Do You Wanna Build a Snowman?

Hanging out in the snow fort

Mike has my nomination for SuperDad after spending some recent LONG afternoons out in the snow with the kids (well, primarily Laura).  The fresh snow and relatively nice temperatures after Christmas made for some good weather to go out and play!  Not only did he pull Laura around the yard and uphill in the sled, he made her a snow tunnel, built a gigantic snowman, and constructed a pretty cool snow fort complete with slide.  They spent hours sledding, throwing snowballs, and playing in the fort, sometimes even until it turned dark outside.  This cancels out the fact that he sent Laura flying down the sledding hill and thought she lost an arm when she collided with the neighbor's chain link fence.  It was the kind of play that sent Laura in with sopping wet everything, rosy cheeks, and the need for hot chocolate.  I got to stay warm inside, enjoy the quiet, and take photos!  Ryan mostly hung out with me after an unhappy ride in the sled, but did venture out another afternoon for at least an hour and happily messed around in the backyard and took a winter walk around the block with Dad.  Too bad the cold temps came around and put an end to all this outdoor fun.

Laura in the tunnel her Daddy made

Someone is pretty proud about this fort.  Notice it has a beer holder.

Laura took her visiting preschool friend Pete the Cat out in the snow

Dad sending Laura down the sledding hill

Ryan feeling tentative about the snow

Fox On Wheels

Laura reads (MEMORIZES) the words to Fox on Wheels.

*Sorry, I ran out of video space and the story gets cut off before the good part. Have to read it yourself to see how it ends.

Flu Bug Attacks

Ryan, Laura, and I have been bitten by the flu bug. In fact, Ryan has had it twice in two weeks. It's an awful, helpless feeling to watch our kids feel sick and throw up. But, I must confess that there were a few moments that Mom and I giggled when Ryan was doing it. In the middle of performing the act, he would say, "Oh Noooo!!!" Super cute, yet sad.

In other news, Ryan's behavior has been testing us and our daycare provider. This is new to us. We hadn't dealt with tantrums with Laura, so this has been a learning process. The other night Ryan got so mad, he jumped out of his crib. That was scary but it didn't phase him at all. Now his crib is down to the lowest level possible. With all this said, the kid is fricken cute and so much fun to play with. He drives a car on my back and makes a car sound.
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Mom's perspective:
This was a rough few weeks in our household.  Dad picked it up first on Thanksgivng (his favorite holiday, no less) and was completely out of commission.  He spent the day on the couch, and not because he ate too much turkey/stuffing/potatoes!

Two days later, Laura and I arrived home from a movie to a lethargic Ryan who was acting kind of weird. 10 minutes later, he throws up in my lap.

Next up?  Laura gets it early on the following week.  Logically, she attempted to make it to the bathroom, but not in enough time, so the carpet was hit and I had to spend some quality time in there with Resolve and a rag.  She stays home for a day and then comes around.

That weekend, Ryan naps super long - yes!  Finally he wakes up around 4 sobbing, walk into the room and everything is covered in puke.  So. Much. Laundry. when everyone is throwing up all the time.  This round was rough and Ry threw up consistently for hours until there was nothing left.  As Mike mentioned above, the sad pathetic "Oh no's!" happened between heaves.  He needed a lot of love that day.  Funniest thing about all this is that whenever I pull out the puke bucket now, Ryan points at it and says "Yucky."

I fought hard not to come down with this same bug, finally got all those flu symptoms one day but managed to fend off the actual throwing up which was a relief.  Luckily Dad stepped in and let me sleep it off.  I feel strongly this should be our one and only round of house-wide winter sickness...we can only hope!

Ah-Goo-Ga!

A Commonly Used Term

Laura has come up with infamous words like, "dokie" and "absquala." Ryan has now come up with his own, "Ah-Goo-Ga." Even though the word origin and definition is unknown, we still find it very entertaining. 

Fall Events Slideshow

In case you can't get enough pictures of our kids...
Here's a slideshow of some fun fall activities- visiting the pumpkin patch/apple orchard, playing with leaves in the backyard, and more Halloween photos!

Make your own picture slideshow

Halloween 2013

"Mom!  There were no gorillas this time!" - Laura (see Halloween 2012)

Halloween was much improved this year for Laura.  Any time she has a fun day, she declares it "the best day EVER!" and of course tonight was no exception.  She was excited all afternoon long to put on her Cinderella costume and head out to trick or treat.  Mike and I constantly asked her - "Are you sure you're not going to be scared of anything?" - and Laura insisted she was going to be brave.  Her dress lit up so I could look out the window and see her sparkling blue lights traveling down the street.

Brave Daddy took both the kids out on our street, and even Ryan willingly ran around in his leopard costume, although I don't think he cared much about acquiring candy.  He still pitched a fit when he was deposited at home and Dad and Laura left the block.  We sat together and he pulled candy out and put it back in his pumpkin, ate some M&M's and called it a night.

Laura returned home after about an hour "because Mom, my pumpkin is so full I can hardly carry it!"  She sorted her treats and hoped that more kids would come by so she could pass out candy.  Only a few big kids came around and then we sent her off to bed.  A much improved experience this year!

