The Gundersen's

2011-10-27T20:25:00.000-07:00

Since I'm out of town I didn't really have time to prepare a proper photo arrangement with clever cations and photo cropping but by request I'm posting some pics of the boys in their costumes for Jason to see since he's stuck at home missing all of our festivities. Enjoy Sweetheart!

Here, Zach shows off his muscles.

Kyle chases a "Neigh Neigh" (horse), it took some explaining to convince him it was really a goat.

The boy's favorite game was a fishing game. Here they were basically climbing over top of each other to give the lady their tickets.

Kyle really enjoyed himself, obviously

Notice Kyle in the background. It may look like he just ate a lemon but really he's saying cheese for the camera. Goofball.

2011-10-07T16:02:00.000-07:00

Today, we celebrated our first leaf raking of the season. The smaller tree in our front yard was the first tree in our neighborhood to turn a beautiful red-orange and start to drop it's leaves. The boys and I had a great time creating the "Biggest Leaf Pile EVER!"

Zach and Kyle both concentrated intently on the task at hand.

Sometimes even working together.

Kyle has been becoming increasingly difficult to take pictures of as every time he sees the camera he has to run straight for me squealing "CHEESE" as loud as he can. It results in a good number of very blurry but very cute pictures like this one.

Once in a while I can still catch him if he's sitting down.

Zach is a total ham when the camera comes out.

The boys loved diving in and getting buried in the leaves.

Soon, what was a tall mountain of leaves became a much flatter mound.

Then, they just enjoyed running through it.

Here's Zach preparing to make a dash for it. (note the crooked mouth, both boys do it. Just like their dad)

Ready Set GO!

We All Love Fall!

2011-10-03T10:18:00.000-07:00

Here's what happens when you give Jason a sledge hammer. Uh Oh!

2011-09-06T13:06:00.000-07:00

Today was a BIG day for us. It was Zach's first day of preschool! He has been looking forward to today for a long time. Pretty much since summer first started and he learned that next year he wouldn't be going to "Parents As Teachers" with Kyle and Mom anymore. He would be going to "Big Boy School".

We sought out the perfect backpack, a little Transformers backpack just his size. And THEN we found out that he needed a full sized backpack. It ended up just fine though because Kyle decided the smaller backpack was perfect for him.

Right away this morning both boys donned their respective backpacks and ran in to tell mom they were both ready for school.

Kyle was convinced he was going too and he was really proud to strut around the house in his "Eee Er Eu Uh" backpack. (That was my best typed impression of the sound he makes for transformers- I'll have to record it later)

Zack got a special "Z" pancake for breakfast.

And we, of course, had the traditional "First Day of School Photoshoot" Zach was looking Oh, So handsome.

That's right, First Day of Preschool!

He's growing up TOO fast.

Such sweet brothers.

Just had to go play for one more minute before taking off.

We ran into our friend Evie on our way into school.

This is one of Zach's teachers. Mrs Ladage.

Zach read his favorite story while we waited until it was time to go to class.

Kyle Hammed it up, jumping in front of the camera whenever we tried to take a picture of Zach.

Zach's Classroom.

We read "The Kissing Hand" the other night so Mom kissed Zach's hand and drew a heart around it so that he could remember.

The kids started getting more and more anxious as the time approached to go to class.

It was really comical to watch the teachers trying to keep all of the children in line as they walked to class. Zach, of course, took his place at the front of the line. Every few steps one of the children would try to take off a different direction and a teacher would have to guide them back into place. Finally, they successfully made it to class.

Zach's School

Zach was very brave and didn't hesitate at all as he waved goodbye to Mom and Kyle. He had a great time and came home raving about playing outside and getting to snack on chips. I guess there weren't any learning milestones of note YET, but Mom couldn't be prouder!

St Louis Zoo

2011-06-30T19:37:00.000-07:00

With Jason's busy schedule we've been trying to make the best of the days off that he has and we recently decided that it was about time our boys get to visit the "big" zoo. We made the trip to St. Louis (roughly 2 hours) and it was well worth it.

Here Kyle is having quite the conversation with a large fish.

Oh, that large grayish lump behind the glass is NOT a rock.... it's a hippo! Just lounging there.
MOM! Look at the fish! (No, he didn't really say that. It was more like, "Eh! Ooooo! Ah!)
Kyle was pretty stylish "wearing" his sunglasses. As Zach would say, "My sunglasses tect (protect) my Eyes from the sun"
Kyle thought these Stalactites were pretty hysterical.
We rode the train.... several times.
Yup, there we are again. Riding the train.
Oh ya, Kyle and I were there to.
Zach was a bit apprehensive about riding the Merry-go-round.
"Ummmm..... what's gonna happen?"
He warmed up to it pretty quick once it got going.
(Sorry, had to show off my man a bit. Good lookin' guy, right?)
I know this one's dark. Haven't got my photoshop up and running again yet. If you can't see him, Zach is thoroughly enjoying himself.
I wish I could see inside Kyle's head to know what he's thinking. I love his expression here. Very matter-of-fact. "See dad, this is a bear. It's a bit larger than the one I snuggle with at home. But it still has plenty of soft fur. And he appears to enjoy swimming......"
We also got to enjoy the Seal show.
Riveting. (Actually, I don't think it had started yet. Kyle was just chowing a fruit leather and Jason was trying not to get slimed)
I have about 30 pictures of Kyle that are very similar to this. It seemed like he was always directing traffic or pointing out some very important object/creature.
This is Zach doing a surprisingly accurate rendition of my little brother Creed. (Currently serving a mission. But this is still how I remember him. Luv You Creed!)
There's Kyle showing his leadership skills again. "This, family, is a super tall, long necked who-see-ma-what's-it. Oh.... a giraffe then.

Funny Story:

As we were looking at the giraffes, a family came up next to us and the mom was pointing out the giraffes to her kids. She made the mistake of calling them zebras. I didn't really notice, but Zach sure did!

He leaped into action. Immediately correcting the woman for her mistake and then getting right in her little boy's face to make sure he understood. "That is NOT a zebra! That is a giraffe!" The woman apologized profusely while choking down giggles at Zach's reaction to her "terrible" mistake. Even as we walked away he was still muttering under his breath, "that lady said it was a zebra but it's NOT, it's a giraffe!"

Smart Kid

Oh, and we just HAD to ride the train one more time while Kyle was sleeping. And visit the penguins. (so that he could make one more attempt at convincing me we needed to buy the school bus we saw in the gift shop next door)
Long Day, Fun Day,

loved.every.minute.

(for the most part)

Brothers having fun

2011-06-28T13:56:00.000-07:00

I love that even at such a young age, my boys are best buddies.

They sit and watch movies together,

We bought the second identical rocking chair from a friend at her garage sale because the boys were always wrestling over who got to sit in the one.

Zach masterminds all kinds of adventures,
Like building "Damns" out of couch cushions while wearing only diapers,
Kyle routinely puts himself in timeout. Non of us really know what he thinks he's done wrong.
And they are always happy to smile for dad (only dad) when he brings out the camera after making a yummy french toast breakfast.

(He's doing his best impression of a "perfect angel" We all know better!)

New hiding spot

2011-06-28T13:30:00.000-07:00

Kyle has recently discovered a new hiding spot. Well, he seems to think he's hiding anyway. He climbs under Zach's high chair and then peeks out from between the legs as though they were bars to a cage. I love how this picture caught him with his tongue sticking out, as it tends to do when he's concentrating really hard.

On Demand

2011-06-28T13:23:00.001-07:00

Jason requested that I get some pictures on the blog so that he could have something to show people at work so here goes nothin'

For father's day the boys and I made Jason some special portraits. They haven't found the perfect hanging spot as of yet but I still think they turned out really cute. Zach picked out the colors and each boy did his own painting. (Well, Kyle had a little bit of help) All the while that Zach was painting he kept saying "Dad is gonna LOVE this" under his breath. It was pretty cute.

In order to get the silhouettes I tried to hunt down pictures of the boys that would work. I found one of Kyle but I had to request Zach to model for me. I did get some decent profile shots but I couldn't help but love the ones that turned out a bit more like this...
Gotta love that kid.

Fun with Friends

2011-05-27T13:23:00.000-07:00

I always have a list about a million miles long of things that I want to work on eventually, projects or crafts, fun stuff that just always gets put off. So, I started a Thursday morning procrastinators club. I've opened my doors to any of my friends with projects that they need to work on. (or who just want to hang out) The moms work on their projects while the kids play together. It has been really fun! Zach is always looking forward to having his friends over.

What better way to spend a morning than with friends!

Fun Day

2011-05-27T13:03:00.000-07:00

I told Zach this morning that I had a surprise for him. I didn't want to get him too excited if things didn't work out. So he waited excitedly for us to arrive.

He was a bit nervous when we first got there. Sticking close to me and watching everything unfold with a concerned look on his face. (Kyle was completely uninterested, as you can see)
Though once and a while something would catch his attention.
See the tongue? Don't worry, you'll see plenty more of it. Are you wondering yet what the surprise was?
We had the opportunity to join a Mom's group today on a visit to....
The Fire Station!

I thought the firemen did a really great job of explaining things to the kids. They spent a lot of time showing the kids how the fireman, a very normal guy, would put on all of his gear so that he could go into the fiery buildings. They wanted to make sure the kids knew they didn't need to be scared of him and if they were ever stuck in a fire and they saw a man like this, even though he looked scary, he was really there to help them. I guess I hadn't really thought about how important that is to teach kids.
Zach was really nervous to get up into the firetruck but after I lifted him into the driver's seat he lost all inhibitions. (see, I told you there'd be more of that tongue)

He even dragged me around to the back of the truck so that we could climb in and check out all their gear.

My goodness those tires were big!
Kyle had to examine them up close while making silly faces at himself.
He promptly zonked out after leaving the station.
But our day wasn't over yet so we headed over to the museum to play in the children's area. Kyle was excited to play with some of his good friends there.
And dig for dinosaur bones in the packing peanuts, I mean, Dirt.
The boys worked well together as they searched for buried bones.
And Kyle practiced his pickpocketing skills.
All in all, it was a busy and very fun day for us. And it isn't even over yet! We're just home to take a short nap break and then off to enjoy some more adventures.

Sleeping like a rock

2011-05-21T21:31:00.000-07:00

I always thought that the big brother was the one who did the torturing.

Not at OUR house!

Luckily, Zach could sleep through a hurricane, but Kyle is determined to test just how far he can go trying to wake his brother up.

