Tiffany, Robert, & the Boys

Super Saturday 2009

2009-09-19T20:21:00.001-07:00

Super Saturday is here again! It will be held November 7th from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Lunch will be served, and we will also hold our annual Christmas Cookie Contest. The last day to sign up for projects and turn in money to the teachers is Sunday, September 27. Here are the projects we have going on this year:

Magnet Board - $3.00

Teacher: Helen

This can be used for pictures, for to-do lists, for recipes...anything you would like! You can have any saying on the bottom...just let Helen know what you would like! (Magnets and pictures not included.)

Magnetic Advent Calendar - $27.00

Teacher: Melissa M.

This project will be great to count down to the big day! Each tin or box is fastened to the board by a magnet...just add your own scripture, treat, or story inside. This project does require a prep day before Super Saturday for painting.

Cinnamon Stick Candle Holders - $9.00

Teacher: Tiffany

Real cinnamon sticks surround a glass candle holder.

Choose the Autumn or Holiday design.

Girls' Applique T-shirts - Christmas Tree $2.25, Snowman $1.75

Teacher: Mercedes

A one-of-a-kind gift for the little girl in your life! You supply the t-shirt; ribbon choices may vary from the sample.

Boys' Applique T-shirts - Winter Tie $1.25, Santa Hat $1.00

Teacher: Mercedes

Adorable designs for your little guy. You supply the t-shirt.

Family Conversation Book - $6.00

Teacher: Taryn

A great way to start a conversation at meal time, or at any time! Also contains ideas for family traditions...a perfect gift. You choose between Red or Earth-tone covers.

Glass Magnets - $3.00

Teacher: Stacey E.

Set of 4 Magnets, including the gift box. Choose from a variety of coordinating scrapbook paper for the backing, or bring in your favorite photos. Makes a unique gift!

Personal Picture Puzzle Blocks - $5.00

Teacher: Stacey P.

A fun and unique way to display your favorite photos! You will need to bring in 6 4x6 photos.

Puzzle Blocks - Personal Photos with Initial $6.00, "Come Follow Me" $6.00

Teacher: Stacey P.
The initial block features a vinyl family name initial on one side. You will need 5 4x6 photos.

"Come Follow Me" features 5 color photos of the Savior.

Puzzle Blocks - Green Sports $7.00, Pink Princess $7.00

Teacher: Stacey P.

A unique gift for kids. Choose from a sports or princess theme.

Holiday Cheer Puzzle Block - $7.00

Teacher: Stacey P.

A great way to decorate for Christmas!

Savior / Nativity Ornament - Free

Teacher: Keri

This year we are offering a free project. Choose from one of these beautiful images: the Savior or the Nativity. Limit 1 per family. In order to make one of these, please sign up before Sunday, September 27. (We need to know how much of the materials to purchase before Super Saturday.)

Summer Fun: State Fair

2009-09-15T18:49:00.001-07:00

The State Fair has started to be a end-of-summer tradition around here. I have to admit, I have not always been a fan of the State Fair. We went when we first moved here, and again when Trevor was little, but I'd always found it to be totally overwhelming and overpriced. Over the past few years, however, it's started to grow on me. I think I'm slowing turning into a Minnesotan. I've come to accept the fact that to be truly Minnesotan, you have to go!

Grandma Sandi has decided to make it an end-of-summer tradition, as well. Yes, we couldn't find parking remotely close to the Fair. Yes, we paid $10 to park in some nearby business' parking lot. Yes, we walked about a mile to get to the entrance. But, we were ready for some Fair fun.

Our family highlights of the fair:

#1. All of the farm equipment. Kevin had to sit on anything remotely tractor-like.

This year, we also added cars and boats to the equipment we had to try out. Ethan has recently taken an extreme interest in cars and we had to seek out each car-maker's latest catalog of the their models. (The Ford exhibit was pretty cool, I have to say.) He was also enthusiastic about us buying this boat. Sorry, kid...not happening.

#2: Free stuff. Our favorite free stuff this year: building kits from Home Depot. Each child got a free kit to assemble there.

Ethan made a boat.

Trevor made a helicopter.

And Kevin made a helicopter. (I have to say, one of the helicopters did not make it home it one piece. I wasn't prepared for that large of an object to carry around!)

#3: Food. Our favorite this year: corn. It was also our favorite last year. We are not die-hard fair-goers, so we haven't tried all of the deep fried candy bars, alligator on a stick, and other crazy stuff like that. We just like the corn...and the Sweet Martha's cookies.

#4: Cool stuff to see and do. This year we had a lot of fun at the Twins' exhibit. They had a pick-up game of baseball going on. Trevor and Ethan joined in. I loved the blow-up stadium backdrops!

I'm sure this guy didn't get paid enough for all of the wiffle balls he pitched to the kids!

Too funny. You've just got to love your Minnesota turkeys. We also visited the "Miracle of Birth" Center. You get to see baby farm animals, and, if you're lucky, the actual birth of some of those animals. We missed out on the birthing scene...Robert was so disappointed. We also stumbled upon one of the rodeo shows. The boys were totally enthralled...Kevin pretended to rope cows for days afterward.

#5: The Rides. Our favorite ride: the Giant Slide, of course. The best deal at the fair, in my opinion. We went on this thing at least 5 times. Here's Trevor with some random kid next to him. Up a little bit, in the red shirt, is Ethan. For some reason they just couldn't manage going down together.

Grandma Sandi and Kevin!

The swings...another favorite. My kids aren't huge ride-goers, but they do like a few of them.

You can just make out Ethan in the red sweatshirt, and Trevor a couple of swings behind him.

Kevin is probably the most enthusiastic ride-goer. We had to tear him away. I think his favorite was this airplane ride.

Robert got Ethan and, later, Trevor to go on the Tilt-a-Whirl...a new frontier for us!

All in all, it was a great day! We were totally exhausted and stuffed with junk food, but isn't that what it's all about?

Summer Fun: Camping

2009-09-15T15:27:00.001-07:00

I must preface this post by saying "Summer Fun: Camping" is a little misleading. Although we did sleep outside in the great outdoors, and we had a campfire, and we slept in a tent, I'm not sure it's technically camping. You see, we did all of those things in our backyard, about 10 feet from our house!

We also purchased a fire bowl. It's been fun having campfires in the backyard. We've consumed more than our fair share of s'mores, I must say.

I've discovered that it is difficult to capture the feeling of a campfire in a photograph. I suppose if you have some fancy equipment you could do it. But, I lack that fancy equipment. What I was trying to capture was how beautiful this particular evening was. It was a full moon. If you look at the sky above Trevor's head, it looks fairly light. That's because the moon is right behind that tree.

I kind of got the feel of the fire here, but I had to hold the camera very still as it did the slowest "click" you've ever heard!

Again, the night was perfect! And the moon was beautiful, our own little night light. And, yes, I lack the correct photographic equipment.

It took an inordinate number of sleeping bags, pillows, blankets, couch cushions, air mattresses, extra clothing layers, and trips to the bathroom to get us ready to sleep in our tent. How do people do it out in the wilderness?

As you can see, we are camping novices. This was a big step for us. Maybe next year we'll venture to the campground just a few miles down the road!

Summer Fun: Schulze Lake

2009-09-15T15:17:00.001-07:00

I have always wanted to go canoeing at Schulze Lake. It's so close to our house and looks so fun! One day the week before school, I said, "We are doing it...now!"

Ethan and Robert tried the kayak first.

Trevor, Kevin and I took the canoe. I was a little concerned about how Kevin would do in the canoe for an hour, but he did great! There was a small crisis when he tried to steal the oar from me and throw it overboard, but we managed to get things back under control.

It was a perfect day to be on the lake: calm winds, sunshine, 70 degrees. Halfway through our time, we decided to switch boats. We even handled it without going to the docks!

In the end, Trevor and I decided we liked the canoe better, while Ethan and Robert liked the kayak better.

We saw 9 turtles, 2 fish, lots of birds, and a goose. I loved how these turtles were sitting there in the sun in order of size, like unstacked stacking cups. Once we got closer, they all plopped back into the lake.

It was a great summer afternoon activity!

We all feel very Minnesotan now.

Summer Fun: Minnesota Zoo

2009-09-15T14:59:00.000-07:00

The day after our trip to Como Zoo, we headed to the Minnesota Zoo. You can never have too much zoo! We met Cathy and her kiddos there, and we immediately hit the butterfly garden.

It's such a calm, peaceful place. Kevin really got into trying to find the different butterflies.
I think his favorite part was the plastic hanging down at the doors to keep butterflies from flying out. He called it a "car wash." He's obsessed with carwashes.

I thought this butterfly was particularly handsome.

I wonder how many pictures I have of my kids sitting on this turtle?

We unanimously decided that our favorite part of the day was the reef aquarium and the shark tank. We spent a lot of time there. Ethan said he would like a large aquarium with a cubby hole just like this in his bedroom. I told him to ask Grandma Sandi.

We tried out the new play area at the zoo. Kevin waited very patiently to have his turn with the fishing pole. He seems way more interested in fishing than his brothers.

I love the expression on his face here. Apparently this was one wild fish ride!

I thought this was a cute one of Ethan. Apparently the animal statues were more interesting than the actual animals that day.

Of course, everyone had to have a turn. I think I have a hundred shots like this one, too.

My second favorite part of the zoo is the farm. This pumpkin was enourmous!

OK...by the end of zoo tour day two, we were officially "zoo"ed out!

Summer Fun: Como Zoo

2009-09-15T14:40:00.001-07:00

Como Zoo has to be one of my favorite places. I love the concept of a "free" zoo and park. We hit the zoo on a beautiful, sunny, yet cool August day.

First stop, Cafesjian's Carousel: a beautifully restored carousel from 1914.

As you can see, 3 people in this picture are excited to ride the carousel. 1 is scared stiff. A nice lady from Sweden took our picture for us, after giving me lots of great travel tips I can use if I ever travel to Sweden.

Kevin and I rode this handsome horse together. Kevin refused to look at me after the ride because he felt it was "too scary."

What's not to love about giraffes? Actually, I don't have any other pictures at the actual zoo part. The boys were more interested in Como Town.

Here's Kevin riding the only 1 ticket ride at Como Town.

He rode it 5 times in a row, selecting a different color car each time.

