul. So, I try to think of some way to reassure her again. "Yes, Emma, Santa is real. You sat on his lap, saw Mrs Claus, and saw the reindeer. He is real. Those kids were just always on the naughty list and he never came to visit them." Damn punk-ass kids.

So, now I am on damage control. We wrote Santa a letter with Christmas lists this week and I have a feeling that the kids will be getting a letter back soon. Everything possible I can think of, I will do. Kids grow up too fast and to have something fun like this taken from her already just doesn't sit well with me.

Bah Humbug...

Thankful

Every year, a little holiday called Thanksgiving comes around to remind us "little people" of what we have. For some people, it is the only time they see their family. For others, a big stres involving fights, chaos, pettiness, whatever. I am thankful that I look forward to all holidays. I have the best family. All - extended included- get along famously. I told my coworker when describing my family, that we are the "Cleaver family" and all get along incredibly well. She looks at me and says, "Oh - is that your maiden name?" Umm.. no... never mind. She is a few years younger than me and maybe hasn't heard of Leave it to Beaver?? Not sure.

Anyway - I have a lot to be thankful for:
**I have the best husband - hands down. I know our relationship to some may seem a bit unconventional, but I don't care. I never did about that kind of stuff. He treats me well (hunting aside :-) )and he loves me a lot. I can't ask for any more.
**My kids are adorable, smart, funny, and while they can be trying at times, are the best thing in the world. I feel so blessed that they are with me and that I was able to have them.
**My job, which I love. Stressful, busy, but good. While it will be a constant struggle with my work and personal life, right now, I think I made a good decision.
**My family - all of them. I have a great support system; nothing is more important than that. I bounce idea's off of all of them, act crazy sometimes, cry on their shoulders, laugh over a beer, whatever. They have supported me through all of my crazy/half brain idea's and it doesn't go unnoticed.
**And - for my new Glee CD - volume 1 - HAHA! I LOVE IT!

In these times with people losing jobs, not having enough food or a place to live, I know how extremely lucky I am. Emma and I pray every night together and I always say the same thing. "Thanks for our family, our health, and all the blessings you give us." Emma throws in many things from her fuzzy blanket, her glow-worm (or glower as she calls it now) and my personal favorite "Thank you God for Evan's baby gate so he doesn't get into everything."

Our Thanksgiving was good. It seemed as though this past week was just crazy. It was a blur of grocery shopping, fitting in cleaning, making pies, etc. But, it was good and worth it. We had brunch here Thanksgiving morning with Eric and Gaeb and then headed to Durand. Turkey and all the fixings was served there. Then, playing with the kids, visiting more family, then heading back here to get ready for Black Friday. Ugh... I may be over the early shopping of Black Friday. We got up at 5am and it seemed to me as though we almost got out to late. My sisters found most of what they wanted, but a lot of my items were already gone. Bummer. We still had a great time, but for some reason, I wasn't really feeling it this Friday. Part of it could have been sleep deprivation as I hadn't got a lot of sleep the earlier days. I don't know.

Then, back to Durand for more hunting. I am glad, now, to be home. We have been on the road a lot lately, so I am hoping this week will be much more relaxed and quiet.

Growing up

My little boy had his first hair cut this week. I was dreading it in a way, as I knew and everyone told me, that after baby boy gets his first hair cut, they look like big boys. Or - Toddler boys... and he does. We went to Kid's Cuts on Friday and he did awesome. He was drinking a bottle for most of it and watching Dora on their little TV's (Emma got to pick the show as she was also getting her hair cut) and clutching onto a duck. If you know my little boy, he always needs to have something in his hands. Even from early on when he started crawling, he would be carrying a Little People Toy, a car, a plastic utensil, whatever. He apparently finds comfort scattering things all throughout my house. Anyway - he did very well. It amazed me how fast the woman cut his hair- and did a great job! She asked if it was his first one and how I wanted it cut. She said she could just trim bangs and cut a little in the back and still keep him looking like a baby or she could cut it and make him look like a big boy. Since I was paying $14 for this haircut, I figured she should cut it. Plus, I try not to be too sentimental about this stuff ( I know, I said TRY!) it is only a haircut, right??

Here are some pics, I tried to do a before and after...