The little devil woke up before Zach so I brought him in the kitchen with me. He promptly scooted back to the bedroom, climbed into bed with Zach, and stole Zach's chocolate milk. (Note the devious grin) He then proceeded to bounce up and down giggling hysterically as he tried his very best to wake up his brother.

It didn't work. Zach didn't even stir. He actually slept soundly for at least another half hour. He's going to be trouble as a teenager when we have to drag him out of bed. I might need to invest in an air horn.

Worth every penny

2011-05-21T21:26:00.000-07:00

Sold some stuff at a garage sale this morning, just HAD to do some shopping at another garage sale down the street. I found this puppy that I almost bought new for Kyle's birthday but didn't. I'm glad I waited because this one was in like-new condition and cost me a whopping $2

It was worth EVERY LAST ONE of those 200 pennies. I would have happily paid 200 dollars for these kind of smiles. (assuming I actually had $200)

He reads too!

2011-05-21T21:24:00.000-07:00

I'm pretty sure I have some similar pictures of Zach lounging, feet propped up, with a good book.

Today's Choice: If Dogs Were Dinosaurs

We've got a climber

2011-05-21T21:09:00.000-07:00

So, I was putting laundry away the other day and I came back into the kitchen and found this:

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a climber!

I was totally shocked that he could actually get into this high chair without any assistance. It kinda scared me. It was like in those ghost movies when they leave the room and come back to find all of their kitchen chairs balanced precariously on one another. I had to do a double take, WOW! How'd he get there? The bottom step is well above his hip. I know I certainly couldn't have made it if I were his size.

It seems like he only started standing a few days ago and here he is. He's not a baby anymore. Today he started pushing things around and walking along with them. Chairs, stools, toys. If he can pull himself to stand next to it, he can push it to wherever he wants.

This could be a bit of a concern given his climbing abilities. If he can push a chair wherever he wants and then climb on top of it.... nothing is safe any longer!

Another new addition.

2011-04-02T13:44:00.000-07:00

Remember a while back when we decided to adopt a couple of Gerbils? Remember how it didn't really last very long? I'll admit, it WAS my idea. Not the best one I'll admit. But this idea, this was NOT my idea.

Since we didn't do too well with the gerbils, Jason decided it would be a good idea to get a Guinea Pig instead. Oh my...
I guess he is kinda cute.

He's just a baby so really he's not much bigger than a large hamster. Zach is giddy, I am apprehensive. I guess time will tell how we will do with a new pet.

These are the sort of crazy things that happen when Jason has a weekend off.

(We are still trying to decide on a name. Any suggestions?)

While Kyle is sleeping...

2011-04-02T13:33:00.001-07:00

While Kyle is sleeping, Zach and I like to PLAY!

(p.s. this is not typically where Kyle sleeps, it was just a kinda funny picture)

The other day Zach decided we should pull out our costume box. I collected a whole bucket-load of costumes after Halloween and he really hasn't shown too much interest. Finally, he has decided that dressing up is a fun and silly way to play. I tried to catch pictures of each costume change but they happened so rapidly I wasn't able to keep up. We started with a cowboy, then went on to a puppy...
Followed by a giraffe, a monster, a policeman and culminating in a series of super heroes. Specifically the robots of Transformers.
He even let me join in the fun! I thought it was pretty funny how he would take on each character for just a few minutes, run around the room barking or growling, and then hurry back to try on the next. Finally he went back to the giraffe he wore at Halloween and ended up wearing that until nap time later that afternoon.

Home Improvements

2011-03-28T15:57:00.000-07:00

Jason just had his last break of the year so I kept him busy. Mainly it was all about the home improvements. But, as seen in the previous post we also had Kyle's first birthday. Since I forgot to take before pictures of our kitchen, you'll have to put up with a couple more party pictures so that I can show you my Oh So Be-A-Utiful walls. (YUK!)

You saw this one before, BUT did you notice the walls?

We had one wall that must have once supported cabinets or been where another wall ended because it was all wonky and patched up. We ended up giving up on it and just knocked it down. Then Jason put up new drywall, that's why you can see a raw drywall wall in the background with the patch from the screws and seams. Not so pretty.

On the opposite wall was this mess...
(not the party people- the wall. love you guys!)

Thankfully this was was somewhat salvageable but it was also patched up and the seams from the drywall were pretty visible as well as what may have once been a chair rail. We patched up the spots and then did a light layer of patch, sanded it and WA LA! An ugly, but smooth wall.

So, that was the before. THIS was the during.... (Yes, I was going in-SANE!)
But finally, I have a new shiny paint job in my kitchen and I kinda just want to sit in there staring at it all day. I LOVE the crown molding that Jason put up himself (Superman!) note:we haven't painted the ceiling yet so please ignore that part.
And the baseboards, ahhhhhh so pretty.
We used a slightly darker paint for the walls so that the molding would stick out a bit but still kept it really neutral. I'm a bit non-committal about decor and we may not be here forever so we wanted to keep it neutral.
It's so BRIGHT!
I have to say, it's definitely making me keep the kitchen clean. I just can not allow myself to leave anything out of place. Though, I'm sure in a little while I'll get sick of the "clean" feeling and start seeing it as "Plain" instead so I'd love some decorating advice.

p.s. there's a reason you don't see the cabinets in these pics. We haven't done anything with them yet. We don't have the budget to replace them but they are definitely NOT attractive. I just have to decide to paint or stain or... Something! That's for sure. I'll keep you posted. But for now... I just love it!

Kyle is One!

2011-03-28T15:03:00.000-07:00

My goodness time sure flies doesn't it. My little baby is officially one year old. I can't believe it! Now, just a little warning... when Zach turned one we took a bunch of pictures and then by some catastrophe of technology they were lost. Luckily, I had posted a few of my favorite pictures on the blog so we at least had those safe. As a result of that, I plan on posting bucketloads of pictures from Kyle's birthday to make sure they too are safe.

So, here's the birthday boy looking all debonair. I made him this shirt with a big one on it and written at the bottom of the one in bright blue is the o-n-e. It turned out way cute but sadly, a little stiff since my sewing machine is on the fritz and I had to use iron-on stuff. Oh well, it's not like you could really see it anyway... it's the thought!

I put together a buffet of goodies for our guests to enjoy along with little goody bags in hopes that they would take home as much as possible. (Sadly, I think I still ate the bulk of it myself)

It's a bit of an awkward photo of people's backs but this gives you an idea of the sweet streamer decor that Jason put together.
Of course, Zach had to join in on the present opening.
The Cake... TA DA!

We ended up giving Kyle a chocolate cupcake since "the cake" was white cake (all I had) and for some reason I've always thought the birthday boy MUST have chocolate.
He was pleased.

VERY pleased!
He even stole the cupcake from the little girl sitting next to him. Luckily, she was basically done.
I sure love my little boy!

Current update

2011-02-19T08:58:00.000-08:00

I'll let this post be without pictures even though it's against my usual trend. I really don't think anybody would want to see the top news of the day- My Foot!

For anyone who hasn't already heard, I had surgery on my foot Thursday. I've had a bone spur on the top of my foot for the last few years and recently it's started to really cause me some issues. When I went in to the doctor to see if there was anything to be done he said that it was actually causing some arthritis and I needed to have it shaved down and possibly fused. I opted out of the fusing for now but we went ahead with the exostetimy (big word right? I have no idea if that's spelled right) The hope is that without the spur I'll be able to wear foot inserts and prevent the arthritis from getting any worse and I'll be able to avoid more pain and suffering.

I was nervous about the recovery but it wasn't until Wednesday night that I realized how freaked out I was about the surgery itself. The last time I had surgery was when I was just a kid and I had my tonsils out. I was pretty sure I was going to die.

So when I got to the hospital Jason told the nurse I was nervoust so they gave me some versed (again, spelling?) They said it would calm me down. Apparently it did, Jason said I got super mellow and he got a good kick out of it. Then they came and gave me a little bit more and I don't remember a thing past it. I think that's the weirdest part of the whole thing. I was totally conscious, awake, aware of everything going on around me but I don't remember one bit of it! It's a bit unnerving to not know what you did or said. I can't imagine how people can get drunk and have the same sort of experience ON PURPOSE! Ya, I'll pass.

Anyway, now I'm recovering. I'm doing really well, I'm just going crazy. I sit and look around me at all the things that I think need to be done and I just can't do them. See, I'm really not very good with crutches. I've never used them before! My pits are SO sore. I haven't figured out how to carry stuff around while using them and so I've been trying to just hop. That is pretty exhausting, let me tell you. Hopefully these next few weeks will go quickly and I'll heal well.

Jason has been so helpful though. He has been really patient with my nagging and worrying. I sure got lucky with that one! He's been off work this week so he's been my personal slave. Great vacation right? I'm going to be pretty bummed when he has to go back in on Monday.

Little Artists

2011-02-19T08:39:00.000-08:00

Here's some more pics from our Christmas Vacation at Grandma Gundersen's

Zach had so much fun with his cousins while at Grandma's house. Even now that we've come back to Illinois I can ask him who his friends are and he will list off all of his cousins without even a pause. He especially loved painting with Sarah. We've tried painting at home in the past but I think watching Sarah meticulously painting her "girl kitties" inspired him.

You can tell they were both deep in thought.

The finished product:

*Actually, he ended up going back to it and painting until every last bit was coated in a thick green goo. The next day he was inspecting their various creations and found that Sara's had actually accidentally gotten some bits of green paint on them. He very carefully picked out the correct paints and touched up her kitties to cover the green so that she wouldn't be upset. I thought it was pretty thoughtful of him.

Happy Birthday Zach!

2011-02-08T08:07:00.000-08:00

Since I'm still playing catchup I'm just going to keep working backwards. Here's some pictures from Zach's birthday party at Grandma's house in Idaho. Since Jason was already back in Illinois we turned to modern technology so that he could still be a part of the celebrations. I hope that Zach enjoyed his day and that all of his wishes come true.

We started with Norwegian pancakes for breakfast as usual and then brought out some presents. Zach got just what he was asking for, Team Geo-Trax! Specifically, Samuel and Steamer.
Kyle promptly ate one of the train drivers and went on playing as if there wasn't a small toy guy hanging out of his mouth.
Kyle makes a pretty good present himself.
Grandma decorated a fancy schmancy train cake. I'm not sure it could have been more perfect. Zach LOVED it.

Especially the coal tender, complete with coal!

It was fun to be able to celebrate with all of his cousins.
Kyle was a bit apprehensive about the cake at first.
But he polished off his first piece pretty quickly.
And then dug into another.