Trevor opted for the bumper cars.

So did Ethan. By the way, Ethan's hair looks matted down because he felt the need to stand underneath the misters for 10 minutes, despite the 70 degree outside temperature.

After Como Town, we headed to the nice park just on the other side. Someone is a little too big for the baby swing. Hard to believe he ever fit in one! (Actually, I had to help pry him out of it...his posterior was quite stuck.)

Ethan zipped across the zip line about a thousand times.

You've got to love the free-ness and fun of Como Zoo, although I still laid down quite a bit of cash for the carousel ride, some tickets for Como Town, and ice cream treats for everyone. What happened to "free"?

Summer Fun: Minneapolis Sculpture Garden

2009-09-14T10:20:00.000-07:00

One of the places I've always wanted to visit is the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. I've been there before, but only briefly. And, somehow on my previous visit I missed the Spoonbridge and Cherry sculpture.

One day we didn't have anything planned, so I threw the boys in the car and we went on an adventure to the Sculpture Garden.

There it is! We found it!

I'm can't saythat I "get" it as a piece of art, but it's kind of fun!

The boys liked the water spraying out of the top of the cherry stem.

We all agreed that the cherry looks quite delicious.

It makes you want to run around and chase your annoying older brother.

And it makes your older brother want to annoy you some more.

Here are some shots from the garden part of the sculpture garden.

I thought this arbor thing was cool.

You've got to love Black-eyed Susans. They just make you smile!

I don't remember what kind of flower this is, but I thought it was beautiful. It was about the size of my hand!

This sculpture was entitled "Prometheus Strangling a Vulture II."
The boys were quite taken with it.
What is it with boys and violence?

This is another interesting one.

The boys liked it because it looks like playground equipment.

Ethan liked this guy...not sure who he is.

This was an interesting one. It was a series of large windows, but the glass was very reflective. Sometimes you weren't sure if what you saw was on the other side of the glass or a reflection. We could have stayed here for hours...very entertaining.

It is called, "Two-way Mirror Punched Steel Hedge Labyrinth."

We had a lot of fun at the Sculpture Garden. I liked the fact that my kids could experience art without the confines of a traditional museum. We loved the freedom to run around and yell without risking stares and "shh"s!

Summer Fun: Pop Pop's Visit

2009-09-14T10:08:00.001-07:00

Robert's dad came into town in August. The boys call him "Pop Pop."

We took him to the Science Museum. We saw the Titanic exhibit. When you go into the Titanic exhibit, they give you a ticket with the name of one of the passengers on board the Titanic. At the end of the exhibit, which was amazing, you got to find out if your person lived or died. The only survivor was Kevin's: a two-year old little boy.

Pop Pop spent a lot of time doing puzzles with Kevin.

He also listened to Trevor playing his trumpet. He was very impressed!
He also listened to Ethan 2.3 million questions.

Pop Pop took us to the Mall of America. The boys had a blast riding the rides.

Kevin was so excitied to see Pablo there!

(He is a big Backyardigans fan.)

Pop Pop also made his famous French toast for breakfast one morning.

Trevor studied his technique.

We loved having Pop Pop come for a visit!

Three generations of Burgoyne boys.

Unfortunately, Nana couldn't come along. We missed seeing her and hope we can see them both again soon!

Summer Fun: Kelley Farm

2009-09-12T19:43:00.000-07:00

There's a great farm about an hour away called the Oliver Kelley Farm. It is a working farm run by the Historical Society, and they try to keep it a close to a farm from the 1860s as possible. This is the second time Cathy and I have taken the kids there.

There are lots of jobs for kids to do, like pumping well water.

This was very popular, and sparked a few heated debates about whose turn it was.

Of course, you can't let the water go to waste. Trevor hauled many pails of water down the hill to...

...the water trough for the horses and oxen.

Emily loved the horse. I think she would look great riding one. I think she should ask her mom for a horse for her birthday!

The other great thing at the farm is all of the animals roaming around...chickens, sheep, cows.

There is also a beautiful barn...

...complete with adorable kittens!

We spent a lot of time with those kittens.

We heard a lot of pleas to take one home with us.

(Thank goodness we are already equipped in the cat area.)

They even had some chores for us to do in the farm house.

We got fetch water to clean the cellar.

Last time we got to fetch wood for the stove and knead bread dough.

I love this place.

I think we will be back!

Summer Fun: Holland Lake

2009-09-12T19:33:00.000-07:00

We discovered Holland Lake this year. It's this beautiful lake with winding paths all around it. And, it's 5 minutes from our house!

One Sunday evening, we ventured on a walk around it.

(There was way too much boy energy going on at my house!)

A sure fire hit with boys: throwing rocks in the water.

This could have gone on for hours.

I love Trevor's wind up in this one.

More rocks! More throwing!

Ethan is always on the lookout for the biggest rock he can find.
We were duly impressed with the splash it made.

I love the reflection of the trees in the lake.
A couple of fishermen were out in a canoe.

We walked through the woods into this lovely open field.

The birds were singing, the wildflowers were blooming...it was beautiful!

Another surefire hit with boys: sticks.

Warning: sticks may cause injury, especially when used as a lightsaber.

We will be back! A fall walk around the lake sounds tempting...

Summer Fun: Pioneer Picnic

2009-09-12T19:17:00.000-07:00

We went to the Stake Pioneer Picnic this year. There were only a few families from our ward, but it was a lot of fun!

Ethan and Parker at the sack race.

(Ethan loves a good race.)

The Stake President's handcart...the kids were tearing around the field in this thing. I followed behind, praying that no one got thrown off!

President and Sister Ballard pulled a bunch of the kids around during the parade, singing pioneer songs. Ethan is sitting in the back.

We brought our wagon decorated like a covered wagon.

I think the driver is pretty cute!

San Diego Trip: Palm Springs Aerial Tramway

2009-09-12T14:48:00.001-07:00

We spent a couple of days up at Todd & Denise's near Palm Springs. One day we took the Palm Spring Aerial Tramway up to the top of Mount San Jacinto. It was amazingly steep, yet quite breathtaking. The tram car itself turns around as you go up so your view is always changing.

Here's the view going up. At the crest of the mountain on the right, you can see Palm Springs...and a whole lot of desert.

You can see the tram car going down while we are going up. As we got higher, we started to see green things...like trees.

At the top, we went on a little hike through the deserty, rocky forest.

Nora and Denise came along.

(You have to closely watch Nora...she is fearless, and there were a lot of hazards on our hike.)

Trevor and Ethan managed to scramble to the top of every single large rock we encountered.

It was interesting how much cooler it was up there...probably 75 degrees, while it was 110 degrees in Palm Springs.

On the way down, we had our noses pressed to the glass...while the inside floor rotated. You couldn't keep your nose there long.

Ethan chose to sit in the middle of the tram on the way down...not such a fan of dizzying heights while rotating.

Todd, Denise, and Nora at the bottom.

I have to say the desert does have it's own type of beauty. And, I think the desert is the exact environmental opposite of Minnesota!

San Diego Trip: Coronado

2009-09-12T14:36:00.000-07:00

One of our favorite spots in San Diego is Coronado Island, a little stretch of land across the bay from downtown San Diego. We decided to spend the day there. We drove over the beautiful Coronado Bridge, took the ferry around the bay, ate lunch, rode 2 surrey bikes around the island, then went to the beach at Hotel Del Coronado. A perfect day!

The Burgoyne clan on the ferry.

Nora looked quite cute with her sunglasses.

Coronado Bridge. You can see the shipbuilding docks on the other side.

Surrey bikes are so much fun, and the views were amazing!

Ethan hauled a least half of the Pacific Ocean in this bucket.
This beach was so beautiful! It had the added bonus of Navy aircraft flying overhead every once in a while...we are airplane fans.

Trevor loves swimming in the waves.

They worked on this sand-channel to the ocean for a long time.

I think Kevin and Nora devised this system for swimming in the ocean to avoid being knocked down everytime a wave came in.

I wanted to get a picture of all of us in front of the Hotel Del, but by the time we left, we were too tired to do anything!

San Diego Trip: Sea World

2009-09-12T14:19:00.000-07:00

We spent another fun-filled day at Sea World. I hadn't been to Sea World for a long time, since the boys were much younger. We had a great day...along with about 1.2 million other people!

We loved the dolphin show...

...this dolphin jumped amazingly high!

(I'm sorry to say these dolphins were a little more exciting than our little Minnesota Zoo ones!)

There is a new Sesame Street area for little kids. Kevin loved this Elmo ride!

The Shamu show was amazing!

There's nothing like seeing one of these whales close up.

They even had a baby orca in the show.

After the show, we found this little out-of-the-way area where the whales were swimming. We could have stayed there for hours...way better than any T.V. show! (Kevin couldn't keep his eyes off of the whales, and couldn't be bothered to turn around for the picture.)

You don't realize how big they are until you get very close up.

Everytime the whales would swim by, the kids would scream and laugh!

The whales left quite an impression...Kevin still talks about "Shamu."

Nora is crazy for Shamu, too. She is a frequent visitor at Sea World and carries around a Shamu puppet all of the time (which she has named "dolphin.") Ethan and Kevin decided they needed a Shamu puppet, too. They squeaked their Shamu puppets the rest of the evening!

Kevin really likes flamingos. The minute he saw these, he jumped out of his stroller and stood on one leg.

We had so much fun at Sea World. Thanks for taking us, Grandma!

San Diego Trip: Legoland

2009-09-12T13:26:00.000-07:00

I'm trying to catch up on blogging. I thought I would post some fun pictures from our trip to San Diego this year. Of course, we hit Legoland, one of our favorite spots.

Trevor and Kevin rode the train. Kevin loved it!

Our favorite ride this year: the Lego Fire Engine race. We did this at least 6 times! You have to pump up and down on a lever to make the fire engine go. At the other end you have to put out a "fire," then jump back in and pump the lever back. There are 4 fire engines racing...we didn't win this time, much to Ethan's disappointment.

This was a new ride...a sort of robotic arm that twists you and turns you around. It has 5 different levels of intensity. Although Ethan was up for Level 5 (the craziest), he was only allowed to do Level 3 because of his height. Maybe next year!

Ethan LOVES the idea of being the king.

This airplane ride was fun, although it looks like someone is a back-seat driver!