Before:



During:



After and still unsure about the whole process:



After and eating so not caring:




We had a great weekend. It was deer hunting opener in Durand, so that is always fun. I hunted again this year after a somewhat difficult decision. If the licenses were only about $20, no big deal, but out-of-state licenses are much more than that.. much! And we buy two - one for Tim and I. So, that makes a deer pretty damn expensive. Plus, I don't hunt all the time as I feel guilty about not staying with the kids, so I am not sure if it is totally worth it. But, I really enjoy hunting. I really like getting out there with the family, being outside, getting exercise - plus, it is fun. That is why I do it. The kids do well with Nana, who watches them while we hunt, but still. After working for most of the week, I like to spend more time with the littles on the weekend.

Have a great Thanksgiving week! I know it will be really busy here, but a lot of fun. Plus - Shopping on Friday - YEA! My sister and I started this tradition about 4 years ago. Now, my Mom and other sister join in the fun and we get most of our shopping done in one day. It is fabulous!

Wise beyond her years....

Oh - our little Emma lately has been on a roll. This kid loves taking the things that we say to her and twisting them back around and saying them to us. Tonight there was a whole string of them. After supper time, she is circling every toy in the Target Toy Advertisement we got in the Sunday paper and I tell her repeatedly "Emma, time for shower." "Emma - time to stop and take a shower." over and over. Finally after the fifth or sixth time she looks up from the advertisement, stares and me and says, "I KNOW Mama! How many times do you have to keep telling me!" I look at Tim- baffled - and say "Emma! You tell me - how many times until you do what I ask you to do?!" She rolls her eyes at me (yeah- love that) and gets up. Then, I turn away and burst out laughing.

Earlier, I was playfully arguing with Tim and I started cardio kickboxing him. Lightly punching him, sidekicking, etc. Tim says "Emma, Emma - stop your Mommy!" So, of course, Emma runs over and yells at me; "Mommy! Mommy! Stop hitting Daddy! We do NOT hit the people we love!"

We have been talking about hunting a lot lately (for obvious reasons) and she has been very interested in the whole process. She has been very curious about the deer and what Tim does and has been asking many questions. So, I come home from work yesterday after Tim was off with the kids and I get an insight into what her little mind is working on. First, she runs up to me and says right when I get home: "Mama, there is a dead deer hanging in our garage. It looks like this" ** then she flops over and hangs with her arms wide and her mouth open** "and we can't touch it, because it is yucky. It is dead." Nice, I know... What a thing for a three year old to know already! Then, as we are driving to the grocery store, she starts this conversation. "Mama, I am too little to go hunting, but when I get bigger and bigger, I want to go. With Daddy.. Hunting. But I don't have a gun- we need guns to shoot deer, right Mommy?" I sigh - not really enjoying where this conversation is going. I don't mind that she wants to hunt, obviously, everyone in my family hunts, I hunt, Tim hunts, no big deal. I just don't like her talking so much about guns. So, I casually say, "Yes, Emma, you will need a gun." and hope she drops the conversation. I am not so lucky: "Well, I want a gun." Me: "Well, you are way too little for guns. Guns are not toys. You can hunt with Daddy when you get bigger. And he has guns, so you can use his." Once again, hoping, this conversation is done. Emma: "Well, maybe I will put a gun on my Santa list to use when I get bigger so I can hunt with Daddy." Lovely.

Of course, she now enjoys eating deer too - as Tim shared that with her and Evan yesterday. We eat venison a lot, but Emma has never quite understood the wild game we partake in the Heuer Household. Now, at supper, I get to hear: "Mama - are we eating deer tonight?" tonight it was, "No, Emma, we are having lasagna." Emma: "But I like deer. Daddy shot a deer and we ate it. I don't like Besagna! (because some words she says, she starts with a "B" sound - Besagna for lasagna - Bewards instead of Menards, really any word at time in her mind starts with a B.) I try to tell her about venison and how we call deer meat venison- but she doesn't understand that yet.

That is all I can remember now! It seems as though she is constantly surprising me with the things she says and hears. Even when I don't think she listens, she is.

hunting season

Yes, Yes... I understand that I knew Tim was a hunter when I married him. Yes, I don't expect him to change, however, that doesn't mean I cannot be frustrated sometimes when he is gone so much. I tried to tell him that my hunting season starts in January - He can expect me to be gone for 3 full weekends and random days also. My hunting season - Shoe Hunting. He didn't quite buy it.... All-in-all I don't care too much, but sometimes when I miss out things that I would like to do because he is gone, it is frustrating. The nice thing though, is that the kids are getting older and we can do fun stuff. That will only get easier.