Sledding

2011-02-07T12:39:00.000-08:00

Our boys' first sled ride.

Jason had Saturday off so we headed to the "slopes" to give the boys their first sledding experience. Kyle was NOT impressed and this picture is the only moment he spent on the sled. Immediately after snapping the shot he insisted on being carried and remained so for the rest of the outing.

Zach thought riding in the sled was great fun as we hiked toward the sledding hills. He ended up going down a couple of times before nervously requesting that I accompany him. We had one good run and then our second time down my lack of sledding experience got the best of us and we took a pretty good tumble. Zach was a bit shaken up, having been clobbered by his own mother crashing down the hill. He was a good sport though and did go down one more time, on a slightly smaller hill. I felt pretty awful about our crash but thankfully, Zach was very forgiving and seems to have completely forgotten the entire incident. We all look forward to our next sledding adventure, that will probably just end up being in our own backyard where the daddy made hills are a bit less treacherous.

Another update on the state of my Kitchen

2011-02-07T08:54:00.000-08:00

What do you think? Should we keep it this way?
If your wondering what in the heck we are thinking with this awful paint job, don't worry. It's not paint.

It's actually patch. Our walls were terribly textured. I'm not sure I can even describe it. There was texture in some spots and not others. There were holes that had been roughly filled. There were big bumps along every seam in the drywall. We knew that when we painted over the poopy green with a nice soft color these bumps would stick out terribly so we decided to smooth it all out. In the case of the far wall, we actually ended up tearing it down completely and re-drywalling it. The rest of the walls we are just going to coat in patch and sand down to make them nice and smooth. It might look terrible now but I'm actually starting to get excited. I can already tell how much brighter the whole area is with the green covered up. It is slow going though and until we can get it all done I'm afraid I'm going to have to deal with a constant coating of dust throughout the house. Yuck! Hopefully this goes quickly.

Roller Skates

2011-02-04T15:34:00.000-08:00

Over the summer I was a regular on the garage sale circuit. I managed to get some pretty great finds and one of those were these roller skates. I had some just like them when I was a kid so when I saw them for a buck I had to snag them. Sadly, they were tucked away and never used... until NOW!

Zach started out a bit cautious,

But before long he was cruising the halls. (or I guess in this case, "hall" singular)

I'm pretty sure he thought falling was just as much fun as the actual skating.
Kyle observed the fun from his usual perch on the stairs. He sits like this daily. It's his favorite place to be.

They're calling it "Snowmageddon"

2011-02-02T14:14:00.000-08:00

We had a tiny bit of a storm last night. HA! It was actually a bit of a doozy. Last night we had had roughly 11 and a half inches dumped on us and it continued into this morning a bit. I wish I could tell you the grand total but at this point I'm just not in the loop. Sorry.

Jason was sent home around four last night with the great news that he wouldn't have to go in this morning. So, we all watched cartoons in bed this morning until he got the unfortunate call that he would have to go in. Apparently, he's the only one with a truck big enough to make it to the hospital. We were pretty bummed since we had hoped to enjoy some sledding this afternoon. So, he trucked it outside and did some speed shoveling to get his truck to where he could pull out. As he opened the door this is what we found.

See the truck in the background? It can pretty much make it through anything, handy... unless you were hoping for an excuse to miss work. It's a bit misleading though because his truck isn't buried as deep as the other cars. Here's the story:

Jason misses Idaho. He misses driving through massive amounts of snow. SO he thought it would be "fun" to go out driving last night. I sat at home with the boys gnawing my fingernails in nervousness while he played around driving through snowdrifts. While he was out and about he stopped by SAMs for some odds and ends and when he walked in the lady at the customer service desk looked at him in surprise and turned to her walkie talkie to say, "Ummmmm... there's a customer in the store?". They were open, so he didn't see why they were so shocked. SO, that's why his truck isn't completely covered in snow.
I know there was a driveway there somewhere....

Our front porch, I doubt any birds would want to stay there now.

Zach was pretty excited about it.
Here's a good pic to give you an idea of how deep it was.
Awwwwww.... father son moment.
We still haven't quite been able to shovel ourselves out. Jason did what he could this morning to just get his truck mobile. I spent another hour while the boys were napping but there's at least a few more hours to go. Boy, I'm sure wishing we'd splurged on a snowblower about now!

Gingerbread Train

2011-01-20T19:06:00.000-08:00

On Christmas Day Zach, Grandma H and I took on the project of making a Gingerbread Train. We were a bit apprehensive of it at first. Not sure how it would all turn out.

Then Zach started to really get into the whole decorating process. He really took the lead and spearheaded the whole operation.
I think the Gumball roof decor was his crowning achievement.
Though the careful application of candy to the caboose was also meticulously performed.
Grandma and Zach were pretty excited about their final product.
Wait a second! There's a wheel missing already!
Zach was also pretty insistent that the caboose be filled with cargo.
Ah Ha! There's the missing wheel!
I was kinda surprised but my uber-picky child actually really enjoyed eating the gingerbread. He kept going back for more.

Christmas Morning

2011-01-20T18:44:00.000-08:00

Everything the boys had hoped for and more!

My little elf was more than happy to play with all the paper lying around, and his toes of course.
The ONE think Zach asked Santa for, repeatedly, was a new Emily train. Santa did not disappoint.
Grandpa Haymond also surprised Zach with a train, a bit more life sized train.

He obviously enjoyed it.
Other highlights were a new purse for me, a router for Jason, a annoyingly noisy toy for Kyle and a TAG reading system for Zach (from Grandma Haymond) He's actually "reading" a book to himself as we speak.

Jason worked the night shift for Christmas eve so he got home just in time for all of the present festivities. My mom got to come and visit for a few days which was perfect because I wasn't too excited to spend Christmas eve by myself. All in all, it was a fairly low key, but also enjoyable day. Thanks so much to all of those who sent us gifts. We loved them all!

Christmas Eve

2011-01-20T18:34:00.000-08:00

Santa came and the space under our tree was filled with goodies. The snow started falling as it got to be evening. It was that perfect kind of snowfall. Big, Fat, Slow flakes that just floated to the ground. It looked like a dream! Our neighborhood has a tradition of lighting luminaries along each house's driveway. I just had to run outside to take a picture of our first Christmas in our new home.

I just thought it was very Thomas Kinkade- especially the Narnia style lamp. Love it!

Once there was a Snowman!

2011-01-20T18:12:00.001-08:00

I know I've been pretty awful with updating recently so here's some catching up.

Christmas Eve was a bit weird because of Jason's schedule but it actually ended up working out pretty well. He worked that night so during the day we got to play. There wasn't a ton of snow so Jason shoveled a patch of our backyard together to get just enough for Zach's first snowman.
He had a carrot for his nose.
Look! They're practically twins!
Jason even managed to find some coal from a burned up piece of wood in our backyard. PERFECT for the eyes!

My Kitchen at this moment...

2010-11-14T17:19:00.000-08:00

Ugh!

Yes, the refrigerator and the oven are in the middle of the kitchen. It's going to be a long couple of days while Jason puts everything back together again.

Attitude of Gratitude: Prayer

2010-11-07T18:17:00.000-08:00

Today's lesson in Relief Society was on Prayer and I just couldn't NOT put it up as my thankful post for today. I really am so so so grateful for the power of prayer and the knowledge that I have that I can speak with my father in Heaven when I need him.

I have always had a strong testimony of prayer. So much so that I think I almost take it for granted... if that makes any sense at all. I just always think, "oh I'll just pray about it" without really thinking about how very amazing that is. Whether it's a deep need for comfort during a hard time, or requesting guidance on making a decision, I always know I can turn to my Heavenly Father. I'm never alone, even if all I need is a little reassurance that I'm on the right track. The last few nights have been pretty tough as we are trying to teach Kyle some better sleep habits. I was pretty exhausted last night and as I prepared to transition him into his bed at 3 a.m. I was fully expecting him to wake back up and stay awake for at least two hours. That's what he did the last few nights anyway! But before I made the move I said a quick prayer asking for sleep, knowing we would need to wake up early for church and worrying that Kyle would wake up Jason as well. He slept! Some might say that it was a coincidence or that the sleep training of the previous few nights was working. I say, prayer works. Sometimes not the way you expect or want, but it works.

Now, since that was a little on the serious side, here's a little comic relief.

Kyle as Hanna Montana! (the little green toy is actually supposed to be a microphone if you couldn't tell)

Blonds do have more fun after all.

Attitude of Gratitude: Friends from the Past

2010-11-06T19:20:00.000-07:00

This picture is a bit of a blast from the past (the warmer days of October long past) but I don't think I posted it and I really do like this picture.
On finding out we were moving to Springfield we also found out that we were not alone in this new adventure. We were going to be joined by some friends from waaaaaay back in Rexburg. We actually hadn't really talked to them since we moved away to Milwaukee for school. Not only that but the Moss family even had a little boy that was only a month older than Zach. Perfect!

Jason has been good friends with Jake since high school. I get along great with Mandi, a fellow crafter/party-er/reader/twilight fan, and now our boys have begun to strike up a great friendship. They have their rocky moments, as do most any nearly-three year olds with interests in the same toys. (We're still working on sharing) But once and a while we catch little moments like this one. Zach asks to play with Kempton daily and though our schedule won't quite allow for daily play-dates, we really do have a lot of fun together.

Jake, Mandi, and Kempton: We're sure glad you came to Springfield and we're even more glad that you're our friends!

Flashback Friday

2010-11-05T14:31:00.000-07:00

So that you can see what I meant when I said I didn't think Kyle needed a haircut yet... Here's Zach just before HIS first hair cut at 5 months old.

Attitude of Gratitude: Activities

2010-11-05T14:22:00.000-07:00

Since today is Friday we got to attend our bi-monthly music class at the church. It brought to mind for me how grateful I am that we have so many fun activities here to participate in.

This particular activity is run by one of the moms in a different Ward than mine (she's in green in the center of the picture) but she was kind enough to invite the moms in our ward to join their's. We were pretty late this week but Zach still enjoyed it. He is SUCH a singer! Once he feels comfortable with a song (and sometimes, when he doesn't have a clue how it goes) he will sing it out at the top of his lungs. We have fun pictures and rhythm sticks and all kinds of little things to make the whole experience so much fun for the kids. Even Kyle seems to enjoy watching the older kids making music.

This isn't the only activity that we participate in either. We also love to play with the other kids in our neighborhood, (I blogged about them before) and we have joined a MOMS group as well a They have such a full calendar that we actually have to pick and choose what we want to attend. As hard as it is to pass up something that looks like fun, it's pretty great to be in an area where we know there will always be some other new and exciting activity coming up just around the corner.