Somehow we all got stuck in a boat traffic jam...and Kevin and I were first at the beginning!

These guys got first place in this race!

Trevor loves driving these cars. He is very good at obeying traffic signs.

The helicopter ride.

(Don't they look like they are plotting something evil?)

Life-sized Star Wars figures made out of Legos...a boy's dream fulfilled!

Our New Nephew/Cousin!

2009-08-26T10:42:00.000-07:00

We are so happy to welcome the newest addition to the family:

Ryan Glenn Sallenbach

Ryan was born August 15 and was 6 pound, 8 ounces.

Everyone says he is "very cute" and "loves to eat."

The boys are very excited to have boy cousin!

His big sister Nora is getting used to the idea of having a baby in the house!

We know she will be a great big sister.

We are so happy for Todd and Denise and Nora, and we can't wait to meet the little guy in person! Congratulations!

Ethan's Basketball Hoop

2009-06-21T20:29:00.000-07:00

On Friday, Ethan bought his very own basketball hoop! He's been saving up ever since Christmas, and we finally went down to pick it out.

Next came the fun part...putting it together!

(Of course, the fun part for some was playing in the box.)

There were a lot more parts than we thought there would be.

We had to improvise one or two of the steps!

Kevin was eager to "help."

The final touch...only after a trip to Home Depot to buy a part or two.

We had barely stood it up and Ethan was already shooting a basket (and he made it!). The other thing I like about this picture is the stormy-looking clouds...we did get rained on a bit.

And, yes, it was dark by the time we finished.
Here's Trevor going for a shot (and almost getting hit in the head by Ethan's shot).

Here's Ethan going for a shot. The smile on his face was priceless, and he's been telling everyone ever since, "I bought it with my own money!"

B-17 Surprise!

2009-06-21T19:50:00.000-07:00

About a week ago, Robert's mom was visiting and we were driving in St. Paul. Robert just about jumped out of his skin when he saw this old airplane flying right over the capitol building. He got very excited as he explained that it was a B-17, a bomber from World War II (if you've ever seen the movie "Memphis Belle," it's the same type of plane), and that you just don't see those flying very often. In fact, it was the first time he has seen one in the air. (As a pilot and a World War II buff, you can imagine how excited he was.)

Robert decided it had to have taken off from the St. Paul airport, so off we went in hunt of an explanation for why B-17 was flying over St. Paul on a Saturday. It turns out that this particular B-17 is the only one that flies all over the country. You can even take a flight in it (a mere $450 per person for a 25-minute flight), or take a look at it for free once it's on the ground. Needless to say, we opted for the free option.

Here's the plane coming in to park after landing.

The plane is called the "Liberty Belle." You can see the pilots in this one (as well as the scantily clad woman painted on the side).

The boys were very excited to go inside.
(Except Kevin--he was scared the plane would start up. He's not a fan of loud noises.)

Trevor was amazed at how big the propellers were close up.

Robert loved that the cockpit wasn't "behind glass," like in a museum. There was just a rope that separated you from it. He got a good look at it!

Here's Ethan at the bomardier's station. It has the best view from the plane.

Here's Ethan at one of the machine guns...he thought this was very cool.

Robert and Trevor with their game faces on.

We met a lady there whose father flew in the ball turret of the B-17 during the war. They opened up the ball turret and let her get inside to see what it was like. Luckily for us, they let the boys climb in, too. They said they don't usually allow that.

Trevor could barely fit in there! He got to see how they would control the position of the ball turret and fire the guns at the same time. I can't imagine sitting in there during a mission. We met a man whose father flew 30 missions in the ball turret during the war...that's amazing! Robert says it was probably one of the least safe places to be.

This man flew in a B-17 during the war. He was a tail gunner.

Here he is checking out the tail gun. He's looking for the entrance to the tail gunner's position. You couldn't access it from the inside of the plane. You had to crawl in through a door just under the wing before take-off. Unbelievable!

We had a great time experiencing this amazing plane and getting an in-person history lesson. I loved how much the people there respected and revered the men who flew in these planes or served in other ways during the war. We owe a lot to those brave men and women!

Upcoming Garage Sale

2009-05-13T21:16:00.000-07:00

So, my neighborhood has a big garage sale every year. I am participating this year: I am finally getting rid of the baby stuff...it took a while to come to this decision, but I am ready!

My friend Stacey will be selling some of her hair clips and jewelry (and delicious baked goods). She is also giving me garage sale advice...she is a pro! She's going to put a post on Craigslist and told me pictures would be helpful. The only pictures I could find of the crib and toddler bed have a child in them...

I love this pic of Trevor...I came in to get him from his nap and he had flipped himself over! Also, the teddy bear in the background is still an important thing in his life..."Boose" looks nothing like that now!

Robert had a hard time determining if this is Trevor and Kevin...they really look alike at this age!This is Trevor, by the way.

I suggested to Stacey add "Baby not included" under the picture of the crib!

Cub Scout "Blue & Gold" Dinner

2009-02-28T11:32:00.001-08:00

The theme for this year's "Blue & Gold" Dinner for Cub Scouts was "Beautiful America." (I've also heard that the theme is "The ABC's of America," but whatever.) Each boy was to decorate a cake or cupcakes to go along with the theme. We contemplated doing the Washington Monument, the White House, a dollar bill, or a quarter. But, with the requirement that each boy had to decorate it entirely by himself, we kept searching for another idea.

Trevor finally chose to do the moon. Now, I know that's not officially part of America, but we decided that American history might fit into the theme somehow. And since we just watched "Apollo 13" last weekend, Trevor decided that recreate the Apollo 11 moon landing:

The frosting is white buttercream with crushed Oreos stirred in. The "craters" are Necco wafers.

I think he did a great job with it! I didn't get a picture of it, but Trevor's friend Max let him borrow his lunar lander, which we placed next to the cake. It looked even more authentic!

Trevor also earned his Bear badge, along with 3 arrow points. He worked really hard on his Scouting the past few months, and he's ready to move on to Webelos!

I'm so proud of him! (And my fingers still show the scars of sewing on that Bear badge the next day!)

New Snow

2009-02-28T11:20:00.000-08:00

We got a bunch of new snow this week, and the boys have had a blast playing in it. In Minnesota, the snow at the end of the winter (it is nearly the end, right?!) is always better. Plus, it's no longer -15 degrees, so you can actually go outside.

In this picture, Ethan is attempting to use a snow brick maker to build himself a wall.

In this picture Kevin is helping me bury something...

It's under that huge pile of snow....

Wait...what IS that?!

Oh yes, it's Trevor. You know, it's kind of like being buried in sand at the beach, only a little chillier.

This is Trevor's unfinished igloo. He's still trying to figure out how he is going to put a roof on it.

Don't you just want to move to Minnesota in February?!

Homemade Valentines

2009-02-28T11:07:00.000-08:00

If you know me well, you will know that I am NOT a crafty person. Yet, for some reason, I get the biggest kick out of clever, homemade valentines. So, for the last 3 or 4 years, I have helped the boys make valentines for their classes. I even subscribe to Family Fun because they have the greatest ideas each year!

For Trevor's class, we decided to make iPod valentines (an idea from Family Fun).
It's actually a box of those conversation hearts wrapped in red paper with the playlist and controls glued onto the front. Check out the playlist:

Such a great idea! The earbuds are the smaller peanut butter cups wrapped in tin foil.

Ethan chose the paper airplane valentine...you print out the airplane and instructions off of the Family Fun website.

He signed each one and we rolled them up, then tied it along with some Smarties. For Ethan's teacher, we traced his hand on pink cardstock and stuck them to a small tube of hand lotion. He wrote, "Mrs. Lewis, you deserve a hand. Love, Ethan."

They were the hit of the class Valentine's Parties.

And I'm all crafted-out.

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-27T20:19:00.001-08:00

We had a nice, relaxing Christmas this year. It's the first time in around 3 years that we haven't traveled some where, and I have to say it was kind of nice! Robert's mom came into town.

Here she is playing Blackjack with the boys.
(Yes...BLACKJACK. And yes, those are real poker chips.)

(Supposedly it teaches math skills or something.)

On Christmas Eve, we let the boys open a few presents. Grandma gave them each beautiful quilts. They were made by a friend of a friend. They are the same pattern, but different fabrics. They each have jars with bugs, frogs, or lizards in them. They are really beautiful, with lots of detail.

The boys LOVE them!

Then they opened another present: matching pajamas.

Cute boys!

Crazy boys!
(By the way, there are no presents under the tree because a certain 2 year old would have opened them up faster than you can say "Jingle Bells.")

Then we read the Christmas story. Robert tried to explain to the boys what frankincense and myrrh are. He described frankincense as something that made you smell good, to which Trevor replied, "Like deoderant?" He then described myrrh as a balm that makes your skin soft, to which Ethan replied, "Like lip balm?" So, now my children think the wise men brought the baby Jesus gold, deoderant, and chapstick.

Next, we sang some Christmas songs (my favorite part of Christmas!). This year, Trevor learned a lot of Christmas songs on piano, so he accompanied us.

Here he is with Grandma singing along.

Next, we hung up the stockings. (Again, we put this off until Christmas Eve because a certain 2-year old would have pulled them down faster than you can say, "Ho, ho ho!")

The far right one is for Grandma...it has 5 little pockets with varying degrees of naughtiness and niceness listed, with a little candy cane you can place according to your rating.
(The boys rated Grandma "Nice Occasionally." Santa changed it to "Nice.")

We put out cookies for "Mr. C."

Here's Ethan is standing guard...Kevin thinks they are for him.

Next morning, the boys didn't wake us up until around 8 a.m.

One of Trevor's favorite gifts: Legos!

One of Ethan's favorite gifts: a book all about the A380

(Yes...apparently an obsession with airplanes is hereditary)

Kevin just wouldn't let go of his candy from his stocking.

It took some convincing to put it down to open presents.

Even when Kevin finally opened some of his presents, it was at a rate of about 1 per half hour. He was all about playing with whatever he opened. He still had some to open after everyone else was finished. Ethan was convinced it was because Kevin actually had more presents than anyone else. We did an unofficial tally to convince him otherwise.