It is fun though to see how excited the kids are to see him come back. Emma and Evan were besides themselves tonight. Yes, they did get to see him this morning, but not for too long. Tonight, it was all about Daddy time. Evan was yelling and jabbering when he first saw him... pointing, reaching for him, etc. It was pretty cute. Emma could not get close enough too him. She was hugging him, giving him kisses, and had to place her chair right next to his at supper. There wasn't a half-inch between the two, she had them that close. And that was after "Daddy, I can't sit on your lap for supper, right? I will just sit right next to you! Yup (as she grunts and pushes) I will just move these right by each other!" She was giddy. I never get that reception... although I never leave, so I guess that is the difference :-)

The kids and I did have a great weekend. Friday we went to the waterpark with the neighbors. Fun was had by all, mostly. Evan did okay. He enjoyed splashing and going down the slides with either Kristen or I. He was pretty sleepy towards the end and just wanted to be held and bundles up in a towel. After that, we went to the farm. It was a beautiful weekend to be there. We went four-wheeling, rode in the combine, and played outside. Emma enjoyed the combine so much that she even rode in the combine by herself with Papa. She is getting so big! It would have been a beautiful weekend to climb the bluff, but alas, it didn't happen.

The kids are good. They started swimming lessons - both of them. Emma loves them and Evan had a great time splashing. There was a little mix-up in the scheduling, so Evan may not continue with them, which would be too bad, but hopefully it will work out next time. Sunday school is continuing. The frustrating thing is that Emma does not remember (or at least does not tell me) what she learns. AND I AM THE TEACHER!! I ask her to tell me what we learned or to tell Daddy or someone else what the lesson was and she looks at me and smiles "I don't know Mama!" So, this last lesson, we did a LOT of repetition. "What did God make? Food and Water!" over and over again.. hopefully it works. They start practicing for their concert soon. Yes, little Emma will be singing in a concert in February. I cannot wait - I think it will be cute.

Evan is still crawling all over and has started jabbering. Which is great - that's all I need - another one talking :-) If he wants sometime, he will grab it, throw it at me and start jabbering. He does that with cereal in the morning, apples anytime, and books after bath. Actually, he does that with many things. He has also started to be more cuddly - which I LOVE! He will put his head on my shoulder, hang onto my leg, or give me kisses. Well, I think they are kisses anyway. I find that he is also understanding a lot more too. If I ask him to grab me something, such as a diaper or a specific toy, he will get it and throw it at me. Last week, we were upstairs and I told him to tell Daddy to come up. He leaves our bedroom, goes to the top of the stairs, stands on the baby gate, and yells down the stairs. Which, made Tim come up. That boy is a genius!!

Pictures of carving pumpkins and Halloween. Let it be known that the only way I got a picture of the kids with their hands in the pumpkins was to put something in the pumpkins. Emma thought it was pretty gross (hence the skeleton carving gloves, which she loved!) and Evan was just too little. He rode his little bike around the garage for most of it.











A few random pictures. Evan loves it when I push him around in the laundry basket. This time, I put a pillow in it and he climbed right in and made himself comfortable.