I took this picture holding the camera over my head, so it's not that great... but I LOVE the little girl in the bottom right corner. SO cute!

First Hair Cut!

2010-11-05T13:59:00.000-07:00

This is a little late in being posted but I was still trying to get used to it myself and wasn't quite ready to celebrate. Kyle finally had his first haircut. Jason has been begging me for a long time but I've just not wanted to. I always feel like once they have their first haircut they are no longer a baby and they start becoming more of a kid, a big boy! So, Monday Jason finally put his foot down and cut the poor boy's hair. I still don't think it was THAT long. There was only one section that had started to be more Donald Trump- ish but I was willing to over look that. ; )

Here's before...

See, it may be pretty long but it was still NOTHING compared to Zach's hair when we cut it and he was only 5 months old at the time.
He does look so grown up now though.
Zach, of course, had to jump in the pictures too. This is pretty typical... Zach torturing Kyle and Kyle giggling away like it's the best game ever.

As a side note:

I missed posting my gratefulness yesterday. I actually had one, and I posted it on facebook but just never got to the computer to post it here.

Yesterday I was thankful for After-Holiday sales.

I know, it's a little 'material' but I was pretty excited. We needed an ingredient for my dinner plans yesterday so we headed out early in the morning to pick it up at Target before the day got underway. I was kinda hoping to catch some decent post-Halloween deals but I hadn't expected to catch them at such a perfect time. They had just barely marked down all of the Halloween stuff so it was really low prices but still a good selection. I decided I'd pick out a couple costumes and decorations for next year. As I was hunting I ran into a friend of mine who had her cart packed FULL of costumes. She explained that she was going to put together a costume box for her boys as a Christmas. I decided that was genius so I followed her lead. I ended up finding Optimus Prime and Bumblebee, the Hulk, and a police man, a fireman, a cowboy and a ninja for around $3 each. What a great, low cost, HIGH fun Christmas present!

Attitude of Grattitude: Our Home

2010-11-03T15:10:00.000-07:00

I kept putting this post off because I kept wanting everything to look just right. But I have a feeling that isn't going to be for a long time and so, on popular request, I decided to finally do a tour of our home. Especially since our new door has been completed and so I'm feeling especially thankful about it today.

This is the first time in our marriage that I have felt like we live in a "real grown up house". Not an apartment, or a "town-home with it's own walls" as we called our last 850 sq foot house. Here, I feel like we have plenty of room to grow and create a real home for ourselves.

Without further adieu I present... Our Home!

Yes, the grass is quite dead under the tree. Anyone have any idea how to get grass to grow under a large tree? It's been dead since we bought the place, no matter what we do.
The new front door has been an exciting and frustrating process. When we bought the house it actually had what looked like a double entry door but when you walked inside you realized that what had been the second door had been sealed up to create a closet in the entryway. While I was glad for the closet, it created a problem with the front door itself. The previous owners had chosen to just put up a thin, uninsulated wall where the old door was and then install a thin, uninsulated interior door instead of a nice sturdy, SECURE, insulated EXTERIOR door. Basically, it would have been pretty easy for someone to just kick in our front door and rob us blind. So we decided to remedy that issue by taking out the false double storm door and put in one real entry door. The problem was in filling the extra space. I can't tell you how much it bugs me that my door isn't centered!!!! But it's the best we could come up with. SO.... if anyone out there has any decor ideas to make this look a little more welcoming... PLEASE SHARE! (I'm also open to suggestions on paint color as I'm not completely sold on the brown and I need to decide on a color for the shutters that we plan on installing down the road)

Moving on.... Here's our living room.
I LOVE the window! So does Kyle. (you probably know that already from previous posts) The wood we aren't sure about. I'm married to a carpet guy and he really wants to carpet over it but I'm hoping to convince him to just refinish it. It's in pretty rough shape but I still think it's nice to have. I still have a lot of decorating that I need to do, as you'll see in the rest of the house. But, it's not really my strong suit so again, if anyone has any ideas for me... Please Share!

Here's our basement.
The previous owners were Kansas City Chiefs fans- we do plan on painting and re carpeting. In the mean time we love having a space where I can craft (there's even a small craft room off to the side- WAY too messy to show though) and Zach can enjoy spreading his trains out without any lack of space. We recently picked up the train table from a family in our church and Zach has been loving it.

My favorite area of the house has to be the Kitchen!
It's obviously under construction but I think it has a lot of potential. The far wall was pretty beat up and we decided it wasn't salvageable so Jason just tore it down and started fresh. Now we're patching all the rough spots where the drywall wasn't taped very well before and soon we'll be painting. We're also hoping to put in new laminate after our light fiasco left this stuff pretty gouged and scratched over by the sink. I love how open it is. Lots of counter space! Since our last house didn't have enough combined counter space for a microwave, this is exactly what I had hoped for.

Here's Zach's kitchen, garage sale $5. Now I just need to start collecting play food to go with it.
Last but not least, the master bedroom.
Most places we looked at (in our price range anyway) were going to be a tight fit for our king sized bed but this one even had room for a sitting area for when I'm breastfeeding. Yes, my bed is missing a bed skirt. Try to ignore it, it tore and I haven' gotten around to making a new one. My favorite part of this room has to be this funky light/table thing I found at a garage sale a while back. I needed a light and I needed a table... tada! Perfect! I haven't decided if I want to paint it but I definitely want to spruce up the shade a bit. Any ideas??
So that's our home... well most of it anyway. We have two other bedrooms, not much to see though. I would have taken a picture of the boy's room but they were sleeping. Get this... it's Lavender! HA! Yep, it needs some paint too. There's also two bathrooms, one with a blue bathtub and both with a strange I design in the tile.

Yes there's plenty of future projects to do but all in all I love this house!

It just feels like home.

Attitude of Grattitude: Health

2010-11-02T19:39:00.001-07:00

Today I've been thinking about how lucky we are to be healthy. Sure, we pick up a bug here and there. But for the most part, we have been really lucky to have missed the bulk of the yuckies that seem to go around periodically.

The other morning Zach woke up at about 3 a.m. crying much more than he usually does. I went to check on him and he started to complain that his neck hurt. I had him show me where and then asked him to look side to side, he did that fine. Then I asked him to look up and down and when he tried he ended up yelping in pain and breaking out into sobs again. My mind immediately went to meningitis and I hurried to get Jason. Jason's thoughts were the same but we were comforted to notice that he didn't have a fever. I still would have run him into the ER with my paranoia but Jason ran a few more tests (he's pretty handy to have around) and cleared him saying that he must have just slept funny. I still took him in to the doctor later that morning just to ease the paranoia that still had me but all I was told was to keep him home for the day, give him Motrin and let them know if he did get a fever. No fever ever came and the next morning he was feeling much better, though he did keep his head slightly cocked to the side for another day or two.

The whole thing just really made me think about how awful it would have been if he HAD been sick and how glad I am that we've been able to avoid those sorts of traumatic experiences. I don't deal too very well when my kids seem to be in pain. I've often been known to shed more tears than they do! So I am SO SO SO very thankful that they are both healthy and strong.

On the subject of health. The mystery of Kyle's sleepless nights has been solved, though it really shouldn't have been too very hard to figure out. Over a period of maybe 3 or 4 days Kyle managed to sprout not one but THREE teeth. He is growing up so fast, I really wish I could pause time a bit once and a while. Here's Kyle sporting a grin with his new pearly whites.
P.S. Kyle also had his first haircut yesterday but I haven't had a chance to take any pictures of him yet. He looks to different! I'm really going to have a hard time getting used to it. Just another bit of evidence that my baby is growing up.

Gratitude: Eternal Families

2010-11-01T19:07:00.000-07:00

Today was an easy one to come up with something I'm thankful for. I'm so thankful for the knowledge that families can be forever, that my family has been sealed for time and all eternity and that even though Karlee had to go(seven years ago today) we will see her again someday.

It is such a comfort to know that she is not gone, that she was needed elsewhere, maybe to prepare the way for others. But most of all, that I will get to see her again and spend time with her. I miss her so much, especially as I look at my boys and I see little bits of her in them.
I can't imagine living without this knowledge of eternity. I am so thankful for the peace and hope that it brings me, along with the knowledge that I am also sealed to my wonderful husband and children. Really, I can't express the depth of my gratitude for this!

Trick-Or-Treating (Picture Overload!)

2010-11-01T09:35:00.000-07:00

"This is my punkin!"

Kyle was a good sport as mommy tortured him in his giant pumpkin costume.
I loved how Zach RAN to each door and how his tail would swing back and forth as he went. Here our little neighbor was excited to meet him and give him his candy.
I loved the view from behind the stroller as Zach was riding along.
Ahhhh!
Yep, definitely a good sport.

At the end of our excursion Zach decided he was tired of walking and he would just crawl instead. I figured he was just trying to get into character.

After a break at home we rejoined some of our friends for a few more houses.
Has anyone ever managed to get a successful picture of five kids under five?

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!

Halloween Fun

2010-11-01T09:19:00.000-07:00

Since Jason has such limited days off we have learned to multi-task to get the most out of his time. This weekend we combined the chore of yardwork with father/son bonding and Halloween costume time. It turned out to be really fun and memorable time for Zach and Jason to have together.

Kyle, of course kept watch from inside the warm house.

Jason taught Zach the best way to rake the leaves into the piles.
At which point Zach promptly dove in, and then wished he hadn't.
Kyle seemed to enjoy watching from the window almost as much as the boys playing outside.

The Halloween Spooktacular 2010

2010-11-01T06:36:00.001-07:00

Saturday night was our ward chili cook-off and trunk-or-treat and our family attended as a pumpkin patch. Zach sported his Jack-O-Lantern from the last two years (Bad Mom!) and I attempted to make shirts for Myself and Jason to match. Sadly, Jason's was my first attempt and it... well... didn't quite work out the way I planned it. I'm just going to pretend it was on purpose though and say that it was a really funky/scary style I was going for. LOL!
Here's Zach and his best friend Kempton saying "Cheese!" with all the gusto they could muster at the end of the night. Kempton was the monkey (Steve?) from Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
Ah! My sweet little pumpkins!

Kyle was pretty excited about the candy too.
Who wouldn't be though. What a haul!

Attitude of Gratitude: Fall

2010-10-12T19:17:00.001-07:00

There's just something about the changing seasons that get's me so excited. Everything seems to be shifting and changing into some new version of itself. Leaves, weather, even my boys seem to be changing and growing up more and more every day.