We had yummy cinnamon rolls and orange rolls for breakfast, followed by my first turkey dinner that I've prepared by myself, ever! It turned out all right, but I was pretty tired that night. Our friends the Deans came over later for dessert (I made a peppermint twist cheesecake...pretty yummy!) and games (Bananagrams, Farkle, and Nerts).

It was a great day! I love Christmas. I hope you all had a great holiday, too! Happy New Year!

Australia Trip: Boat Trip Into Sydney

2008-11-20T19:09:00.000-08:00

For our first day in Sydney, we picked up the "River Cat" in a suburb, which is a form of mass transit into Sydney. It was great to see all of the fancy river front homes along the Parramatta River. We even saw a glimpse of the Olympic Village. As we got closer and closer to Sydney Harbor, we had amazing views of the Harbor Bridge and the skyline.

Ethan on the River Cat with the Harbor Bridge in the background.

Darling Harbor

Then, after a stop at Darling Harbor, we came under the Harbor Bridge and got that signature Sydney shot: the Opera House!

It is an amazing building!

We got off the boat at Circular Quay and had to walk a bit to the Opera House. All along the sidewalk area there are outdoor cafes and street performers. The boys got a kick out of this one:

A "Living" Statue

We got to have a "private" tour of the Opera House because Dad has a hard time with stairs. We got to see 3 of the 4 theaters that are in the Opera House complex. My favorite was the Concert Hall which seats over 2000 people! It had wood floors, wood ceilings, wood walls, wood seats...all for the best acoustics. I would love to see a concert there! We weren't allowed to take pictures inside the theaters, but our tour guide took a picture of us next to one of the concrete pieces that forms one side of a "sail."

The construction aspect was very interesting!

This stairway outside the Concert Hall took my breath away!

The roof of the Opera House is made of thousands of these little tiles that are actually cream-colored with a few gray tiles thrown in. Our guide said the color of the tiles actually makes the roof look different colors depending on the weather or time of day. I always thought it was just white!

This side of the Opera House reminds me of Spanish Conquistador helmets. The architect wanted all of the stairs up to the Opera House because he wanted it to be like a Mayan temple, only a temple to the arts.

Here's yet another shot of the Opera House (I took a lot!), only from a different view...on the other side of Circular Quay. The Concert Hall is the larger sails closest to this side; the Opera Theater is on the other side. The smaller sails on the right are a restaurant.

After our tour, we ate an extremely overpriced, yet quite tasty lunch at one of the outdoor cafes. Dad was done walking for the day, so the rest of us set out for "The Rocks," the oldest section of Sydney. Some of the original buildings still stand there, but it is now mostly a trendy shopping and eating area.

This is Cadman's Cottage, one of the original buildings from the first settlement of Sydney.

This is one of the narrow alleys in "The Rocks" neighborhood.

After browsing in the crazily overpriced shops, we found a cute ice cream place and headed back to meet Dad.

One more shot of the bridge and Opera House as we left Sydney Harbor.

After our 1-hour boat ride back, we ran a few errands and the boys begged to go to "Hungry Jack's, " or the Australian version of Burger King.

It was just like home, but we had to try it!

Kevin: My "Oh, SOOO Two" Year Old

2008-11-06T13:46:00.000-08:00

Today started out as a normal day. This morning it was rather windy and rainy outside, so Kevin and I curled up on the couch. He was watching a movie and snacking on popcorn and I was reading a book. After a little while, Kevin said to me, "Nose. Oh, Mommy, nose," and started pointing at his nose. He has had a bit of a runny nose lately, so I put down my book and looked at his nose. It looked normal, only, there was something in there that didn't belong. Upon closer examination, I discovered it was a popcorn kernal!

So, once I got over my shock, I went for a tissue. I told him to blow, and it flew out into the tissue. Luckily, Kevin is very adept at blowing his nose. Phew, I thought. Disaster averted. Then, Kevin started pointing at his nose again..."Nose, Mommy. Nose!" I looked into the other nostril...yes, another popcorn kernal where it shouldn't be. Only this time it was little higher. I realized I probably hadn't helped matters when I plugged the one nostril to help him blow out the first popcorn kernal. After a few more blows of the nose, the 2nd kernal popped out. Whew! Disaster diverted! And congrats to me for not freaking out too much. I dumped out the rest of the popcorn and told him "No popcorn in your nose!"

We settled back into our movie/book mode. After a few minutes, Kevin grabbed my hand and tried to put my finger in his nose. I thought, what is with this kid and his obsession with putting things in his nose?! "Nose, mommy. Nose!" Not again! This time, I looked a little deeper into the first nostril and I saw what I thought must be another kernal...only it was WAY up in there! This begged the rhetorial question, How many popcorn kernals can a two-year old fit in his nose?!

After a thorough examination, I determined there was just the one kernal still in his nose. We then set about a more vigorous nose blowing session. Blow, blow, blow...nothing! I peeked in his nose...it hadn't moved at all! After a few more tries, I had a fleeting image of my tweezers upstairs in my bathroom drawer, but then came to my senses and decided this was a job for the professionals!

We hopped into the car, drove to Urgent Care, and signed in. I knew the nurses would love it when I told them why my son needed to be seen...she was remarkably composed when I said, "He has a popcorn kernal stuck in his nose." She even showed the appropriate amount of compassion. After a brief wait, and a sucker from the receptionist, we were called back. The nurse did a brief work-up, asked the usual questions, then told me they had another kid in yesterday with a sticker up his nose. Is there some sort of season for these things, or does it just happen all of the time?

Shortly thereafter, a pleasant looking doctor came in. He did a great job of showing Kevin his little light (and showing me the soft, bendable little instrument he was going to be shoving up my son's nose). His first attempt was made with Kevin sitting in my lap, my hand tilting Kevin's head back and the nurse holding Kevin's hands. Kevin was intrigued at first, but then quickly lost interest when the doctor shoved the little instrument up his nose. "I can't get at it from this angle," the doctor said.

So, we laid Kevin down with his head off of the examination table. My job was to hold his feet and hands, while the nurse held his head and shoulders. Once Kevin got wind of this, he was NOT interested. He squirmed and wiggled, but he never cried. Finally, he gave up, and the doctor popped that popcorn kernal out in 10 seconds flat! Hooray! Kevin sat up and we all gave him high-fives! The nurse gave him yet another sucker, as well as a sticker, and we were on our way.

Now, I have heard stories about children putting things into their noses, but I've never really understood it. Why would they do such a thing? Where were their parents? This has never happened to me before...Trevor and Ethan never showed the slightest interest in shoving anything up their noses. Only, Kevin is a rather interesting child. I'm actually not all that surprised that he would do such a thing. In fact, he has always been a little obsessed with popcorn kernals...you know, the ones at the bottom of your bowl of popcorn. I try to pick as many as I can out when I give him a bowl of popcorn, along with the admonition, "Don't eat the seeds...they're yucky!" I guess he found another thing to do with them. And I can honestly say, I wouldn't be surprised if he tried that again.

I wonder where I can get one of those flexible little plastic tool things...

Australia Trip: Blue Mountains

2008-11-04T19:51:00.000-08:00

My parents live in a very beautiful part of Australia, the Blue Mountains. Their town is called Springwood, a small town at the base of the Blue Mountains. It reminded me of the small towns and villages you drive through in the more rural parts of England, like the Cotswolds...small little buildings, people bustling about in the morning on the main street, going in and out of little shops for their morning errands. As you wind your way up the Blue Mountains, you find one of these small towns every10 to 15 kilometres or so. It was so green and lush, and the most amazing birds were flying around.

The day after we got there, Mom and Dad wanted to show us around their area. It was a very drizzly, foggy morning, and I was glad we had our jackets with us! (It is spring there right now, so the weather was sort of hit or miss.)

We drove up the main highway into Leura, a cute town where one of the branches of the church meet. They showed us their very unique church building:
It has a sort of open courtyard around it. The people are very proud of it because a prominent Australian architect designed it. It definitely stands out in the town!

We drove to Echo Point, which is a popular scenic spot because you can see the Blue Mountain valley, and the famous "Three Sisters," a rocky outcropping with 3 big rocks. Unfortunately, the fog had not lifted yet, and the view was completely hidden.

(Before)

That's Trevor demonstrating the lack of view. We hit the gift shop, then headed to nearby Katoomba to do a little shopping until the fog cleared. Mom and I went to a neat rock shop that specialized in opals and other native Australian rocks. The owner was originally from France (that's a strange combination of accent for you: French and Australian!) He hand cut and polished all of the stones himself. The opal jewelry was a little pricey, but Mom and I both found these amazing zebra stones there. He had amazing things! Robert and boys hit the local "discount stores" to see what they had. They ended up buying me "Tiffany" cookies (they weren't very good.)

The fog hadn't lifted and we were all hungry, so Mom and Dad took us to their favorite meat pie place, "Mountain High Pies." They were very good! They served them with a side of "mash" (mashed potatoes), peas (mashed peas), or pumpkin (mashed pumpkin). I chose the pumpkin...very tasty!
After lunch, we decided to try Echo Point again...this time the fog had cleared and the view was very different!

(After)

It reminded me of the Grand Canyon, with the reddish rock and the flat peaks jutting out, only it was covered with trees and the bottom was all rain forest. Of course, it also wasn't nearly as big as the Grand Canyon, but still very impressive! Here's a shot of the "Three Sisters":

At the base of the first "Sister" on the left, there is a little bridge. We decided we needed to go on the little bridge. The sign said it was a 1o minute walk, so Mom decided to accompany us (Dad stayed behind.) The trail started out nice, but then it got steeper and steeper, and muddier and muddier. Then we got to some "stairs" that led down to the bridge. I use the term "stairs" loosely because they were extremely steep, extremely large, and extremely uneven from all of the feet that had climbed them. Mom opted out for the crazy steep stair trip, so the rest of us ventured down them. Did I mention they were also extremely slippery because of the rain and drizzle earlier?Anyway, we made it down in one piece (thank goodness for hand rails, which were there every now and then.) The bridge ended up not being that exciting, but the view was beautiful. It was also very crowded with teenagers on a school field trip, so my pictures don't do it justice.

There was also an Aboriginal didgeridoo player at Echo Point. Mom and Dad actually knew him from someone in the branch...sort of a friend of a friend. His name was "Goombalah," although I'm not sure I'm spelling it right. The boys were a bit intimidated by him to sit for a picture, so I got to be in it all by myself!

