New topic...Happy Birthday Justin!

Hmmm...let me think of a new topic.....quick! :)

I know! Happy 19th Birthday to Justin Mezera! Geez 19...no big deal right? Not 18, not 21. :)

John is going to a Twins game tonight - should be pretty exciting...it's against the White Sox. The two teams are fighting each other for a playoff spot.

Katie had another church choir rehearsal yesterday evening. She likes singing and performing, I like the fact that it's free.

During a local supermarket grand opening 2 weeks ago I signed up for some giveaways and found out that I won $25 from a Nail Salon in Eden Prairie. I think I'm gonna check that place out on Friday and see if I can find some type of Christmas present for Katie. Lord knows we probably don't need nail polish, but maybe they have some other girly type things...and hey - it's free.

We are in search of Katie's Halloween costume. She changes her mind every day. So far it'll either be a turtle (I like that one), a chicken, a duck, or a superstar. I am hoping she keeps with an animal theme...then Will can wear it too. We'll have to see what pops up on Craigslist for used costumes. I'm trying to sell her cheerleader costume from last year and her ladybug costume from 2 years ago - so far...no luck, but it's pretty early.

Will has gotten into playing with his trucks and cars lately. Sometimes he does it with a bracelet on, but still. I've been wanting to get a picture of him pushing them around...this is as close as I have come. They are a little fuzzy, but I had to snap fast before he saw me. :)

EASY!

Gosh I can tell whose side you guys are on!

Someday we may get a bigger pet..one that moves freely through the house. I think it best to wait until we are sure that Will won't beat it into submission or sit on it and squash it. And even though Betty isn't furry and cuddly, she does beg like a dog. Every morning when Katie goes up to her bowl to feed her she swims right to the top, watches Katie, follows her fingers along the bowl, and waits. Katie drops the food pieces in and CHOMP! You'd think she had teeth. That's all the animal excitement we can take.

I wish I had a kitty

We had an unexpected visitor at our house after lunch today. I was at the kitchen sink washing dishes, looked out the window and there was a cat laying on the deck. I held Katie up to see it and tapped on the window expecting it to run away, but it just laid there. We peeked at it through the door and I even brought Will over to see her. I thought "she'll run away once Will starts screaming at her and banging the window." Nope - if anything she wanted to come INSIDE. She meowed at the door, put her paws to the window, etc. It was very cute. I took some pictures so you could see her...she reminds me of Jane - a cat that Jim and Grandma Mary had out at the farm. Also reminds me of Smokey, a cat Grandpa and Grandma Lyla had - except I think she was a girl. No collar, no tags so I'm not sure where she came from.

A little later we went downstairs so Will could take a nap and after a while - there she was peering in the window. :) Katie kept saying "I wish we had a kitty." I explained we don't know this cat so we can't let it inside, and I think Betty (fish) is scared of cats (thankfully). I haven't seen her for an hour or so, so she probably went on to her next house...it was a nice visit though.

A step backward

I knew it. As soon as I made it public that Will was sleeping better, he would prove me wrong. The last 3 nights have been giant steps backward. Every night Will has woken at least 3-4 times. I usually let him cry for 10-15 minutes now before I get up and each time he was screaming til I sent to get him. He just wants to rock and nurse for 10-15 minutes and then he is back asleep. Hopefully it's just a phase - I think some back molars are working their way through. Seems that's my excuse for everything. :)

So Katie and John went golfing on Saturday and had a great time. They had a trophy that you could take pictures with, and Katie got fruit snacks to bring home.



Saturday night was going to be pretty calm weather wise so John offered to take Katie camping in the backyard. We all sat outside around the fire until Will had to go to bed...inside. Then John and Katie amused themselves with the fire and slept ALL NIGHT in the tent. He and Katie came into the house about 7:15 am the next morning. Of course Will and I were already awake because he decided that he wanted to get up at 6:30.

Our camping site in the far corner of our backyard.

Will was able to climb in these chairs all by himself. He would climb in them, sit for 2 minutes, climb down and move on to the next chair to do it again.

Yesterday the kids and I went to church and Sunday school. At noon the church was having a 'family reunion picnic.' It's an annual picnic lunch with games, a water slide, music, and a silent auction. All four of us went to that at noon and it was great! The weather cooperated so nicely! Katie tried the water for the water slide, but it was too cold. Then she got REALLY upset when some water slashed on her. Ok - so no slide. :) But she did play with hula hoops, basketballs, and jumped in the inflatable jumping houses. Everything was free and there wasn't very many people there at all. I think it is a fairly small congregation anyway and I am very impressed with the things they are able to offer and do for the community.

Katie jumping, while John looks on.

Will liked dancing to the music and basically just checking things out. Here's his disco pose.

She's learning something...

One of the fun things about preschool is having Katie come home and spontaneously break into a new funny song that I haven't heard before. This is one of them.
The stars at night go twink-a-link-a-link
Way up in the sky.
The moon at night goes blink-a-link-a-link
It shines right in my eye.
The skunk at night goes stink-a-link-a-link
I wish she'd go right by.
The twink-a-link-a-link, the blink-a-link-a link, the stink-a-link-a-link,
Oh my!