We took a rare moment with Jason this week to go and pick our own pumpkins. We found a pumpkin patch where we were able to go out and pick our own pumpkins right off the vine.

Zach had to show me how strong he was as he tried to pick up this gigantic pumpkin. He finally gave in saying, "Too heavy mom!"

But this one was much more lift-able.
Yet another giant pumpkin had him perplexed.
Till he realized it made a decent bench to "take a break" as he says.
I loved that he was actually able to see where pumpkins come from, especially since it was with his dad.
Kyle was all smiles the whole time. All I had to do was look at him and he would grin at me with a sparkle in his eyes. He just loves to be outside! Anytime, anywhere.
Finally the boys found their perfect pumpkin. Warts and all!
And my sweet boys even humored me with a photo op. Though I'm not so sure Kyle is very impressed.
This was my favorite picture of the day. They get along so great and you can really see how much they love each other.
"OK mom, enough with the pictures"

I really do think this is my favorite time of year. I love the colors! I love the food! I love the sense of holidays quickly approaching and I'm so excited to share them with my two sweet boys and fantastic hubby. I know Thanksgiving isn't until November but I just really feel like this whole season is a time for thanks and I just don't think I can express how thankful I truly am for all that we have right now.

Attitude of Gratitude: Brotherly Love

2010-10-07T19:02:00.000-07:00

Today I'm thankful for my boys and the love that they have for each other. It's funny that even as young as they are, I can already see the special bond that they have. They play so well! Zach is always gentle and cautious with Kyle while Kyle will brighten up instantly when he spots Zach walking into the room.

Today I put them in the bath together and I loved watching them interact with each other. There were plenty of giggles shared between the two of them.

Zach would splash softly or pour water from a cup over Kyle's hands, earning more giggles from his little brother.
Kyle would basically try to stuff anything and everything he could get his hands on into his mouth. Is it just me or does this kid have an abnormally large mouth? This is a foam circle he kept in his mouth like this for some time. He's also been known to fit his entire binky into his mouth, handle and all. Goofy kid!

"Ky-Ole! What is yous eatin'?"
Zach even managed to balance a "hat" on Kyle's head.
They really are becoming close friends. The other night Kyle woke up just as we were putting Zach to bed but Jason and I left him in his crib and snuck out of the room to see what would happen. Just a few moments later we heard some giggles coming from the baby monitor. As we listened we could tell that both boys were just giggling away. Not a word was spoken but somehow they had communicated something pretty silly. Eventually, they both went quiet as each slipped off to sleep. It may not have seemed like much but for me, it was a precious moment to have witnessed. (Especially since it involved them going peacefully to sleep!)

I look forward to watching them grow up together and I hope that they continue to grow closer because the love between siblings really is something special.

Attitude of Gratitude: New Neighbor-Friends

2010-10-06T19:13:00.001-07:00

So, I have a friend who is doing 40 days of gratitude on her blog. She challenged her readers to do something along those same lines and I thought it would be a great thing to join in. Now, I'm not so fantastic at updating very often so I don't know that I'll make the 40 days in a row goal but I'm definitely going to try to make it a habit- at least when the boys go to bed early enough.

Today I'm grateful for new neighbor-friends!

Whenever you move somewhere new there is always that apprehension of meeting new people. As we prepared to move here I pictured myself snowed in with my two boys at home while Jason worked 26 hours a day. The boys would be watching hours of TV while I gained 30 pounds eating bon bons out of depression and loneliness.

Happily, I don't see that happening any time soon. We have been SO lucky I can't even express. Not only is there a really awesome group of gals in my ward but I've even been able to become friends with a few of my neighbors. To make things even better, there's plenty of kids around that are just Zach's age. They all get along so well and I can tell that Zach is just having the time of his life. We have a little girl who lives right behind us so all we have to do is open the gate and it's play time! There's also a little boy next door and a few down the street as well.

This is a picture of Zach with the brother and sister who live just down the street. We went to the zoo a little while back and they had a blast running... just running! from place to place.

The other night we had them over for dinner (their dad was out of town and Jason was working). It was going to be just us, 2 moms and 4 kids. 2 on 2... that's an alright number. THEN the neighbor behind me called needing a quick babysitter so she sent her daughter over as well, that put us at five. That's right FIVE kids, 2 adults, 1 house. It was madness, but in a good way. The kids basically just ran around the island in my kitchen and down the hall and back about thirty times until they were ready to pass out. They were giggling and squealing the whole way while Kyle hopped excitedly in his bouncer. He couldn't get enough of all the action.

Yes, my house was a mad house but the kids were having so much fun I would do it again in an instant. And ya know, considering how close everybody is, it really could happen again any time. That's the best part!

Trampoline

2010-10-02T20:37:00.000-07:00

Warning: I'm way behind on posting so I have just posted a whole slew of stuff. Be prepared for an update overload! At least this stuff is from today.

Today was Conference Saturday and we had a great time hanging out together while listening to the speakers. We even took a break in between to go play outside in the cool fall weather. It's the first time we've pulled out our jackets!

I love this first picture of Kyle. Believe it or not, there's NO photoshopping on his eyes! They really are that blue.

This was his first experience with the trampoline and he actually enjoyed it for the first while. we jumped together for a while and Kyle giggled and giggled. Then Zach and I did animal impressions as we ran around the outer edges of the trampoline with Kyle in the middle. He still giggled.

It wasn't until I pulled out the camera to document his static hair that I got this face:
And then when Zach started to jump a little too close, we got this face:
"Save me mom!"
"It's OK Ky-Ole, It's OK. Don't be scared Ky-Ole"

From the mouth of Zach:

At the dinner table

Zach: "Tell me sumpin! Tell me sumpin!"

Dad: "What do you want me to tell you?"

Zach: "A story"

Dad: "How about you tell ME a story"

Zach: "OK! Once upon a time... nobody crossed the road!"

(same conversation, same story for the last 3 nights)

Randomly throughout the day

Zach: "Bana Who! Bana What! It's a Joke! HA HA HA HA!!"

(his version of the "orange you glad I didn't say banana knock knock joke)

First Sweet Potatoes

2010-10-02T20:32:00.000-07:00

So.... what do we think of sweet potatoes?

We LOVE them!

Applesauce!

2010-10-02T20:19:00.000-07:00

Friday I was really excited that I had the opportunity to help my bishop's wife to make applesauce from the apples she had in her own backyard!

We started out fairly early in the day. We picked, cut, cooked and squished through the morning and well into the afternoon.

It was fun to be able to visit with some of the other gals from my ward while our kids played together.
There were 3 trees and it seemed like and endless number of apples. We ended up only getting 17 large jars done before we all had to take the kids home for naps and there was still a huge box full of apples waiting to be cut and cooked.

You may not be able to tell but Kyle loved being able to enjoy the beautiful sunny day. The applesauce was SO yummy. It was my first canning experience, I felt so domestic and productive. One little trick... we boiled the apple slices in apple/cherry juice to sweeten it just a bit without adding a whole bunch of sugar. Zach couldn't get enough of it!

Athens Race

2010-10-02T20:12:00.000-07:00

I ran another race! And this time was much better than the last. It was 4 miles so I was nervous since I haven't even done a 5K but it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. I did the first 2 miles in 21 minutes and ended up finishing with a time of 46:20. I was mostly just glad I finished!

Jason brought the boys to cheer me on and then Zack and I did a little mini-race afterward. He "won" a football and was pretty excited about it. I look forward to my next race.

Unfortunately, I don't know when I'll be able to do another race since I'm starting to have some pretty serious issues with my right foot. I actually have an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon later this month. Hopefully I'll be back on the track soon!

First Sweet Potatoes

2010-10-02T20:04:00.000-07:00

This is our first attempt at sweet potatoes. Rice cereal was completely rejected so we have moved on to more flavorful fare. Our only problem now is that Kyle doesn't seem to think it prudent to open his mouth to eat. He just prefers this method...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRfshYJBL3M

Guard Baby

2010-10-02T19:56:00.000-07:00

Our neighborhood has started up a neighborhood watch and Kyle was more than happy to take over guard duty. He set up in his favorite spot.

"Burglars beware, I've got my eye on you!"
Uh Oh! He's falling asleep at his post!
Yep, he's out. Maybe we should rethink this guard baby duty.
(yes, his head is resting on the window)

Puddles

2010-10-02T19:51:00.000-07:00

When visiting the park, beware of Puddles!!!

Zach started out just running through the puddle. Then, he tripped and it was all over!

Farewell!

2010-10-02T19:41:00.000-07:00

After 8 years we have finally said farewell to our dear table.

It was a wedding gift, and it has served us well. But, it has definitely seen better days.

We sawed off the edges to make it smaller when we were selling our last house, in hopes that our kitchen would appear larger. Nice!
That wasn't too long ago. The table top itself, however, has been scraped and stained by Koolaid for a good number of years.
And here's just one of the 3 broken chairs. That's right, 3 out of 4 chairs were booby traps for company who didn't know how to gingerly balance themselves.
Would you believe someone actually took it shortly after I took these pictures? Hopefully it found a good home and someone can give it new life.

I had thought of fixing it up myself but we found a fantastic deal on a beat up floor model table at Sams so I'm thrilled with our new kitchen seating.

Still, a moment of silence please for our old kitchen table and all the memories that we had with it. :::sigh::: (I'm such a sentimental dork)

Did pigs fly?

2010-10-02T19:38:00.000-07:00

The other night I was working on my evening dishes and I noticed Kyle was being especially quiet behind me so I turned around to find this...

Oh! Precious boy! Snuggling with his blanket. I only wish this would happen more often.

Baby gift

2010-10-02T19:29:00.000-07:00

I just love making baby gifts!

This is what I put together for my neighbor who just had a little boy.

Burp rag:

(I may or may not have ended up making another of these burp rags for myself 'cause I loved it so much)

Wardrobe:

(I love how the J ended up kinda looking like and M&M)

Poopy Clutch:

(My button hole maker broke on my sewing machine so I ended up with a snap, and I'm glad! I learned how to do something new and I loved how it turned out)
Last but not least... the Hooter Hider:
It's another one I may or may not be planning on repeating because I loved how it turned out. Especially the little flower pin...

Eggs in a Nest

2010-10-02T19:20:00.000-07:00

A few years back I picked up a pack of easter egg shaped chalk in the after easter clearance. Now that we have a good sized area to draw on we've pulled them out and Zach has enjoyed all kinds pretending. His favorite, which means we have to re-draw it every time it rains, is the nest. He MUST keep his chalk eggs in their nest.