Another shot with the "Three Sisters" in the background:
After snapping a million shots at Echo Point, we headed down to "Scenic World," home of the world's steepest funicular railway. It takes you down...straight down to the bottom of the Blue Mountain canyon into the rainforest. The ride was pretty exciting...no seatbelts. They played the theme from "Indiana Jones" as we went down, at a 56 degree incline! They had all sorts of protective bars and things on the cars, so we didn't get a good picture. But they had an older, less safe looking railway car set up at the bottom for pictures.

I didn't put a lot of pictures in from our walk through the rainforest because they just didn't do it justice. I've never been in a rainforest-type environment before...cool, dark, and the most beautiful greens and crazy plants, like 15 foot ferns and vines growing everywhere. It was so amazing just to stroll through and looks at all of the plants and trees...the boys loved it, too! After our stroll through the rainforest, we took a huge cable car back up to the top...a fun ride with great views!

Dad then told us he wanted to show us another great lookout point they discovered while visiting a less active lady one day. The clouds had started to roll back in, but it was still amazing! There was even an amazing waterfall...a huge drop down to the valley floor. There was hardly anyone at the that lookout point...a well-kept secret!

Dad then took us on his favorite scenic drive...down to "Megalong Valley." The road was very twisty and turny...Dad said he reminded him of the road to Hanna in Hawaii. At the end of the winding road, we got to the valley where there the trees cleared and there was beautiful farm land. With the Blue Mountains on either side of the valley, it reminded me of a scene from "The Man From Snowy River." Anyway, it was just beautiful. I had Robert pull of the road several times for pictures...we almost got stuck in a mud puddle at one point.

It was a great day...so beautiful. My parents get to drive through these places every day as they teach the gospel and serve the people of this area.

And they even get to see crazy signs like this:

(By the way, that's a wombat in the bottom left-hand corner...but we didn't get to see any one our drive!)

Australia Trip: Featherdale Wildlife Park

2008-11-02T14:55:00.000-08:00

One of our favorite days in Australia was spent at Featherdale Wildlife Park. Originally we thought we would only spend a few hours there, but we ended up spending the entire day! We saw the most amazing animals and even had a chance to get up close and personal with some of them.

Here's a Tasmanian Devil...
he reminds me of a "R.O.U.S." in "The Princess Bride"

Trevor really bonded with this pink cockatoo...
every time he walked by, the bird would scramble across the enclosure to see him.
He even bit a hole in the rim of Trevor's hat!

How cute is this baby koala?
He was hanging on for dear life while his mom crawled around the branches

Robert got to hold a kookaburra.
A little while later, we heard his crazy laughing call.

This has to be the hugest crocodile I've ever seen in real life.
He sat so still, we all thought he was a statue at first.
(That's Trevor behind the glass reacting to his large size.)

How unbelievable...an albino peacock with his feathers out?!
All of the peacocks were showing off that day...they really do shake their tail feathers!
(They are also very loud.)

Ethan and Trevor got up close and personal with this koala.
Koalas sleep 20 hours a day!

Trevor got to feed this adorable wallaby, sort of like a mini kangaroo.
It's some sort of feed inside of a plain ice cream cone.

It was tricky finding a hungry one...
they were just roaming around the park!

This one decided he like the cone better than the feed.

I couldn't get over this crazy pheasant bird...
that yellow hair on his head was almost neon!
(It was hard to get a picture because he kept running around.)

The boys with Grandpa

We also saw the inland taipan (the most venomous snake in the world), wombats (sort of like furry little pigs), frill-necked lizards, emus, the tallest storks ever, and a cassowary (the strangest, dinosauriest bird I've ever seen). An amazing day!

We Made It! We're Here!

2008-10-14T03:54:00.000-07:00

We are officially "down under," literally half-way around the world! After a 4 hour plane ride, followed by a day stopover in San Diego, a few tears saying goodbye to Kevin, a 2 hour car ride to LA, a 1 hour delay, a 14 1/2 hour flight to Sydney, and a harrowing 1 hour car ride on the wrong side of the road with Robert at the wheel, we have arrived at my parent's home in Springwood, New South Wales, Australia!

At dinner tonight we figured out it's been almost 48 hours since we last had a full-night's sleep in a bed. We did sleep on the plane, but only in a couple of few hour bursts. We all napped this afternoon, and Mom really had to rouse us for our first official Australian outing: seeing kangaroos in the wild!

We visited the Blue Mountain National Park, which is about a 15 minute car ride from my parents' home. We drove through a few miles of winding, alternating paved and dirt roads, then finally came to a clearing where we saw 7 kangaroos happily grazing on some grass. We even saw a "joey" sitting in his mommy's pouch! She was bent over eating grass, and he popped his head out and ate, too! So cute, and so completely Australian! I also loved seeing the beautiful birds flying around...lorikeets, cockatoos, and even kookaburras! So many eucalyptus trees...just lush, verdant, and loud, with so many birds calling. This place is truly amazing. I can't wait for our adventure tomorrow...but I must get some sleep (my posting right now is helping me stay awake a few more hours in an attempt to adjust to Australia time!). Here are a few shots:

The first leg of our trip:

waiting for the shuttle to the MSP airport

A tearful good-bye to Kevin

(more like my tears, his desire to just get down and play!)

After 14 1/2 hours on a plane!

This is what a very happy grandma looks like!

(She ran ahead of my dad to hug us all)

Grandpa finally caught up.

Mom and Dad's place
(with Robert's American parking job...the car should be facing the other way!)

The boys trying to catch a few zzzz.
(It was very hard to wake up Trevor from his nap!)

Trevor and Ethan with a kangaroo in the background.
(Can you tell Trevor is feeling his jet lag acutely?!)

The kangaroos let us get fairly close!
(apparently a group of kangaroos is called a "mob")

This is the mommy kangaroo with her joey...

Can you see his little face sticking out?

Here's a kookburra sitting in an old gum tree...
We didn't get to hear him laugh.
(It was getting dark!)

I'll try to post again in a few days!

Tagged...Ack!

2008-09-30T12:01:00.000-07:00

I was tagged by my friend Cathy, and these were the instructions: "Go to your pictures file and pull the fourth picture from your fourth folder. Post it."

So to get her off my back, I'm posting this random shot...

It's Trevor and me ransacking our Christmas stockings at Robert's dad's house. Look how young Trevor looks! I suppose I look younger, too. Scary!

Ok, so the fun part about tagging is tagging other people. I tag...Stacey P., Stacey E., K atherine E., and Diane C. Can't wait to see your random shots!

Super Saturday Projects

2008-09-16T19:09:00.000-07:00

I have heard from "a few people" (Marsha!) that it would be helpful to post pictures and info on the Super Saturday projects on my blog. Well...it was a good idea, so here goes.

Super Saturday is November 8th. We've got some fun and easy projects--and, of course, some wonderful teachers--this year! All of these projects would make great gifts for family members, neighbors, co-workers, or teachers. By the way, the last day to sign up for projects is Sunday, September 28. Please have your money to your teachers by that day so they have plenty of time to buy their supplies.

"Home" Wall Hanging
This sample shows a variety of knobs so you can see what they might look like,
but I think it looks great with all of the different knobs!
Price: $6.00 (Please bring your own knobs)
Teacher: Sarah Chapinski
Time to complete project: 3 hours (including drying time between coats of paint)

Christmas Hanging Tiles
A beautiful, unique holiday decoration for your home!
Price: "Joy" $4.50, "Noel" $5.00 (ribbon color may vary)
Teacher: Stacey Preator
Time to complete project: 30 minutes

Etched Votive Candle Holder
Very easy -- makes a great gift!
Price: $2.50 (image may vary; will have Christmas and Fall images to choose from)
Teacher: Heather Solberg
Time to complete project: 15 minutes

Etched Casserole Dish
Etch your name on your glass casserole dishes or pie plates--or give it as a gift!
Several font choices available--see sign-ups
Price: $3.00 (does not include glass dish)
Teacher: Heather Solberg
Time to complete project: 20 minutes

Family Scripture Activity Bag
Pick an object, then read the scripture that goes along with it.
Great for Family Home Evening or as a Sunday activity!
Price: $5.00
Teacher: Tiffany Burgoyne
Time to complete project: 45 minutes (we will be sewing the bags...but they are very easy!)

Nativity Glass Block
A beautiful, but easy, holiday decoration!
Price: $12.75
Teacher: Lori Manzella
Time to complete project: 20 minutes

Hair Clippies
For the cute little girl in your life!
Prices: (starting at top, going clockwise)
'mod' dainty clippie: $2.25
'watermelon' bow: $1.75
'strawberry ice cream treat' bow: $1.75
'Sassy Summer' so-big clip: $2.75
'mod' so-big clip: $2.75
'black tie' bow: $1.75
'pretty in pink' so-big clip: $2.75
Teacher: Mercedes Macdonald
Time to complete each project: 15 minutes

Beaded Ornaments
These would make great gifts!
Prices:
Blue Snowflake: $2.60
Icicle: $1.00
Silver Snowflake: $3.25
Teacher: Melissa Dean
Time to complete each project: 10 minutes

Handmade Card Tin
This cute card set includes 6 all-occasion cards and envelopes,
plus the adorable decoupaged tin!
Price: $10.00
Teacher: Stacey Erickson
Time to complete project: 1 1/2 hours

Holiday Wooden Magnets
Great gift for teachers or neighbors!
Price: $6.50
Teacher: Stacey Preator
Time to complete project: 45 minutes

Black Wooden Magnets
Price: $6.50
Teacher: Stacey Preator
Time to complete project: 45 minutes

First Day of School

2008-09-07T21:08:00.000-07:00

The first day of school came around very quickly this year! Both of the boys were very excited, but I think Kevin wondered where they were all day. He definitely missed them! Ethan's favorite thing about school is eating lunch there!

Trevor favorite thing about school is having a bunch of his friends in his class this year.

We were worried Kevin would try to get on with them, but I guess he's not quite ready for that!

Crystal Cave with the Tennants

2008-09-07T21:04:00.001-07:00

One of our last adventures for the summer was our trip to Crystal Cave with our friends, the Tennants. Very informative and chilly, but well worth the trip! Afterward, we hit the A&W but saved room for Nelson's Ice Cream in Stillwater.