Candy, Family, and Craziness

Needless to say, I am sure, the kids had a fabulous Halloween. It was preceeded by a very busy week with sickness in the house. Thankfully, not our house, but our daycare's house. So, that meant staying home with the kids and taking them down to the farm for a few days. It is so nice to have parents so close that are willing to take on Ms. Stubborn and Mr. Climber. Tim and I shared the parenting duty on Tuesday, then met Nana & Papa in Menomonie that night for the drop-off. As sad as it probably sounds, having daycare closed is very difficult and frustrating. Instead of what it should be, which is enjoying an extra, unexpected day at home with the kids, it is more about juggling schedules/putting movies on for Emma so I can check in with work and wishing I had a fence to put Evan in so he wouldn't climb! So - Thank you Nana & Papa for helping out. The kids LOVE going down there, do well, listen, and Tim and I had a "date night" by ourselves.
After the daycare debacle, we celebrated Halloween. We decorated cupcakes, decorated pumpkins, visited with family, and just had a wonderful time. The kids weren't all about carving pumpkins. Tim and I did all the work while they played in the garage. It was a great idea though, by Tim actually :-), to carve pumpkins in the garage instead of the house. All mess outside and bikes and other toys for the kids to play with. The only way they would really touch the inside of the pumpkin ( see pictures below) is when I would drop something in there for them to fish out. Oh well, whatever works I guess.
Saturday, of course, was Halloween. We took family pictures that morning and I am very excited to see them! The kids did great - Emma was a natural and loved modeling. The photographer, at one point, was just snapping shots to understand the lighting, and Emma jumped in front of the camera, brushed her hair back and started smiling away! It was pretty cute. We will get them back in a few days and I will either post or share the link if anyone is interested.
That night was craziness, both sisters, parents, kids running around in costume on a sugar high. The kids had a fabulous time, feeding off of each other's energy. Even Evan was getting in the spirit and trying to keep up. After a feast of pizza and cupcakes (piled high with Halloween sugar and candy) it was time to get ready for trick-or-treating and the Boo Train. I didn't get a lot of pictures before hand as I was getting ready and getting the little butterfly and dragon ready, but I got a few. We piled the kids in the lawn-mower trailers, piled blankets on them and we were off. We were actually out for about 2 hours! All kids had a great time, Evan Evan was marching up to the houses with the big kids and was eager to get the candy (and inspect all pumpkins/decorations/doormats on the way up). It was fun to see.
After that, it was back home to devour some! I couldn't believe all the candy we came home with. Too much really - Emma was eating a lot and Evan was sucking on a sucker in one hand and trying to eat through a peanut butter cup wrapper in the other.
Sunday was relaxing, well the beginning anyway. After that, well, not much I wish to comment about. GRRR!!!
Now, back to the usual grind.

I am going to post pictures later... I am feeling lazy. I am not even going to proofread. sorry.

Tennis A Mennis

Doesn't make any sense does it?? - well, this is Emma's new nickname for Evan... This came from Nana calling him Dennis the Menace and lately, that nickname fits our little guy pretty well. So, sometimes, Emma will just shake her head and say "Ahh- our little Tennis A Mennis, Mama." I hear you little lady, I hear you...

Currently he has matching bruises on each side of his forehead - lovely, I know - especially because we hired a photographer to come in this weekend and take some new pics of the kids. He has just started climbing on EVERYTHING!! I don't get it! He fell today after stepping on his little retro-rocket rider to see out the window. I think he stepped onto the rocket, tried to get on the toy chest and fell. The sad thing is that I got out a little bag of ice (AGAIN!) and when he saw it he instantly put his head forward and laid it on the ice. Nice that he knows what that is about. The ice on the head lasted for hmmm... 5 seconds and then he was off climbing up again! I am going to go insane soon if he doesn't stop. But, Tim keeps reminding me that he is a little boy and that he won't stop because that is what boys do. Grrr... I tried to take a pic of the matching bruises, but only one is really visible. The other is more black & blue at this point.






We enjoyed the fall again this weekend and made some holiday crafts with my friend Jess and "little Keira" as Emma calls her. Since she has an older cousin Kyra, her friend is nicknamed "little Keira", which I think is pretty cute. They decorated some pumpkins and cupcakes Saturday morning as Tim was hunting for the day. After that, it was outside with the neighbors to jump in the leaves! What a wonderful day for that. It was a bit cold, but the girls had an excellent time jumping, raking, and throwing the leaves in the air. Evan did okay with that, but was much more interested in the lawnmower that Uncle Craig drove over.











Yesterday was Sunday School and I was the lead teacher - my first time- and it went pretty well. The kids did really well and listened to me, did the crafts well, and had a good time. I had an easy lesson "God made living things" so we spoke a lot about animals and people and had everything revolving around that. When I was done, I asked the other teacher how it went and she said " you did great!! You had so much energy that the kids really liked it!" So - good! Made me feel better and hopefully not so nervous for the next time. Emma does very well in class, listens, and does everything that she is told. Plus, when we came back here, she was able to tell Tim what we did and ofen recited to Tim what God makes. So, that is good - it seems some things are sinking in.

The Flu is keeping our household on "hold" at the moment. Luckily our children do not have it yet, but daycare does and is closed. Now, I obviously do not want our kids there when others are sick, that goes without saying... but, it is really difficult juggling work schedules to make accommodations for times like this. We do it and are happy to do it, but it is difficult. Tim was able to stay home today and I will do part time with Tim tomorrow. Hopefully by Wednesday kids are better and everything will be back to normal. Luckily though, tomorrow is supposed to be nice out, so I can spend sometime with them outdoors.