Yes, I realize he looks a little "special" here with his half swollen eye and helmet. He wanted to wear the helmet so that he could be "safe" and as soon as he had it on his head he started running around in circles saying he could be "speedy" now that he was "safe". The eye, well, that's explained in the next post.
"That's the ORANGE egg mom!"
Here's your up close shot of the eggs all nice and cozy in their nest. I wonder when they'll hatch?

Another Mosquito bite

2010-10-02T19:19:00.000-07:00

I guess Zach is a teeny tiny bit allergic to mosquitoes.

Ya Think!

(don't worry, it didn't slow him down a bit)

Sneaky Cheese!

2010-10-02T19:15:00.000-07:00

While we were having quesadillas the other day, I mistakenly left the cheese a bit too close to Zach. While my back was turned he swiped it from the table and dug in. YUMM!!

Finger Painted Butterfly

2010-10-02T19:11:00.000-07:00

Zach really enjoys reading the Very Hungry Caterpillar so we decided to make our own beautiful butterfly the other day.

We started with some crazy finger painting!

And finished with a butterfly any kid could be proud of
Kyle was the judge and he gave it two thumbs up.

Nostalgia

2010-09-01T09:07:00.000-07:00

Hey Gundersen Clan, if you're reading this you will appreciate my latest find at a local thrift store...

The Honey Bear Cookie Jar!!!

If you have ever eaten cookies at the Gundersen home, more than likely they were from Susan's honey bear cookie jar that sits on her counter. Jason told me years ago that if we were to have a cookie jar on our counter he would want it to be just like hers. He's very nostalgic that way. So when we stumbled across this beauty for 5 bucks there wasn't a moment of hesitation . The colors are slightly different but it's the very same jar. What are the odds!?!?!

Kyle's Favorite Pass Time

2010-08-27T20:01:00.000-07:00

Toes! Yummmmmm....

Zach's Urgent Care Adventure

2010-08-27T19:53:00.000-07:00

Did you know that a simple mosquito bite can be dangerous? That you can end up making a late night trip to urgent care for antibiotics? I didn't!!

I didn't really think much of it when Zach woke up from his nap Wednesday night and his leg looked like this...

(yes his toes are painted red... he informed me that pink polish is for girls and red is for boys and then insisted that I paint his big toes- but that's not what this post is about so, moving on...)

I just figured it was a nasty reaction to a mosquito and that it would die down. I did notice that his swollen leg was hard, red and pretty warm to the touch so I pointed it out to Jason. He immediately told me to call the doctor and go in that night. Apparently, it's called cellulitus and it's an infection that sometimes can move really fast and be very painful. Luckily, we caught it in the early stages and were able to get some antibiotics in him. that night. Hooray for having a handy hubby!

Peek A Boo!

2010-08-27T19:45:00.000-07:00

Kyle is growing up so fast that I end up surprised at him every day. This morning I was woken up by him talking to himself. Not in the "Ah's" and "Oooos" of infant vocalization but the happy babbles of a baby learning to copy the sounds he hears around him. He's picked up all kinds of consonant sound and really sounds like he's carrying on a whole conversation. It's the best sound I could possibly wake up to in the morning, even when it's at 5:30 am!

He has recently started playing his own version of Peek-A-Boo or maybe it's closer to Hide and seek. He will get a hold of his blanket and pull it over his head then start to kick his feet excitedly as he giggles quietly under the blanket. Then when you pull it away to "find" him he bursts out into hysterical laughter like he just pulled the greatest prank ever.

Today he rolled over a couple of times until he was all covered up with the blanket and he started his game with Zach.

So here's Kyle in camoflage...

Bet you can't even see him now...
Where did he go?
FOUND HIM!!!!

bubbles

2010-08-27T19:38:00.000-07:00

OH what joy a boy can have with just a few simple bubbles! I LOVE this picture and it turned out totally by accident. It's a bit of a challenge sometimes to take pictures of speedy preschoolers.

We tried to make home made bubbles the other day but they didn't work out. Good thing we still had some regular bubbles to play with.
Zach mostly just spit on the bubble wand.
Or he spit away from the bubble wand. Either way, he didn't produce a lot of bubbles. But he still had a good time and we were both covered in soapy bubble solution by the time we came back inside.

S-s-snake!

2010-08-27T19:29:00.000-07:00

We were at the zoo a while back and while perusing their gift shop I spotted these giant fleece snakes. Part of me wished I could buy one because I knew Zach would think it was so fun. Then I thought better of it. Why couldn't I just MAKE one? So when I ended up stumped trying to come up with an idea for a friend's birthday, I remembered those snakes and I got to work.

It wasn't until I finished making that snake that I realized just what a hit it would be.

Zach couldn't be separated from it. We wrapped it around him and he giggled and giggled.

Then he started to run around and around our island trying to attack me with it. (please ignore the unswept floor and cluttered counters, and yes... one of my drawers is missing. High quality I tell you, it's broken into pieces in the other room. I'm hoping some wood glue will salvage it... sorry for the tangent)
So I quickly got to work making another one for our friend down the street. I hope he has as much fun with it as Zach has with his. He has been sleeping with it every night, right along side his 25 cent pound puppy.

Brothers

2010-08-27T19:26:00.000-07:00

Here's my sweet boys in the matching shirts I made them.

As you can tell, Zach loves to have his picture taken. Whenever I'm taking pictures of Kyle he says "picture me too!"

5 months old

2010-08-19T19:08:00.000-07:00

Kyle was feeling a bit left out from these last few posts and I didn't want to leave the spider at the top so here's some pics of Kyle.

He will eat ANYTHING he can get his hands on. And it's not a casual taste, it is an attack! He chomps down on anything that get's near enough.

He also "enjoys" rolling over, though he's not very impressed with the outcome of being stuck on his belly. This is him before church on Sunday. I found this little baby tux at Goodwill for seventy-five cents! I love it. Now I just need to find a bow tie.
I just realized I need to try to get some shots of him without something in his mouth. He really does smile! I promise! I'll work on that for next time.

Yet ANOTHER huge bug

2010-08-19T19:00:00.000-07:00

If you are sqeemish don't look at this picture. I'll leave some space so that you can skip it.

:::spoiler alert.... it's a spider. A really BIG FREAKY spider:::

Don't say I didn't warn you! I showed the wasp before, here's the big MAMA of spiders that Jason found at our front door. Don't worry, it didn't survive.
What is WITH Illinois and their Gigantic Bugs!!!!!!

Seriously!

State Fair Playground

2010-08-19T18:51:00.000-07:00

I think it's a bit funny that we went to the fair, paid admission and everything and I'm pretty sure this was Zach's favorite part. A tiny little playground with nothing but a slide. We had just taken him to get his face painted (he requested the ladybug... on his face, not his arm. Oh so masculine) Then as we were leaving he decided he needed to "take a rest" and he plopped down right here with his juice to rest for a minute. I thought it was pretty cute.
He has a bad habit of sucking on his bottom lip so we've been trying to get him to stop by telling him to stick his lip out. This is the face we get...
Apparently he was concerned about something, I love the furrowed eyebrows. ; )
And here's his last slide of the day before we all headed for the car.
(Kyle was in attendance but was, once again, zonked out in the stroller)

The Big Yellow Slide ("with bumps"- Zach)

2010-08-19T18:39:00.000-07:00

We went to the State Fair on Tuesday. It was another adventure between naps for Jason. I was so glad he got to come with us and I know it was tough since he probably should have been sleeping. We had a blast though. The big event of the day was that Zach and I took on the GIANT YELLOW SLIDE! I've always wanted to go on the big slide but was always too nervous and the lines were always way too long at the Wisconsin Fair, not to mention we are generally too cheap for such things. This time, there wasn't any line at all. So we splurged and went twice.

It was quite a hike to get to the top but we made it.

Now I realize these are a bunch of pictures that are almost identical to each other but I just love to see Zach's face in each one. Sheer Joy!
And for me, maybe a little bit of terror... I am quite afraid of heights you know!

Worth Every Penny!!!

Picnic at the Park

2010-08-19T16:02:00.000-07:00

Since Jason has been working nights we've been trying to make good use of the few hours we have with him. Yesterday, he woke up just in time for a picnic at the park.

(i love the tip toes)

Ooooo! A butterfly!

P.S. Kyle was present but he slept through the while thing in his stroller. Poor kid always seems to be left out of these posts.

Recent projects

2010-08-19T15:19:00.000-07:00

I've been working too much on getting our house together so I had to take a break and to some crafting. Sometimes I think I need it for my sanity!

To start with, I made this cute little clutch for that baby shower I went to before. It was to go with the ladybug tutu set. It holds 2 diapers and a wipes pack. I thought it was pretty cute. I got the tutorial here. It was seriously the easiest thing EVER! PLUS... I got the vinyl on a super clearance, can't beat that.

So, when I got another invite to a baby shower I decided to take it up a notch and do a sewn version for a little boy. I even figured out how to add a cute snap closure to it.
And everything tucks in so nicely!
I have one for myself but it was kinda a screw up so I think I'm going to make another one like this one. I love the chocolate brown and polka dots!

I also had this simple project I've been meaning to do forever. I found this cute patchwork monster fabric in the scrap bin at Joann's. I figured it would be perfect for some brother t-shirts.
I even hand stitched around the patches to give it a little extra detail.
Zach actually requests to wear his monster shirt. I realize there's not to many years that they will let me make them match so I'm enjoying it while I can.

PROOF!!

2010-08-14T13:52:00.000-07:00

For those of you who heard the rumor but didn't believe it.... Here's Proof!!!

OK, don't look too closely because it's really not my best picture ever. But what do you expect, glamour shots?

This was kind of a spur of the moment thing. I had heard about his "Parade Race" but it was going to be 95% (plus a WHOLE LOT of humidity) so I wasn't sure I wanted to do it. I decided only a couple of hours before the race. So I wasn't completely prepared. You wan't to know my time.... I actually have no idea. It was only 2 miles and I'm pretty sure I made it under 30 minutes but they still haven't posted the results so I don't know for sure.

Ya, it wasn't great. It was my first race though, and I learned a LOT. Like, most importantly, don't drink water before the race because you might have to run into a gas station DURING the race and you might end up having to WAIT IN LINE! Leaving you at the very back of the pack for the remainder of the race.

The plus side to that is that I got this schnazzy picture taken of myself by some pro guy that was standing at the 1 mile mark. My friend commented that she was bummed she didn't have any pictures of herself. I told her it's a whole lot easier for him to take pictures of the slow people at the end. He had plenty of time to set up his shot, focus, yada yada, as I mozied past him at my snail pace.