Catching up on Summer: State Fair

2008-09-07T20:53:00.000-07:00

Robert's mom came into town, too, and I convinced her to hit the State Fair. It was an exhausting, fun, delicious, tiring day. We ate and ate...my favorite treat being the roasted corn on the cob! Ethan and Kevin LOVED their Sno-cones, and Trevor preferred the mini donuts. Everyone rode a couple of rides...the favorite being the Giant Slide. I hope Grandma Sandi got more pictures than I did!

Catching up on Summer: Pop Pop's Visit

2008-09-07T20:45:00.001-07:00

Another highlight from the summer was a visit from Robert's dad, affectionately known as "Pop Pop" around here. He stayed the weekend and gave the boys some rocket flying lessons. By the end of his stay, Pop Pop had decided to turn off his hearing aids so he could get some peace and quiet!

Getting ready to launch

He's a rocket pro!

Trying on Pop Pop's shoes

They almost fit--give him a few years!

Raingutter Regata

2008-09-07T20:39:00.001-07:00

Trevor's Cub Scout Pack held a Raingutter Regata this summer. Unfortunately, we didn't get the boat kit until a couple of days before, and Robert was out of town. Needless to say, Trevor's boat wasn't the quickest. Maybe next year...

He gets points for style, right?!

Ready to race...

On your mark, get set, blow!

Funny Pics of Kevin this Summer

2008-09-07T20:30:00.000-07:00

I thought I would post some cute pictures of Kevin from this summer...he's definitely at a cute, though often trying, age right now.

One evening, Ethan and Kevin got all geared up.
Love the backwards hat.

Don't mess with me.

Rub-a-Dub-Dub!
We had a little pool on the deck all summer, by Kevin preferred this big tub!

Nauvoo Trip 2

2008-09-07T20:27:00.000-07:00

Here are some more pictures of our trip. We spent the last day on a horse-driven wagon ride, taking pictures by the temple, and a visit to Carthage. What a great trip! It's always amazing to learn more about the history of our church. I'm glad the boys were old enough this time around to really be interested!

Catching Up on Summer: Nauvoo Trip 1

2008-09-07T20:18:00.000-07:00

We had a great trip to Nauvoo, Illinois, with our friends the Preators and the Deans. Last time we were in Nauvoo, Ethan was Kevin's age! The first day was very hot, but the kids made it through. We loved all of the shows, especially Sunset by the Mississippi (my boys still talk about one of the skits they did), and definitely the Nauvoo Pageant.

Todd, Denise and Nora Visit: ComoTown and Zoo

2008-09-07T20:02:00.000-07:00

We spent a fun day at Como Town and Como Zoo. Nora was the bravest about the rides...she wanted to ride everything! (My boys aren't the bravest bunch.) I loved the permanent smiles on their faces. The animals were fun to see, as well...I didn't get many pictures of them. The last picture in the slide show is at our house...all of the cousins on the slide.

Todd, Denise and Nora Visit: Duluth

2008-09-07T19:35:00.000-07:00

My brother, Todd, and his family, Denise and Nora, came to visit. We were very excited to have them here! We tried to inundate them with all of the things you have to do in MN...like visiting Duluth! We had a great time...the weather was perfect, and the kids had a blast throwing rocks in the water and swimming in the hotel pool. We think we kind of converted them to the beauties of MN!

Catching Up on Summer: Star Wars Exhibit

2008-09-07T19:13:00.000-07:00

I'm attempting to catch up on our summer adventures. Here are some pictures of our highly anticipated visit to the Science Museum to see the Star Wars Exhibit. We went with our friends, the Tennants. Fun times!

Kevin's Dancing

2008-08-23T16:00:00.000-07:00

Here's some video of Kevin getting his groove on...he kept dancing to the songs on this little stuffed dog. His signature move is at the beginning of the video...the left-footed stomp. (Also, you may have to ignore some of the background talking!)

Swapping with My Neighbor

2008-06-28T13:13:00.000-07:00

My back-door neighbor Kay (she lives behind me) and I make a swap each summer...I give her some of my rhubarb and she gives me some of her beautiful peonies...
I have told her she can have any of my rhubarb any time, regardless of a swap, but I do love looking at these fluffy, droopy flowers! I need to plant some next year...although I love the whole neighbor swap thing, too!

Trevor's Comic Book Stand

2008-06-28T13:11:00.000-07:00

Trevor and his friend Ryan set up a stand on our street selling comic books that they had made, as well as water bottles for 5 cents (what a bargain!).

Unfortunately they were out selling at about 2 p.m. on a Friday, so there wasn't a whole lot of traffic. They did end up making one sale...Big Al down the street walked by and bought a bottle of water for a whole dollar! They were very excited. I guess he wasn't interested in the comic book.

The sign they made cracks me up because it's so hung up on all of the "no's":Whatever happened to "customer service"?!

Summertime Pics

2008-06-28T12:54:00.000-07:00

Here are few shots of the boys so far this summer:

Kevin in the swimming pool (about the get water dumped on him by his brother).

Trevor all tied up in the hose (hmm...I wonder who did that to him)

Don't you just love corn on the cob?!

Neighbors

2008-06-28T12:48:00.001-07:00

Our neighbors moved about a month ago, and I thought I would post a few pictures of their girls playing with the boys and eating cake. They are so cute! They call me "Tiffany Auntie."

They have moved a little further out of the Twin Cities, but we have promised to stay in touch! In fact, they stopped by to visit last week and invited us over in a couple of weeks. They are originally from Pakistan and we have enjoyed learning about their culture and Muslim faith so much! We miss you guys!

Ethan's Training Wheels

2008-06-28T12:35:00.000-07:00

Ethan got a new bike last month, and we've been talking all about when he's going to take his training wheels off (a goal I have for him this summer). One day he told me he will take them off on June 21...not sure what the significance of that date is, but at least he has a goal in mind. We were all very surprised when he asked Robert to take them off on June 13th, almost a full week ahead of schedule! After a few shaky starts, he got it!
Here's some video of the momentous occasion:

Training Wheel Update: After a nasty spill a few days later, Ethan has since asked that the training wheels be put back on...I guess we need a little more practice!

Chuck E. Cheese

2008-06-28T12:19:00.000-07:00

I try to avoid Chuck E. Cheese at all costs, but sometimes you just have to go. We decided to go a couple of days after school got out while Grandma Sandi was in town. You get free tokens for your grades, so the boys were very excited to be rewarded for their efforts (they did a great job at school this year!).

Trevor and Ethan spent all of their tokens on Mario Kart 2, which cracks me up because Grandma Sandi just brought Mario Kart for Wii as a present for the boys two days earlier! Don't ask me to explain the logic of playing the same game we have at home when you're at Chuck E. Cheese.

Kevin wasn't so into the games, but he did find out all about the tickets. It took all of our energy to keep him from swiping other people's tickets! Here's Grandma Sandi trying to teach him how to bowl a "skee-ball."

Kevin's official job when he grows up will be filling the Ticket Muncher machine.Kevin was also enthralled by the animatronic Chuck E. Cheese. Not sure if he liked him or if he was kind of terrified by him...

By the way, who's that kid in the green shirt that snuck into our family picture?Not sure who he is...but he's kind of cute. I guess we'll keep him.

Painting Project

2008-06-28T12:02:00.000-07:00

OK...I'll be the first to admit that I get a little hung up on miniscule details at times. Since we got our new siding, trim, and roof last fall, I've been meaning to tie up a few loose ends on the exterior of our house. It's taken a few months, but I finally finished! Can you guess what I did? Here are the before and after pictures:

It's hard to tell in this shot, but I painted the trim around the garage to match the new cream trim all over the house. So much better than the dark brown! I also painted the garage door a new tan...yes, it's a totally different tan than before. Now it matches the new siding a little bit better. It's been bugging me all winter! Ethan told me that he thinks this new color should be called "skin."

Here's another little painting project. Can you tell the difference in the before and after?

It's not the flowers...do you see it? I painted the post cream (to match my new storm door and trim), the board under the door a light tan (to match the siding), and the front door got a new color...yes a NEW color! No one believes me...it used to be a sort of brick red, and now it's more of a burgundy red...totally different! Now it matches my shutters, which has been bugging me ever since we moved into the house!

OK...I need therapy. But, at least now I can rest a little bit easier at night.

Mr. Darcy's Birthday

2008-06-28T11:48:00.000-07:00

In honor of Mr. Darcy's 11th birthday, the boys decided to celebrate by making him a cat treat feeder out of Legos. Here are the results:As you can see, there is a little cup with a sliding lid taped to the top...it holds the cat treats. The boys put a towel on the bottom so Mr. Darcy can snuggle up, if he likes. Very clever!

Here's Kevin "helping" Darcy eat his treats:As you can see, Mr. Darcy seemed to enjoy this contraption very much.

We also made a stop at the local pet store to pick up a few presents, one of which was a laser pointer. Darcy become quite "kittenish" when we broke that one out. He chased that little beam of light all over the house. Endless hours of entertainment for the boys...although I had to remind them several times to "not point it at people's (or animal's ) eyes." (I'm such a mom.)Of course no birthday would be complete without a "birthday cake." Here's what Trevor came up with:
That's a marshmallow (a Mr. Darcy favorite) with a couple cat treats on top. Yum! Anyway, we're glad that Mr. Darcy is a part of our family...we love him very much (even if he can be a bit arrogant and prideful at times!)

Embarrassing Moment at Church

2008-05-05T12:35:00.001-07:00

Yesterday Kevin kept saying "Amen" during church. (We've been trying to teach him about how to pray.) At some point during the meeting, he got "Amen" mixed up with a new phrase he learned from his brothers:

As the meeting progressed, and Kevin got more and more antsy, he started talking VERY loudly. After someone had finished speaking, and the congregation said, "Amen," Kevin shouted, "Oh man!" He couldn't have picked a quieter moment! Needless to say, the entire section sitting by us broke out into laughter. Ah...kids.

The Trampoline Lives Again!