Food Coma

None of my kids fall asleep in random places. It's hard enough for them to take a nap in their bed. If I didn't see this picture for myself, I wouldn't have believed it.

Ryan sleeping in a highchair at daycare.

Food Coma

Wedding Experience

Laura's First Wedding Experience

For my four year old daughter, this night was a magical, memorable moment. This girl has been mesmerized by the Disney Princess' basic premise = beautiful girl falls in love with handsome boy and gets married.

If you weren't there, I don't know how to articulate the magnitude of what transpired tonight for Laura. She was in a different world. I suppose she was actually experiencing everything that she has read or watched in a princess book/movie. 

Laura was transfixed on the first dance. She intently watched each bride/groom kiss. She was enamored with the bride's beautiful, white dress. She had the gooney "Love Eyes." 

Then when it came time for our dance, well, this happened...

First Day of Preschool

Laura's First Day at Preschool

She is sooo very excited to go to preschool. Last night was tough for her to fall asleep because she was excited to go. This morning the excitement continued as she repeatedly asked, "Can we go now!?!" After a bunch of pictures and a three rounds of hair combing, we were off to school.

The 3-hour school day went pretty well. Laura told us that she met her locker buddy, Eleanor, who commented that she like Laura's princess backpack. She also stated that the class did an art project that involved created "Pete the Cat," and took a tour of the outdoor playground adjacent from the school.

All in all, she was very happy with school but was tired and a tad overwhelmed from the day's activities.

This was taken last week at "Meet the Teacher" day.

Needed to have flowers in the picture.

Great view of her princess backpack!

Check out those bright pink shoes!

On our way to school!

Labor Day Pontoon Ride

Ryan's Pontoon Ride 

The family went down to Grandma Nells and Papa George's house for Labor Day weekend. It was our final chance to squeeze in all the summer/lake fun.

Laura was harvesting apples from the apple tree with Grandma Nells while the rest of us took a late afternoon pontoon ride. 

It's Hot, You Need A Pool!

Sticky. Sweaty. Scortch'n Hot. = Pool Time!

Oh man, it has been hot! We've had the pool up for about a week and been using it quite extensively. I don't recall Ryan in the little pool last year, so this might be his first time in it.

Love his dino suit!

Can't avoid the heat, must embrace it.

I warned you not to jump.

Missing from this video: shaking my head "no," angry face, and an eye roll!

Something There

"We'll wait and see...a few days more...there may be something there that wasn't there before." (Something There, Beauty and the Beast)

Laura has changed by leaps and bounds from summer 2012 to summer 2013.  Some of it may be due to the fact that last summer, she was dealing with a huge change with the birth of Ryan.  But up to about age 4, Laura had always been a pretty shy, timid girl, hesitant to take chances or try new things.  She would cry upon separation or out of frustration in not knowing how to handle something new (swimming lessons, smacking a pinata at a birthday party, etc.)

This summer Laura has become a much more confident, grown-up big girl and Mike and I could not be prouder.  She takes a lot of pride herself in being a good big sister, and loves to entertain and help with Ryan.  If you remember, swimming lessons last year was kind of a disaster.  She entered the same "guppies" class this year and was still a bit hesitant about putting her head under the water, but didn't cry every day at lessons.  Parents only get to watch two of the days in the session; once in the middle and once on the last day.  On the middle viewing day, she did ok but was still trying to avoid water on her face.  Both Mike and I watched the last day and were astounded to see this little fish in the water, bravely ducking her head under, floating on her back, and jumping in without hesitation. He thought I was kind of a dork but I got a little teary thinking of how far she had come in a year.

Another sign to me that she was more confident was our yearly summer park party.  The park and rec department puts this event on and offers crafts, snacks, face painting and hairdos, and the police car and fire truck visit.  In previous years, Laura would want a cookie, would maybe do a craft or two, and check out the fire truck.  She's probably declined face painting on about 5 different occasions.  This year, she marched right up to face painting and asked for a butterfly all by herself, and then scooted over to the hair station and had her hair sprayed with pink and purple streaks.  She climbed up in the fire truck and had a chat with a firefighter, and when she saw kids were getting police badges, walked right on over to the uniformed police officer and politely asked for a badge.  One of her gymnastics friends appeared on the scene and she ran right over to say hello and ask her to play.  It was so fun to watch her get the most out of an event and really enjoy it.

When we were at Ruttger's for vacation a couple of weeks ago, she really wanted to attend Kids' Kamp (the child care program) one morning for a pirate island pontoon ride and treasure hunt.  My stomach was in knots all morning long before I dropped her off - she didn't know any of the kids, all the leaders were new and unfamiliar to me, they were going to be out on the water - but she was very firm about wanting to go. When I dropped her off she was definitely the youngest but there was no hesitation when I said goodbye, and when I went back to pick her up she asked to stay longer!  She also was not afraid to approach or speak to other kids (we are trying to break her habit of actually calling unknown kids "kid"), saying hi to kids she met at Kids's Kamp or approaching older kids to ask to borrow pool toys.