I guess it made for a good memory and a great learning experience. I am actually totally Jazzed to do another one. This time a 5k and no gas station pit stops. I've been running 2 miles almost every morning but I think I want to start pushing myself more for speed. It won't be hard to beat my results from this race but I plan on blowing them OUT OF THE WATER!

Who'd have thought that I would find a new hobby at 27, let alone a CRAZY hobby like running. I used to make fun of the runners for being completely insane. Who would run on purpose! For fun!

Guess what... I do!

Brothers and our broken table

2010-08-11T11:38:00.000-07:00

Aren't my boys cute!

We did have a bit of a tragedy this morning though. Here's the backstory...

We have this really ugly kitchen table. It was given to us for our wedding 8 years ago. It was actually kinda cute at the time. We registered for it at Walmart. So you know it was quality, built to last. (said with just a tinge of sarcasm) It has taken a beating though, Koolaid stains, scrapes, or rather, GOUGES, scribbles from 2 year olds. We just ended up finally covering it with a table cloth. Then when we put our house on the market in Milwaukee Jason took a saw to it and cut off all the sides to make it smaller so that our kitchen would appear larger. More recently the chairs have started to actually fall apart. The seats have a tendency to sometimes slip through the chair dropping the sit-er down the middle like a toilet seat. Very embarrassing. We've been just giggling about it and sitting very carefully.

This morning though, the chair trap caught poor Zach. He was in the middle of telling all about Dumbo being taken away and missing his mommy when the seat fell through. The poor kid somehow actually ended up under the seat with a good sized scrape under his chin. If you look close enough in the picture above you can see his bandaid. He was a trooper though and after some cuddling, Tarzan, and a large sippy cup of chocolate milk and he's as good as new. (except for the bandaid)

I think it's time to get a new table! Or at least some heavy duty bolts to fix the chairs.

(I may or may not have shed a few tears right along with Zach. Mommy sympathy pains can sometimes be worse than the real thing)

Zoo trip

2010-08-04T07:56:00.000-07:00

We were so excited to learn that there IS a zoo here in Springfield. It's just a small zoo but it's actually perfect for small kids. We can walk the whole thing pretty quickly and still have enough energy to play on the playground. Our old Milwaukee zoo pass was good at this zoo too so we hurried to check it out before our pass expired. So it was free for all of us! We love free!

We got to go with some friends from church and it was so cute to watch Zach and his new friend interact. They kept holding hands and running around as fast as they could go. Zach could not stop giggling.

I realize this picture is out of focus, but they were running so fast this was the best one I could get.

There is also a place at the zoo that you can feed the goats. Notice Zach's mouth open as wide as he can possibly open it? I have about 30 shots in a row with that exact same expression.
See! There it is again!
He obviously enjoyed himself. I think we'll have to go again.

Yay for baby showers!

2010-08-04T07:45:00.000-07:00

With all these boys running around I was SO excited to get invited to a baby shower for a girl. I set to work on a cute uber-girly gift.

Embellished burp cloth. (It's one of those cloth diapers- they are by far my favorite)
And a cute Lady bug outfit. I just LOVE tutus! My poor boys have both had to model for me on more than one occasion. I also have visions of a matching card "Welcome Little Lady(bug)" HA HA! Yes, it's cheesy I know. But I'm rolling with the theme.

Illinois has some HUGE bugs!

2010-08-04T07:41:00.000-07:00

I thought this guy was going to eat me!

I've never seen anything like this thing before in my life, and he stood between me and my babies. I was SO brave. I dashed bast him like a bat out H*** to rescue them. I seriously thought I was going to die!

**If you must know, I've never been stung by a bee so anything that remotely resembles one absolutely TERRIFIES me. So, when something that makes a bee look like a knat shows up, you can only imagine how I might feel about that. AHHHHH!!!

Best Friends

2010-07-29T14:07:00.000-07:00

Zach told me this morning, "This my best friend Kyle!" I love these boys

Kyle standing?

2010-07-29T14:04:00.000-07:00

Wait! Is that Kyle standing up on his own??

Or is there a sneaky arm hiding there. HA! We see you Jason!

Basement train tracks

2010-07-29T13:59:00.000-07:00

Here's a little peak at our basement. This is how it looks... always! It's Zach's little hideaway. Someday we might clean it up and make it into a usable space for the rest of us but for now Zach is in heaven. He's got a huge flat area that he can build his train tracks to his hearts content.

Freecycle trains

2010-07-21T16:41:00.000-07:00

Did I mention that I love freecycle? What? Only a million times???

We LOVE freecycle!

Zach got these trains from freecycle a little while back and he hasn't been able to stop playing with them since. When I pulled them out he was SO excited he sat and named the all for me. He even knew the more obscure ones that only show up once and a while. I was totally surprised!

In other news... Kyle Rolls!

2010-07-21T16:34:00.000-07:00

Well, he actually has been rolling on occasion for a while now. It's just over the last couple of days he's started getting a lot more consistent. And today he actually managed to get his arm out from under his body all by himself!

What happened to my teeny tiny baby?
He's starting to grow up WAY too fast.

Random other pics from the last few months....

2010-07-21T16:16:00.000-07:00

One of the last days in Milwaukee we had a HUGE rainstorm. (it continued during the time Jason was trying to load the moving van) Zach and Jason enjoyed a quick walk through the rain with their big red umbrella.

Jason is going to kill me for posting this pic but I just think Zach's face is priceless. This is his first time siting on his dump truck potty and he is obviously NOT impressed.
This is proof that Kyle actually does come with us to the park. Usually he's just sleeping and I can only have so many pictures of him sleeping in his carseat. This time though, he was excited to stay awake and watch his brother.
Zach has become totally fearless. He will try to make friends with ANYONE. Often to their dismay. Here he is as a park near our house, trying to make friends with a bunch of BIG boys.
We've also joined a few of the ladies in our neighborhood for their play dates. Zach has gotten really brave and actually climbed to the top of the play tubes at Mcdonald's. There he was dubbed the "scary tiger" and all the bigger kids would scream and run away as he growled after them. I actually ended up having to climb up after him when it was time to go home. I'm getting TO OLD for stuff like that.
Grandma Gundersen sent us a fun package of books shortly after we got here. Zach promptly spread them out in the living room and started reading them himself. Notice, he picked up the Cars book first. Thank you Grandma!!!

Culver's!!!!!

2010-07-21T16:11:00.000-07:00

We thought we had to say goodbye to Culver's when we left Milwaukee but to our surprise, there IS one not too far away! So we celebrated one of our first nights here with Culver's.
The blue sprinkles made this ice cream especially AWSOME!

He licked the bowl clean.
YUM!

Father's day pictures

2010-07-21T16:05:00.000-07:00

For father's day Zach created a portrait of his Daddy.

It consisted of several colors of large circles and a scribble beard.
The circles had to be really REALLY big! I loved how he kept going up on his tip toes.

He finished of the portrait with some squiggly eyes and swirly ears for good measure.

Note: I found this easel at a garage sale when we moved here. It's in really good condition and it has a clip on one side for paper and a chalkboard on the other side. There's even trays on each side to hold the art supplies. Get this... it was ONE DOLLAR!!! Wahoooo!

Goodby Old, Hello New!

2010-07-21T15:53:00.000-07:00

Well, the big day finally came. Here's a final picture of the place we've called home for the last four years. This house where I brought home both of my boys. Our first real HOUSE! (the trailer was great but it doesn't count) Zach dubbed this "Mom's house".

Jason made sure to talk a lot about how we were moving to "Daddy's NEW house", just as a silly joke to me. Now, Zach still refers to this house by that name. Bummer, no more house for me. LOL!

By the time we made it to "Daddy's new house" Zach was pretty pooped and within a few minutes of being there I noticed it was kinda quiet. I found this sweet boy in the sunroom.
I actually didn't take very many pictures of the house and I think more pictures are going to have to wait until I get a few more boxes moved out of sight but here's a preview.

Presenting, Our Living Room!!
Yes we have wood floors BUT they are pretty badly beat up so I can't decide if we should refinish them or recarpet. Hmmmm.....
Some friends came over and helped us unload a bunch of stuff. Both of our babies promptly konked out on that same wood floor. They made unloading easy!
Zach, of course, enjoyed unloading all of his toys.
And I think he might have enjoyed the empty boxes even more than what was inside them.

Goodbye Park! Goodbye Friends!

2010-07-21T15:31:00.000-07:00

Finally, we said goodbye to our favorite park and some really good friends. We are going to miss you all SO SO SO SO SO much. Zach's good friend Kevin brought him a farewell present that included a "way cool" bucket and shovel so they enjoyed themselves in the dirt for a majority of the time.
Note: the buckets came with the coordinating but NOT matching shovel but you can see in the pictures that they promptly swapped. It did cause some confusion when it came time to go home.

What a Mess!!
To cute boys racing down the slides.
Kevin won but Zach was close behind. Fun day!

Goodbye Zoo!

2010-07-21T15:18:00.000-07:00

I said the museum was one of our favorite spots but I think the Zoo actually topped it. Zack LOVED the zoo, and our final trip to the zoo was definitely a memorable one.

The snow leopard FINALLY came out to see it's visitors. Usually we would only see him hiding out in the back of his area but this time he sat right by the glass and Zack was SO excited to sit up close to him.
The lion was also looking especially Regal that day.
Zack was obviously impressed!
The seals were putting on a real show.
We were pretty pooped so Zack insisted we stop and rest on these "Animal Chairs". He even grabbed Jason's hand and dragged him over to sit next to him.
Jason thinks he wants one of these in his front yard someday. Mmmmm Hmmm... Yea right!
The penguins sang us a goodbye tune.
It was a perfect beautiful day and a great way to say farewell to our beloved zoo. I know, I know, there's a zoo where we're headed as well but it's a bit of a drive and I just don't think it will be the same. We'll Miss you Milwaukee Zoo!!!!!

p.s. Yes, Kyle was in attendance. I promise! He just slept through the trip, AGAIN and I didn't manage to get a single picture of him. ::Way to go mom::

Goodbye Children's Museum

2010-07-21T15:11:00.000-07:00

Before leaving Milwaukee we wanted to make sure we got to visit all our favorite spots to say "Goodbye!"

The Children's museum will be one of our MOST missed places to visit and I really wish we had taken the opportunity to go there more often when we had the opportunity. We sure did have fun on our last trip though!