2008-05-05T12:07:00.000-07:00

Last August we had a crazy thunderstorm pass through our neighborhood. We lost a tree, a shed, some siding, some shingles, and our trampoline. We only had the trampoline for a few months before this happened:

Looks like a spider that has curled up it's legs and died, doesn't it? Anyway, we were very sad to see our trampoline go, and we promised the kids we would get a new one in the spring (courtesty of insurance money). So, last Thursday we purchased the exact same trampoline, although we were dreading the assembly because it had taken us so long the last time we put a trampoline together. Turns out, practice makes (almost) perfect!Our neighbor said it took us a lot less time to put this one up. I guess we might have a future as trampoline assemblers (Robert says absolutely not.) We might have to try to figure out a way to tether this one into the ground. If this one gets blown over, we've decided that it's the will of the trampoline gods that we not own one.

After putting this one together, unfortunately we had a day of crazy rain so the kids didn't get a whole lot of jumping time right away. Ethan, however, was determined...here is some video of him jumping in the rain:

Kevin's Conversation Skills

2008-04-25T12:13:00.000-07:00

One more video from last night. After dessert (chocolate ice cream, which you can still see all over his face), Kevin had a lot to say. Occasionally he'll just burst out into this several minute long dialog, none of which contains a recognizable word. I usually just play along and try to carry my part of the conversation. It just cracks me up! My favorite part are his hand gestures...they remind me of Robert when he's teaching or telling a story.

Kevin Loves "Popcorn Popping"

2008-04-25T11:53:00.000-07:00

Kevin loves the "Popcorn Popping" song, and I've been trying to get it on video for a while. Last night he was in the right "mood" and since it was right after dinner, he was still strapped in the high chair (that kid just doesn't stop moving). There are two run-throughs...it took him a minute to warm up to the camera. So, stick with it...it gets pretty cute towards the end.

P.S. This is mainly for the entertainment of those grandparent types...you know how they eat this stuff up! (And, that's Ethan you hear helping in the background.)

Trevor's Surgery

2008-04-25T11:28:00.000-07:00

Last Wednesday Trevor had sinus surgery and an adenoidectomy. He was pretty brave, I have to say. I played the "Brave Mom" until they actually asked me to leave after they had put him to sleep. It was like every mothering bone in my body was screaming not to leave him! In my head, though, I knew he would be OK. Thank goodness Trevor was asleep by the time I started to tear up. In the picture above, he's making a face because he didn't want me to take his picture. (I think he was a little embarrassed about wearing tiger pajamas that said, "Good night, little tiger." I thought they were kind of cute.)
They marked his cheek so they knew which side they were working on.
Trevor sort of flinched when they came at him with a marker. He thought it was funny afterwards. "Doesn't the doctor know which side to work on?" he asked.
I got to get all geared up, too, right before we went in. Isn't it a lovely ensemble? As we walked into the operating room, I started getting flash backs to my bladder surgery that I had when I was 5. I had told Trevor all about it before his surgery. Trevor laid down on the table and the anesthesiologist asked him what flavor of "gas" he wanted...he chose bubble gum. Then they asked him to count. One of the nurses told him to count down from a million, which he thought was funny. He started counting and you could tell he was really fighting going to sleep (which I remember doing when I was 5!). At about 20 his hands started twitching and his eyes kind of rolled around. The doctor said she thought he was probably mostly asleep, but just a little bit confused. Finally, he closed his eyes and I left, fighting back tears all the way to the waiting room!

The surgery only lasted about 25 minutes, then the doctor came to get us and told us how everything went, as well as what to expect with his recovery. It took him a while to wake up...it was almost another hour before they let us see him. He didn't look that great, so I started to tear up again. They had me sit in a big recliner on wheels, and then they put him on my lap. It's been a while since I've had that kid on my lap! He's huge! What happened?! He started to perk up after a while, ate some ice chips and popsicle, then he fell asleep. They had given him some tylenol with codeine and that seemed to do the trick for him. After a while, we decided he would be more comfortable (and me, too...he was heavy) if we just headed home. He was sort of comatose the whole way home, but perked up when we got there. We watched like 3 movies in a row until he finally passed out around 8 p.m.

Sandi was in town, which was great help. She kept Ethan and Kevin busy so we could all rest. She was a life-saver!

So, this is what he has looked like the passed week or so, just lying on the couch and watching all kinds of TV and movies. He perked up around last Friday, but then bombed out again Saturday. He went to school on Tuesday, but that didn't go so well. He was really worn out when he got home. So, he's been home the rest of this week, just lying around and moaning from time to time. The adenoidectomy really took it out of him, the doctor said at his post-op check-up on Wednesday. It has also given him astonishingly bad breath, which he uses as a weapon on his brothers. His appetite is slowly coming back...he's been living on breakfast shakes, scrambled eggs, chicken noodle soup, and smoothies. I'll be grateful when I have my old Trevor back. And it will be great not to fight those chronic sinus infections anymore. No more, "Trevor, blow your nose" every hour! Hooray!

Ah...Minnesota "Spring"

2008-03-22T12:21:00.000-07:00

It happens every year...the stores start clearing out the winter gear and replacing it with spring and summer clothing. Easter is around the corner, so all of those cute "springy" decorations come out...but in Minnesota, it looks nothing like spring. Oh, it will tease you...start to warm up into the 40s, with the snow melting and birds chirping. But DON'T BE FOOLED! Winter is definitely not over! In fact, you have to be well into May before you can even start calling it "spring." We've had about 8 inches of snow over the past few days and lucky Grandma Sandi (visiting from California) got to help shovel the driveway...
Kevin had to help, of course...

Ethan was an excellent sled-puller...

And you've just got to love those pink cheeks! (minus the perpetually runny nose.)

One of the good things about Minnesota spring snow is that it is nice, wet, and sticky, perfect for snowmen and snowball fights. Robert and the boys came up with these creative snowmen...

Can you name those Star Wars characters? (Hint: you need to know your light saber colors.)

That's right...the epic light saber duel between Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader. (Luke could really use a nice, shaggy blond wig, don't you think? We have a purple light saber, so the lack of hair would have suited a snow Mace Windu, but Ethan was determined to make it a Luke Skywalker.)

Happy Birthday, Trevor!

2008-03-17T20:47:00.000-07:00

Today my little boy turned 9! I can't believe it! He is such a great guy. He has the greatest sense of humor and he scares me a little with how quickly he catches on to things. He's also kind and loving. He so curious about the world...I find myself explaining things like insurance and investing to him. Last night, before he went to bed, I told him I would never see 8-year old Trevor again. He thought that was funny, but then got a little sad about it. He said, "It was fun being 8." How awesome that he knows it's great to be a kid! I assured him that 9 will be a great year, too. Here's a picture when he was about 6 months old:What a face! Look at those cheeks and those little ears that stick out! Where did the past 9 years go?!

On Friday night we had a Wii Sports party with 8 boys at our house. It was a lot of fun. I borrowed a Wii from a friend, so we had two Wiis going, so all 8 boys could play at once. I got them headbands and wristbands to wipe off all their "sweat" while they played Wii bowling and tennis. At the end, they all received trophies with their names and "Wii Sports Champ" on them. Sandi (Robert's mom) flew in to help with the party. I think we were both exhausted after a couple of hours with those boys! I think I'm done with big at home parties for a while.

Today Trevor took St. Patrick's Day pencils to school, along with some fun worksheets for his "birthday treat." (Our school has asked that we cut back on all of the sweets for birthdays.) We opened presents after he got home for school, went out to eat at Trevor's favorite restaurant (Chili's), then checked out the new Nickelodeon Universe at the mall. It was fun! Afterwards, we had a giant cookie cake that Sandi picked up for his birthday cake. All in all, a fun day!

Kevin's First Haircut

2008-03-11T20:56:00.001-07:00

Yes, yes...I'm a lazy blogger. It's been 2 months since my last post...and I'm sorry! You've all probably given up on me by now. I'll try to catch all of you up on the daily doings of our family. Here are a few pictures (before and after) of Kevin's first haircut, which I reluctantly agreed to. The male contingent of our family were very pro-first-haircut. I just knew he wouldn't have that little baby look anymore! Ethan told me one day that he looked like a girl, so I sadly agreed. (I just had to memorialize those little curls with a few pictures.)
Kevin was very into the suckers at the hair place. He had the first one unwrapped and in his mouth, with the wrapper thrown away before I could even blink. We did have a few tears when she put the cape on, but he endured as best as he could, as long as no one touched his sucker. I love the last picture because you can see the bits of hair stuck to his chin with sucker drool.

Christmas in DC (Air & Space Museum)

2008-01-01T21:21:00.001-08:00

We spent a lot of time in the Air & Space Museum...it was amazing! We even got to see a bit of the American History museum within the Air & Space Museum (the actual American History museum is closed for renovation). Trevor LOVED seeing all of these great objects from history, like Abraham Lincoln's hat and the desk on which Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence. We turned the corner and we saw Dorothy's ruby slippers, Mr. Roger's sweater, and the original Kermit the Frog puppet. We also spent an afternoon at a satellite of the Air & Space Museum near Dulles airport. We saw an actual Space Shuttle, the Enola Gay, a Concorde jet, and lots of other great airplanes. The boys were troopers...we were all getting over various stages of colds.

Christmas Eve in DC

2008-01-01T21:20:00.001-08:00

We spent a wonderful week in Virginia with Robert's dad and his wife Nancy. We got to see lots of extended family that we don't get to see often...and we even met some family members that's we've never met before! Besides seeing family, we also got to spend a wonderful couple of days in our nation's capitol. On Christmas Eve we took in the sights of Washington DC. The weather was beautiful, until the sun started going down. (You can see our noses getting redder as the pictures progress.) It was great to visit all of these historic sights together, even if it was quite a walk for the boys after spending the day in the museum. Our one disappointment was not getting to go up the Washington Monument. We got there too late to get tickets. Oh well...we'll have to go back to do that, but maybe when it's a bit warmer. Anyway, it was a great way to spend Christmas Eve!