Emma has really been enjoying doing her "homework" lately. She looks at some workbooks I bought in the Target dollar section and has been working on letters and numbers. She will trace them and look at the pictures with corresponding sounds and thinks she is pretty important doing her homework every night. The problem is "Mama! I can do it" when I try to explain some things or help her out.

Evan is Evan... climbing. He also thinks he is pretty strong lately as he attempted to pick up Emma's wooden stepstool the other day. He could make it a few steps, stumbling with his eyes wide and groaning with the weight, but he still tried. That and the playdough container. For some reason now, he really enjoys the playdough container (big round tub) and has to bring that along also. Here are some more pics of him getting into stuff.



(yes, Evan, I am sure your one leg can reach up to the pool table. He seriously tried to get on that thing for about 5 minutes.)


More pics and then to bed for me. Everyone have a great week!

Como Park last weekend! I LOVE this picture!

Finally enjoying the Fall

Finally! Nice Fall weather! I feel cheated, actually, as Fall is my favorite season and so far it has not been nice! But this weekend we took advantage of it. Tim was off on one of his hunting trips, so it was just me and the kiddo's, but we still got out a lot and had a fabulous time!

Saturday was Afton Apple Orchard, which was awesome! They had so much to do there from a hay ride, to a big play area for the kids, pumpkins, corn maze, little cow train thing, and of course, the apples. We tried to take advantage of all of it, so first was the play area. Thankfully Emma didn't want to stay there too long. I find that I am a hovering Mom, especially since my kids are little yet, making sure that Emma is being nice, taking turns, and that no one is pushing/jumping in front of her. I wish there were more hovering Moms, so that it would make the play area's a bit more enjoyable for kids. Let's just say there was one HORRIBLE experience with a kid at a play area and especially since then, I need to make sure everything is okay. But, that makes it a bit difficult with a one-year-old who cannot do everything that Emma can do. Anyway, the play area was enjoyed for only a little while. After that- the hayride and off to pick apples. This was Evan's favorite part as this kid LOVES apples. He can eat almost a whole small apple; he gnaws/bites/gnaws some more and that little kid can get a lot off of an apple. He sees one (even something that looks like an apple, like a tomato in our fridge) and he is grabbing for it and biting it. Anyway, the tractor dropped us off by the Harralson apple trees and Evan was in heaven. Picture this kid with eyes wide open, Pointing up at the trees "See!" and then to another tree "See!". Then, he promptly picked up an apple off the ground and started to eat. Yes, I replaced that one with a clean one, but he was loving it!! Emma helped me pick a few more for our bag and we were back on the tractor and heading back. By then, Mama needed a little snack so we bought some apple donuts, apple fritters and had a light snack. The next thing was the cow train, which probably sounds odd, but Emma just HAD to try it! They had barrels painted and decorated like cows that the kids could sit in and then a tractor pulling it around. Emma was in heaven! It was so fun to watch her do that all by herself.

After that was home for a much needed nap for the kiddo's and some quiet time for Mom. We headed into Stillwater after that to pick up our last CSA vegie box. The CSA summer was fun, but we are not sure if we will participate again. However, one thing I have to share: on the way there, we were stopped at a stop light. Just sitting there, when all of a sudden Emma chirps up "Hey Lady, get off the phone and drive!" I start CRACKING up as she obviously has heard me say that a few times!

Saturday night was the Boo Zoo at Como Zoo, which was really cute and kid friendly. We dressed all the kids up in their Halloween costumes (the neighbors came along) and off we went. After paying admission (even the adults, which I can't say I cared for) we were led along a path at the Zoo which was decorated and lit up for Halloween. They had different area's for the kids to go trick-or-treating, so they got some practice for the big day. The nice thing? It wasn't really candy focused - sure they got some, but they also received stickers/popcorn/nuts/snacks. It was good.It was very kid friendly - no scary things - just fairy tale characters, etc. It was a LOT of fun. My little butterfly and ferocious dragon (who I almost got to say ROAR) had a great time.

They were totally sacked that night and we enjoyed Sunday with Papa (my Dad) who came to visit. We shopped at Fleet Farm and got some winter stuff for the kids and then enjoyed a supper at Culvers - YUM! All-in-all, it was a fabulous weekend!

No huge changes with the kids since I last posted. I think they were really happy this past weekend to get outside and enjoy the weather.