A couple of days ago, a big sparkly pink princess backpack arrived in the mail.  It's for preschool.  I can't believe I have a kid who is going to put that on her back and walk in the door to start her education in a little more than a month.  She knocks my socks off and I can't wait to see what happens when we unleash her on the rest of the world.  As Mike and I say, "Love that Gooz."

I leave you with a conversation from this evening:
Laura (quietly to herself): "In two more days I get to be a princess..."
Mom: "Why do you have to wait two more days until you can be a princess?"
L: "Because mom, that's my schedule."

Garden in full bloom

Cucumber Competition

It's time for my annual garden post. Take a look back at this one in 2011. Laura has changed quite a bit.

Trying to find something to harvest.

Each growing season, Laura looks forward to eating peas out of the garden. A better way of phrasing it, she loves it! Unfortunately, each year those pesky rabbits get to them before she does. I finally caved in and put up a fence. In doing so, the pea crop has flourished and Laura has been eating a ton of peas.

Laura proudly sitting next to her cilantro.

Cilantro
This spring at daycare, Laura started cilantro from seed. She brought it home and we quickly transplanted it into the garden. Look at it now! FYI- it's to her left.

I have to admit, it's been fun watching her get excited about the garden. She wants to see her cilantro grow, eat peas, and pick other vegetables.


What have I done?
As the sole cucumber eater in this house, I have had the pleasure of harvesting, slicing, and EATING bowls full of the yummy vegetable year after year. It looks as though that tradition has come to an end.

This year, I had encouraged, somewhat urged, and maybe egged on Laura to join in on the cucumber fun. Knowing that she would reply with "Yuck Dad!" I stayed persistent. Then one day, I gave Ryan a bite and he demanded more. *Side note...I should have known, he eats anything and everything.

Laura watched and quickly wanted in. She grabbed a slice, took a bite, and loved it. We now have started a daily ritual. Each day, Laura, Ryan and I sit on the floor to eat the day's harvest. To my surprise, Laura eats them so fast I can't keep pace. So much for enjoying a bowl of cucumbers in peace. 

Daily feeding location -on the floor.

Happy 4th of July!

Independence Day 2013

July 4th began with water fun on the deck. Grandma Barb and Bapa gave us a water table and the kids played with it all morning. Splash!

After afternoon naps, we headed to Lake Nokomis in Minneapolis for a little stroll around the lake. Actually, we walked a quarter of the way to the beach, slid down a slide once, then turned around to go back.

On our way back, we stopped at Fat Lorenzo's for dinner - pizza. The weather was beautiful, sunny, and warm with a slight breeze. It was a no-brainer to sit outside!

Girls on one side...

Boys on the other!

Before we had left, Mom surprised us with an ice cream treat - Chocolate Chip Gelato. Everyone enjoyed it. In fact, Laura and Mom fought for the final scoops!

Super excited to eat chocolate chip gelato!

Even Ryan couldn't resist! He gave Mom a big landing spot for the spoon.

Laura's first fireworks

I had asked Laura earlier in the day if she wanted to see the fireworks. If you remember, she has been no fan of the loud boomers. She answered "YES!" with excitement but also had concerns that they would be too loud. Rather than drive somewhere, we chose to sit on our deck and watch our neighbors blow them off. It's not a bad show.

We told her to fall asleep and we would wake her up when it was time. Wishful thinking. She came up with every excuse in the book on why she came out of her room. Who could blame her?!?

Once the neighborhood fireworks started, Laura screamed with excitement. She told us, "This is the best night ever!"

"This is the best night ever!"

This was her face after every firework! Priceless.

Great view of our neighbors blowing off big fireworks!

The amazing thing about the fireworks was that Ryan slept through the whole thing! FYI - Ryan is a very light sleeper!!! If the TV is too loud or someone walks by his door and steps on a creeky floor board, he wakes up! I can't believe he slept through it.

Ry-Roo Gets a Haircut

Well, the Ry-guy's hair was getting way too long.  I did already give his hair a trim in early May, but it was poorly done and had already grown quite a bit.  His Justin Bieber sideswipe/Donald Trump toupee look worked for awhile but the hair kept falling back into his face.  As the mom, I was the hesitant one because I didn't want to see his sweet baby hair (he's getting curls in back!) snipped off.  As the dad, Mike was hesitant because he knew it was going to be a scream-fest.  And he was right.

Pre-Haircut:

So we arrive at the establishment.  Ryan was sobbing as soon as we put him in the seat.  He can be a little sensitive around people he doesn't know well.  The lady was nice and did a great job despite his hysterics, but she did have sort of a severe look about her (not much of a smiler) and I think that added to his fear.

Here we are consulting on the 'do; a cape has been added which caused additional freak-out because he could not get his arms out.

Many tricks were used in order to get through the haircut: video, Mum-Mum crackers, Laura blowing bubbles, and finally a Dum-Dums sucker (bad idea in hindsight, too much hair flying about and he kept removing the sucker for big sobs).  Here he is at a calmer moment.

Oh, Ry Ry.  We survived and I gave a big tip.  Ryan shrieked when we took the hair-covered sucker away and proceeded to do the big, body-shaking sighs and sobs for another 5 minutes after we walked out.

Goodbye Sweet Curls in the back.