Ethan's Birthday

2007-12-11T12:47:00.000-08:00

Can't believe it, but my little guy is 6 years old now! He has been such a trooper and is doing so well in school. We had a little birthday party for him Friday afternoon with a few friends friends from church and a few friends from school. It was a pirate party (my favorite at-home party theme), complete with pirate hats, a treasure hunt, and "treasure" at the end. It went really well. Trevor was sad to miss it (he was still at school), but he helped me figure out the treasure hunt clues and even hid the treasure for me (in the shed in the backyard...yes, I made them tromp through the snow to get it!) Kevin took his nap through the whole thing, which helped a lot. I told the kids that there was a dragon sleeping upstairs and that they should be careful not to wake it, although Kevin is fairly used to sleeping through all kinds of noise around here. We celebrated as a family on Saturday, and Ethan got his favorite present: a camera! Yes, after pestering me all the time to use my camera (and dropping my brand new one a few months ago), he now has one of his own! I will post more about this later. Happy Birthday to my Ethan...what a sweet boy! (P.S. That's a Cold Stone cake...with all the party preparations, I totally forgot about a cake! I think this one was yummier than anything I would have made, anyway!)

Another Birthday

2007-11-29T13:59:00.000-08:00

So my birthday was yesterday...I've reached that milestone age of 34. I never actually thought I would forget how old I am, but I must say I had to do some calculating recently to figure it out. Which is funny because Ethan is constantly reminding everyone how old they are (watch out if he asks you how old you are...eventually everyone will know). It was a nice day...Ethan kept asking me what time my party was. I had to do a little explaining about how adults don't usually have parties for their birthday. He looked perplexed when I told him that, and a little sad. I spent the morning finishing up the laundry and putting up Christmas decorations. I did squeeze in some time to do a New York Times Crossword (my secret addiction). I had lunch with friends, had an hour-long talk with my parents on the phone (they told me my birthday was actually a day earlier in Australia), and put away the laundry. Robert gave me flowers and dusted (best present ever...I HATE dusting). We went out to dinner and had cake afterwards.
Then I went to card class...see my beautiful creations?!

(I did not come up with these beautiful designs, but I did put them together...not sure what I'll use them for yet). All in all, a great birthday!

A Year With Frog and Toad

2007-11-29T13:49:00.000-08:00

We went to see "A Year With Frog and Toad" a couple of weekends ago at the Children's Theatre. (Kevin had to stay home with a babysitter.) It was SO cute! We loved it! Ethan was laughing so hard and so loud the whole time. The rest of us laughed our fair share, as well. By the end of the show, Ethan was talking back to the performers. Great cast, great music, great stories...they did a fantastic job of keeping the charm of the books, while interjecting some theatrical magic and pizazz. The whole show and the whole experience was just great! We highly recommend it for all ages.
Here's a link to the CD of the show's music (which we promptly purchased afterwards). http://www.amazon.com/Year-Frog-Toad-Original-Recording/dp/B0001IN0LW
It doesn't do it justice because it just has clips of the songs, but we are still singing the songs around the house and in the car. Did I mention it was great?! I think it may become a yearly tradition.

I love my spoon

2007-11-29T12:52:00.000-08:00

Kevin has discovered the wonders of using a spoon. He refuses to eat any other way. The only way I can get him to try new foods is by handing him the spoon...he'll eat just about anything as long as its on a spoon. He's got a bit of practicing to do yet for his aim. (You also get a nice look at his 5 day old shiner.)

Black Eye

2007-11-29T12:46:00.000-08:00

Kevin got his first black eye (as I watch his personality emerge, I am sure there are more to come). He and Ethan were taking a bath before church a few weeks ago and things got a little crowded. Kevin decided to try out his sea legs and stand up. He promptly slipped and caught the edge of the tub. Lovely! Our favorite caption for these photos: "You should see the other guy." Unfortunately, they don't caption the color in its full glory...that came a few days later.

Halloween (yes, I know it's almost December)

2007-11-29T12:42:00.001-08:00

I'm attempting to catch up on blogging, since it's been a month since I last posted! Sorry, disgruntled blog viewers...I will try to mend my ways. Needless to say, things have been a little crazy around here and I find myself falling into bed soon after I put my own children to bed.

Halloween was great fun...Grandma Sandi came, as tradition dictates. Kevin was a reluctant trick-or-treater...2 houses was enough. (I have to admit, it was a little cold for my taste, as well). The candy was a big hit, though. He revived the leopard costume that both of his brother wore...and I think he wore it well. Ethan was a king...very suitable for his views on the world. If only he WERE king...that would make life so much more acceptable to him. Trevor was, to quote the title on the costume tag, an "Evil Knight." This was our first foray into scary costumes...I'm not sure how I feel about that. I had him omit the scary mask for the Halloween party at church.

The school parties were a success. Robert and I helped out at both the kindergarten party and the 3rd grade party. Lots of fun was had by all!

This just cracks me up

2007-10-29T14:02:00.000-07:00

So, we got this damage to our roof and siding from a storm in August. Ever since, we've had the joy of working with insurance companies, mortgage companies, and contractors. Our on-again-off-again contractors have been working on our siding off and on (and on and off) for the past week. I decided to document the stripping of my house with pictures. As I headed to the backyard to take a picture, I spied something that didn't belong on the back of my house:

I don't have a lovely telephoto lens (I am limited to the point-and-shoot variety of camera), but I'm sure you can try to make out what has been etched into the walls of my house by some wise-cracking worker from long ago...just look near the peak of the roof...yes, it says: DRUGS! The guys told me maybe I wouldn't want a picture of that...but it just cracked me up! They told me that they would cover it up and soon as they could, because we wouldn't want the neighbors to get the wrong idea...or ring the doorbell looking for me to hook them up.

The Perfect Autumn Evening

2007-10-28T20:14:00.001-07:00

Tonight we had so much fun raking up the leaves and sliding down into them. It was such a beautiful night. I know evenings like this will be very few and far between in the coming weeks. Robert says they are forecasting snow this week!

Our beautiful maple shed most of its leaves this morning. It's been getting down to freezing the past few nights. This morning the leaves just fell one after another!

Kevin was so funny tonight. He was trying so hard to climb up the slide (like his brothers), and when that didn't work, he worked and worked at going up the ladder and then going back down the ladder. And don't you dare try to stop him or help him! He has quite the stubborn streak. Makes me wonder what we are in for as he gets older!

Visit to the Apple Orchard

2007-10-28T19:36:00.001-07:00

We visited a local apple orchard last Saturday...it was a beautiful day! You can't see it in the pictures, but we were being attacked by lady bugs (or maybe Japanese beetles...not sure how to tell which is which). We've since eaten all of our apples and made several loaves of apple bread. I love autumn! And I love apples.

The Soundstairs at the Science Museum

2007-10-19T20:26:00.000-07:00

I'm trying out posting video. Unfortunately, I don't have any way to edit video on my archaic computer, so sorry if it's too long or boring...you don't have to watch it! (I'm thinking I need a Mac now...but those old PC habits die hard!)

This is at the Science Museum...the boys were having a blast going up and down these stairs that play a note each time you step on them. We spent almost the entire day at the museum and saw tons of exhibits, but Ethan kept saying, "Can we go back to the Soundstairs now?" (Translation: "I'm done with learning about refracting light...I want to run around and make noise!") We tried making harmonies, but couldn't coordinate it well enough. Guess we'll have to figure out a way to install these at our house so we can practice.

An Evening at the Children's Museum

2007-10-19T20:15:00.001-07:00

We had a great time at the Children's Museum with some friends. The kids have been off school all week so we have been taking advantage of all the great museums around here. It's been very "Seattle-esque" this week...lots of clouds and sporadic, and sometimes torrential, rain showers. The downside is that they couldn't work on re-siding our house (we got some wind damage from a storm the end of August), so we have to wait until we get a nice dry day. I'll post pictures of what is sure to be a very exciting ordeal once they start.
We finally heard from my parents in Australia...it had been almost 3 weeks since we had heard from them. I was ready to post "Have you seen these people?" on my blog. Now we know that they are doing well and working hard. We're so proud of them!

Build-a-Bear for Kevin

2007-10-13T12:06:00.001-07:00

Trevor and Ethan made a Build-a-Bear for Kevin for his birthday. They picked it out and put two little hearts inside (with a kiss and wish from each of them) and helped fill it with stuffing. Kevin loves his bear and gives it hugs all of the time! We decided that he can name it later on.

Kevin's 1st Birthday

2007-10-13T11:57:00.001-07:00

Here is a slide show with pictures from Kevin's 1st birthday. I made a bathtub cake because one of Kevin's favorite things to do is take a bath! He gets very excited whenever he hears the water running. The other day he nearly climbed in with all of his clothes still on! We had a fun time and he really enjoyed the cake. He also got into opening his presents. Can't believe he's 1 already!

Guilt Blogging

2007-10-09T20:54:00.000-07:00

Someone has added me to their blog list (Thanks a lot, Stacey), and since I'm quite sure her blog is well-trafficked, I am now compelled to finally add something to my blog.

I've hit a few road bumps in my effort to blog, or to "exist" in cyberspace, but I am determined to fight my way through it. I apologize early for the crudeness of my layout...I'm sure it will become more e-sophisticated as I learn the ropes. Sadly, my computer lacks the necessary software to make beautiful headers and things of that nature. Maybe when we buy our new computer...we are having the age-old Mac vs. PC debate. Where do you fall in that debate? I'd love to hear.

Here are some recent pics of the kids:
That's Kevin in a big box of big Legos,
Trevor with brownies that he baked all by himself (very tasty!),
Kevin on his airplane that he got for his 1st birthday (Robert is training him early),
and Ethan on his last day of soccer (so proud of his purple jersey)

Let the Blogging Begin

2007-08-29T14:21:00.000-07:00

Ok. I've been meaning to start a blog for a while now, so here it goes! I helped my mom get one started for her last week, so I figure I've got to keep up with her.

We just got back from San Diego last night, after a sad farewell to my parents, who will be leaving for an 18-month mission to Australia in a few weeks. We had a great time spending time with them and trying to help them get ready. I was sad to say good-bye, but also so excited for their new adventure. Plus, we hope to make travel plans at some point to see them in the "land down under."

Tonight is Open House for Trevor's and Ethan's school. Trevor starts 3rd grade next Tuesday and Ethan will be in kindergarten. After the Open House, Sandi (my mother-in-law) and I are off to the Minnesota State Fair to see Vince Gill (she bought the tickets, not me). It should be fun. Robert gets to get dinner for the boys and take them all to Trevor's soccer practice (in other words, he gets to be the soccer mom tonight).

I hope to post some pictures soon. Stay tuned!