I, however, have decided to postpone grad school. As much as I really want to, I just don't know if I have the time to do it right now. I know everyone says that "you will never have enough time" etc. but with the kids still being so little, I think I want to devote my time to them. Even now I feel behind on my housework and other hobbies that I cannot imagine what I would feel like if I had school work, etc to do also. I don't know, I am disappointed, but right now I feel that is the best decision for me and the family. I have been feeling overwhelmed with it and even when I sit down to apply to St. Thomas, I just get road-blocked. Not a good sign.

Anyway - this upcoming week is book club - YEA! Girl bonding is needed :-) (We just read Monique and the Mango Rains, which I recommend highly! A true story of a peace corps volunteer working with a midwife in Africa.) After a weekend with no hubby to help out, I am looking forward to getting out a bit! This weekend is also Sunday School, which is good. It will be nice to get that more in our routine, as Emma had a great time.

A few pics:

Why I am SERIOUSLY doubting our day-care provider's ability to watch my children! I cannot believe what she dressed Evan in for the big Packer/Viking game. At least Emma tore it off when it was put on her. Obviously, Tim was overjoyed. I wanted to gag.



Evan - getting ready to go outside. I like this hat on him.



Emma by the pumpkins. She cannot WAIT to carve or draw on them. Maybe this weekend with the other little book-clubbers :-)


And both kids sitting in out hallway hang-out. The popular spot to sit and be seen. Evan just sits there with his snacks - Emma has to sit there because Evan does.

Sweet Memories

For some reason tonight, my little boy wanted to cuddle. He NEVER wants to cuddle, he is way too busy for that. Now that he has the walking thing down, he is moving all around. He stops to eat because I think he loves to eat more than he loves to walk, but they are pretty close. Anyway, I laid both the kids down to bed and he was still fussing after a few minutes (which is unlike him) so I went in to check. He was sitting up in his crib and when he saw me, he lifted both arms up in the air. I can not resist that, so of course, I picked him up. I turned on his music and he laid his head on my shoulder and we rocked. I smelled his sweet baby head, he sucked on his Nuk, and we rocked. We rarely do that. It was so sweet! He snuggled in a little bit and finally settled with his little butt in the air, legs tucked underneath, and his head on my chest. It made me tear up a bit as that is how he would lay on me when he was a few weeks old. He never slept at night when he was little, so many nights he laid on my chest and we either rocked or slept in my bed. Sigh.... Memories of my baby boy that is growing up - a bit too fast for my liking.


As previously mentioned, Evan is all over the place. I was chasing him a bit around the house, slowly of course, but he was walking (he is trying to run, but hasn't quite achieved that yet) and I was right behind him tickling and going after him. he was giggling and laughing the whole time. He is also talking and understanding a lot more. He can say a few words "Sh for Shoe, Ba for Ball, See, Awo (that is hello), Mama, Dada" and I think that is it. He will try to repeat a lot of the things we say though. I can also say, "Evan, go get a book" and he will or "Evan, time for bath, let's go upstairs" and he will. He is already a pretty smart boy.
We have signed up he and Emma up for swimming lessons, so that should be fun. Emma is pretty excited as she was feeling pretty left out because her friend Breezy is in dance and I think Emma is a bit jealous. The jealousy of her brother is also something that is not going away, unfortunately. But honestly, I suspect there will always be some of that between the two of them.

A few Emma-ism's:
(as said on the way home from daycare today)
Emma: "Mama, I want to go and visit Daddy at work."
me: "Okay, we can do that sometime soon, maybe next week."
Emma: "Sure, just as long as there aren't a bunch of cars again. That is pretty annoying"
Now I am not really sure what she meant about the bunch of cars, but the fact that it seemed to annoy her was funny. I actually laughed out loud about that one.

About the snow recently, said tonight at supper:
Emma: "Mama, is it going to keep snowing?"
Me: "Yeah, I think so. I think it is going to snow tomorrow"
Emma: "Well, let's turn on the news and see if the weather is on. They will know."

Seriously, sometimes I think I am talking to an adult with some of the things she says.

Running all weekend

What a weekend - what a busy, hectic weekend... but - a great weekend! Let's start with very early Saturday morning....