Sorting Leaves (with cheezy grins)
Sliding!
Playing with sand. (I think he got that tongue thing from me... and I got it from my dad)
The giant Brio train has always been his favorite and he spent a good amount of time "driving" it.
And Kyle slept through the WHOLE thing. Of course.

Blessing Day

2010-07-21T14:42:00.000-07:00

So, I'm WAAAAAAY behind but this is stuff I can't NOT blog right? I'm taking us back to May 22. It was kinda a crazy weekend since it was also Jason's graduation but we just decided to throw in one more thing, just to make it really interesting. It actually worked out perfectly because Jason's parents were there to celebrate with us. I was bummed because Zach got this huge party in Idaho but this time we just dressed up and invited the bishop over. Then I got to think about it and realized that the party wasn't the important part. It was the blessing itself and the fact that his dad was able to bless him and his Grandpa was able to be there as extra support.
I love this guy!
The grandparents, I'm SO glad they were able to stop by on their way home from Norway. It worked out so perfect.
A little family pic. See that foot being stuck into the air? Would you believe this was actually the BEST picture we were able to get? Out of like 50! I've decided that toddlers just don't DO family pictures.
And the MAN OF THE HOUR! Kyle Jason Gundersen Oh so handsome!

DUMP TRUCK POTTY!!

2010-06-06T04:26:00.000-07:00

Once more we are doing this crazy thing of accumulating MORE as we are packing. I know... it's silly. This time, Jason was getting a little cabin fever. It's been great to have him home but he just needed to go somewhere so he and Zach jumped in the car and when they got home they had this. (And he got $10 off with multiple coupons! I'm so proud!)

I recommend clicking on the video and viewing through You Tube. Otherwise it cuts off the edge and you'll miss Kyle's Oh So excited facial expressions... LOL!

In case a translation is needed at all. After Kyle sneezed Zach said he needed a Kleenex. The end was my favorite. I almost turned the camera off but I'm so glad I caught him as he said, "Dump Truck Potty WAY COOL!" Priceless.

Now, I just hope it works.... More to come on that, but we'll be waiting till after the move.

Rummage Jackpot!

2010-05-29T10:06:00.000-07:00

I KNOW I KNOW! I'm going to be moving in a little over ONE week and so it may be rediculous to think I should be looking to gather MORE stuff. But, you see, there's not many times that my hubby can agree to watch the wee ones so that I can go hunting. SO, I snatched the opportunity and I hit Jackpot.

Mainly I was out in search of a trike for Zach. We wanted to get him something special to celebrate our move to the new house. As you can see, he's going to be celebrating with a whole lot more than just a new trike.
All this was about $30.

I found the PERFECT trike, and then just couldn't pass up the tent, semi with trailer, 5 large beanie babies, an extra large puzzle, a brewers hat, a shoe organizer (will hold toys in the new place) a bucket load of little people stuff in nearly new condition, some legos a funky mirror and frame that I plan to paint some fun new color, and MORE!

And believe it or not, this was all from only 3 different places so I was home by 10 am. Not a bad day's shopping if I do say so myself.

Now I'm just having a hard time restraining myself from giving it all to Zack today. I really want to wait till we move so it's something exciting for him after all the stress of moving.

Graduation

2010-05-25T08:31:00.000-07:00

Well, the big day has come and gone. Jason is officially...

A DOCTOR!!!!

He was lucky to have some really great friends who supported him along the way.
That's right DR. GUNDERSEN. There'll be no living with him after this.
He'd just better not forget who else was there for him over the last 4 years.
BESIDES these goofy guys.
They are ALL doctors now. Watch out!
Awwwwww... He's so handsome!
Ya, I kinda like 'im
This guy does to. Though I'm not sure how keen he is on this weirdo hat.

We were so glad that Jason's parents were able to make it to graduation. They stopped here on their way home from Norway. Perfect timing!

I'm not sure I would have made it through graduation without them.
Here's the big moment!
That's right.... He made it! He's a doctor.
We're so proud. (Even the really sad one in my arms is actually very happy)
Ahhhh, binky's make everything better. Now how do we slow down a crazy 2 yr old long enough for a picture?
CONGRATULATIONS JASON! We're so proud of you!

(p.s. sorry for all the caps and exclamation points, I just couldn't stop myself!!!!!!!!!!! lol)

What Kyle's been up to

2010-05-10T13:36:00.000-07:00

Well, to be honest.... He mostly sleeps. But he's pretty darn cute when he's sleeping right?

Though now he also laughs. It's be cutest thing in the world and I realize that no amount of blogging about it will do it justice so I'll just leave it at that. And I'll share these few pictures of those rare gigglish moments.

His favorite thing in the world is to have his hair washed. Yesterday he was so excited it seemed like his laughter started at his toes and just exploded. It made my day... especially since it was mother's day.
Here's that whole sleeping thing again. The beauty of the 2nd child is that they have this uncanny ability to sleep amid chaos. What you don't see in this picture is his 2 year old big brother running circles squealing and laughing as he attacked the rest of us with a balloon. How Kyle managed to sleep through it is beyond me. But I think it was pretty fantastic.

What's Zach Up to?

2010-05-08T09:22:00.000-07:00

I realized this morning that I've really let my blogging slide. There's been SO much going on that it's just been the last thing on my mind. The thing is... There is SO much going on that I should be blogging. So here's some snipits of what Zach's been up to as of late.

I've been conciously trying to create Zach time lately so that he wouldn't feel so bad that Kyle gets so much of the attention that was once his. I think it has actually really worked to keep him from acting up. Whenever I get Kyle down for a nap (which hasn't really gotten regular yet, but hopefully it will soon) if it's NOT Zach's nap time we have Zach time.

One day we made Rice Crispy treats. I believe this actually is what lead to the Rice Crispy disaster I posted about earlier. Zach LOVED the stirring. He sang the Bate-Bate Chocolate song from Dora as he mixed the marshmallows and butter.

Some friends of ours gave us a wagon and Zach has really enjoyed filling his buckets with rocks and then toting them around the yard.
We had some friends over to play outside on one of our nice weather days before the rain came. (BLAH!) The boys actually got along great! Some days they tend more towards "frienemies" but this was a great play date.
They even shared the car!
Zach is very helpful with Kyle. Whenever Kyle cries he shouts. "Uh OH! Kyle Binky!" And then goes on a search. When I took this picture, Zach had informed me that he was "helping" and I turned to find him shoving the binky in his mouth. The funny part was that Kyle seemed to be enjoying it and was grinning from ear to ear.
Here's Zach imitating ME! How embarrasing. I guess imitation IS the sincerest form of flattery. Right?
We found these boxes that fit perfectly under our coffee table so I labled one for blocks and one for trains. I guess I should have gotten a third to label "ZACH!".

P.S. he did this entirely on his own, no help or encouragement from either parental unit. What a HAM!

Guess What....

2010-04-29T14:46:00.000-07:00

I have a toddler.

I guess this is just one of those moments that you act stern, put the child in time out, Hide in the other room while you giggle quietly to yourself while cheering for his independence and grabbing your camera before having a talk with him about asking mommy for help. I love that kid!

Zach's new puzzle

2010-04-15T14:03:00.000-07:00

For Easter Zach got this giant puzzle and he is pretty thrilled with it.

As you can see!

Jason found it online for a super deal- $6 for the puzzle and a big toddler eye spy book. Zach is actually getting pretty good at assembling the puzzle with very little direction. He's also becoming quite a ham when the camera comes out.

Other Zach-isms

He's started adding syllables to words some of my favorites are

*Wo-wo-wo-wo (yellow)

* Ba-na-na-na-na

and my favorite

*Doh-guh-di-dit (yogurt)

He is also VERY polite as he is ALWAYS saying

*Dat-do (Thank you)

*Danks Mommy (or Daddy)

and even

*No Danks (said very ironically grumpy)

Basically whatever you say he will repeat (sometimes much to my dismay).

I will try to start keeping track of some fun stuff like this to record here, maybe for your enjoyment... but mostly so I have it recorded somewhere.

Grocery Shopping

2010-04-13T06:44:00.000-07:00

Saturday I took BOTH boys shopping... BY MYSELF! It was the first time I have attempted such a feat. Jason was using a rug doctor to clean our carpets before our BIG open house on Sunday (more on that later) so we had to get out of the house. I had a couple of other errands to run and thankfully both boys were being perfect angels. Surprisingly cooperative... until nap time started to approach. Thankfully I made it through 2 retail stores and most of the grocery shopping before Zach really decided he was done, but THIS was the result.

It looks worse than it really was. I promise. He didn't have a meltdown or anything. We were actually in the checkout lane so I was a little frazzled trying to track down my wallet AND unload the cart AND keep Kyle happy AND corral this munchkin. It was way past naptime and Zach was very restless and VERY busy. Our trip culminated in Zach actually throwing his shoe at my HEAD! At which point he was put in a makeshift checkout lane "timeout" leading to his sprawling out on the oh so clean floor... ewww. I guess there's worse things. I think they probably thought I was a bit strange for pulling out my camera amidst everything but I thought it was something I would like to look back on. I'm sure there will be many more eventful shopping trips to come.

4 weeks

2010-04-13T06:33:00.000-07:00

Sorry this is late Grandparents! I did take the picture on time, I just wasn't able to get it posted until today.

I can't believe it's been 4 weeks already!! The strange thing is that I feel like Kyle seems so much older every day that goes by. He smiles more. His facial expressions are becoming, well... more Expressive. His nap times seem to be a bit more regular, though he is still the MOST awake between the hours of 8pm and midnight. Sunday was his first day to go to church, this is actually a picture of his Sunday outfit. I know, it's not technically a church shirt but all I had was sweaters and it was pretty toasty here on Sunday so we went for more of a casual look.

I found a HUGE difference between the boys this week. Kyle can self soothe!!!! Hooray! When he is tired he will grumble for a minute and then Zonk out. FANTASTIC! At this age I had to breastfeed Zach to sleep and it was pretty rough. Kyle is the exact opposite. During dinner last night he started to get fussy in his bouncer but before I could get to him (his older brother was requiring my attention a bit more at the moment) he had fallen asleep.

I am pretty thrilled about it. Heavenly father must have known we were going to be having some chaos at our house so he sent us a really easy going baby. I'm so thankful... you have NO idea.

Zach wearing Dad's Shoes, and Kyle

2010-04-06T18:41:00.000-07:00

Brothers

2010-04-06T17:31:00.000-07:00

I had posted earlier about the cute matching tie shirts I made when I was nesting. Well, I gave them to the boys for easter and they were SO cute. Zach was thrilled about his. Kyle... not so much.