10K day - finally - after a summer of knowing it was coming and training (for the most part, I will call it training - I was not as dedicated as I should have been, but I did train) it finally arrived. It was a rainy/yucky morning. It drizzled for part of it - we started running at 7:30am- was windy for part of it, but overall, I would just call it yucky. It didn't really bother me until about mile 5 - then we headed down hill towards the finish line and it was really windy. Even more incentive for me to run faster. I ALMOST made it to my goal, my goal was to finish the 10K (or 6.2 miles) in less than an hour. I did it in 1 hr 24 seconds. Not bad. My pace was 9:44/mile - so not bad. Pretty good for my first one - and possibly my last. Not sure really- it felt good and may be the farthest I want to run for now. The sad part is it bothered my hip and my knee today. Man, this 30 stuff is getting tough! Tim was laughing at me yesterday, I was surprised at how stiff I was... although I have never been that good at stretching.





The Toddler Trot - Emma was so excited! That is all she could talk about all morning. Every 5 minutes it was, "Mom - when can we leave?" "Mom, I want to go" "MAMA! Is it time yet?" Finally - it was. Now, I am really not sure why they had the Toddler Trot at 11:30. Pretty close to Emma's naptime, I should have seen something coming.. anyway - she was so excited! She had on her new T-shirt and race number and with her bud Keira, she was ready to run. Her and Keira were hanging on to hands and couldn't wait to go.



Finally, it was their turn. Jess (Keira's Mom) and I were with the kids to help guide them along the 50 yard course. The horn or whatever sounded and they took off - Emma really did, she was ready to run. Then, something happened (it all happened so fast, I am not really sure what went wrong) But Emma ran into another Mom, fell over, and was done. She got up, wiped herself off and started crying. Not just lightly crying, she was bawled over, nothing could stop it, crying. Now, whether the Mom stopped short or Emma wasn't watching where she was going, I am not sure, but it totally ruined the whole experience for Emma. She wouldn't run, wouldn't walk, I had to carry her to the end. I felt so bad for the poor monkey as we have been talking about this all summer and for it to end like that, was too bad. I am not sure if Emma was disappointed, scared, sad, or what, but it totally ruined her little world at the moment. She got a medal, we found her a sucker and she was back to normal. But, I still feel bad.



Saturday night was a block party at our neighbor's house (not the sister), so that was a lot of fun. No other little kids showed up, just ours, but that didn't phase Emma one bit. She had to go out and eat with the older kids. I was a bit nervous about that as she is 3 and they ranged in age from 10 to 15, but they were all so good with Emma. Evan and I sat out there with her (but she proudly marched out there first with her plate and sat right on down) but for the most part she was talking to the kids. The kids (3 boys and 1 girl) were talking to her, making her laugh, and couldn't have been any better with his little girl who wanted to make new friends. The two oldest boys even commented on how cute she was. Seriously, how many 15 year olds do you know that would do that? I was very happy for her and she had a fabulous time.
Sunday morning was the start of Sunday School, which Emma was also very excited about. (here is Emma proud and ready to go)
She did a great job, listened well, and interacted well with the children. She only had a little melt down once and that was when she didn't get a streamer for the song we were going to sing right away. And that wasn't even a melt down as much as a disagreement.
Now, teaching Sunday School for me went well. I could not believe how fast the time flied - I was so nervous that we wouldn't have enough to do with the kids, they wouldn't listen, etc - but they were all very good. We did have a cryer and a few shy kids, but for the most part, they did the crafts well and loved the little games we played. We played Musical Chairs (but whoever didn't get a chair got to wear a crown and got a sticker that says "Jesus Loves Me" and the kids LOVED marching around to music playing that. All-in-all, good times. Not that nervous about doing it on my own now.
Evan also had a big weekend as he really started walking - like from room to room walking. He still does the monkey walk as Tim calls it - arms up in the air or balancing him on his side - wobbly- kind of walking, but he can make it a long way. He is so proud of himself too! He gets this big excited look on his face and puffs his cheeks a bit - then, when he reaches me or Tim he lounges forward with a huge smile on his face!!
Tim had a great birthday - thanks for all the birthday wishes! We got a baby-sitter and went out to eat on Thursday and enjoyed yummy drinks and food at our favorite restaurant Phil's. I had the BEST SALAD EVER! And for me to say that, you have to know it is good. I normally never eat the salad. My philosophy is "why waste the stomach space when you have the good food coming next." Anyway - my salad was bacon/fried egg/weird lettuce in a vinaigrette (I have no idea how to spell that). It was awesome - I ate the whole thing! So - for those 6 people out there that read the blog - if you ever see it on a menu - get it!!

(I had to add some pictures of my little guy too!!)