Yesterday was so beautiful! Katie, Will and I had a picnic lunch after school with most of her classmates from last year. One unknown parent remarked how amazing it is that we are all still so close. I spose it is unusual, but we had such a great class of kids that got along so well with each other and all stay at home moms (and one nanny) that could squeeze play dates into their schedule. :) We'll have another picnic in the spring and hopefully it will be even bigger because of all the new connections we make this year.

Will had his second gym class yesterday as well. He only lightly slapped two kids, and one of the girls that he 'hit' tried to kiss him during the puppet show so I think she had forgotten about it. :) He was having none of the kisses though - he kept pushing her away. It figures - that's what I get when I try to give him kisses too. :)

Today John and Katie are taking part in a pee-wee golf tournament for 3-5 year olds. John is Katie's caddy and official picture taker. I'll share them tomorrow hopefully.

Odds and Ends

There are lots of things I think to write about as I'm doing my day to day activities, but then I sit down at the computer and usually draw a blank. I think every now and then I will write about something other than the kids...so bear with me. :) I may give you a little background on myself, or post one of those survey things that make their way around the e-mail world...or better yet, have John post something. :)

First I want to announce a breakthrough on our end. Will's sleeping situation has gotten infinitely better in the last week or so. We changed up his nap time, put him to bed a little earlier, and BAM...he sleeps from 7:30 to 4 or 5 am...wakes for 10 minutes or so, nurses then goes right back to sleep til 7-7:30. I had been putting him down for a nap after lunch with Katie. Then one morning he fell asleep earlier - like 10:30 am...slept a few hours, and then had a great night. So far so good...I love sleeping at night again. I've only been getting up 2 or more times a night for the last 17 months (if you count bathroom breaks in pregnancy!)

Today Katie and I created a little chore chart for her. We put about 6 daily 'chores' on there that she gets to put stickers on if she completes them every day. For example, she is very good about putting her plate in the dishwasher after meals - so that is on there. Help set the table, clear the table, pick up toys, and brush teeth also made the list. Katie is wonderful, but I wish she would help out more with things like this - I think this will help. Then when she gets like 20 stickers or something like that - she gets to do something special like golf with dad, go bowling with mom, etc. I think rewarding with special time is more important than a toy or food treat...and cheaper too.

I actually wish I had a chore chart for myself. I think that if I had a list of all my daily 'chores' up on the wall I would get excited to put a sticker by them as I finished them.

That's Will, the climber. He climbs up on the table now so he can have a closer look at Betty, the fish. (She is doing great, by the way! Hey...feed the fish...there's another chore for Katie's chart!)

When I say 'closer look' I mean a WAYYYY closer look.

Katie is also very proud of the fact that she has mastered the art of 'pumping'.

Wet weekend

John is back from his golfing trip and we were all happy to see him. He had a good time, and at least it didn't snow on him like it did last year at this time. :)

While John was gone the kids and I tried to keep as busy as possible so that we wouldn't go stir crazy. Katie had school Friday. Will joined his first gym class. And Katie had a birthday party that afternoon for one of her classmates from last year. By 5:30 when we got home we were tuckered out.

Saturday brought rain...but we didn't let that dampen our plans. The kids and I swung by a local grocery store's grand opening after lunch. It didn't turn out to be much fun, but we did score a free piece of pie. Then we headed to Hyland Park for the annual Children's Book Festival sponsored by Target. This is our third trip to the event and it's always been fun. Most of the sponsors give really neat things away to the kids, not to mention the authors you can meet and characters you can get pictures with. There was constant drizzle in the air, but the temperature was pretty warm so we didn't mind it. Katie and I each had an umbrella, and Will had the hood of the stroller for protection. Katie ended up coming home with a couple jump ropes, a couple book bags to draw on, Play Dough, and other odds and ends. We had a good time, but would rather have sunny weather for next year.


Now it's Sunday - John got to relax from his trip while I took the kids to church this morning. Katie had a great time at Sunday school. Every month the church asks the kids to bring a different food item to stock at the local food shelf. September is peanut butter month so Katie took a jar of peanut butter with her. She asked what it was for so I explained that we were giving the peanut butter to the church so they could give it to a family that didn't have enough money to buy peanut butter. She looked at me kind of surprised and said "They don't have peanut butter?!?!" Then before I could respond she walked away and said "Well, I hope they have bread!"

I took Will to the nursery for church. Instead of fight with him for an hour to sit still, he gets to play with other babies, and I get to have some time to myself. :) The other day Will found a baby doll of Katie's. He hasn't really been interested in them at all, but that day he carried her around for about an hour. Then I gave him a bottle to feed her. It was WAY too cute. :)

"Why the heck did I do this?"

New church?

Whew. I finally have a minute after things have finally calmed down this week. With Katie's first day of school and adjusting to that new schedule, things have been a little rushed.

Last Sunday, Katie and I went to a new Lutheran ELCA church here in Chanhassen. I've been meaning to check out a few churches in the area since we moved, but time has gotten away from us. And the few that we had seen were just TOO big. I like the feel of a small local church. Sunday school started this past week so I thought what a perfect time to take a look at this new one. I spoke to some people Sunday morning who got Katie involved right away. She was very happy. They suggested that I attend with her that first day, just to make sure. What a flashback it was for me. They sang some songs before breaking into their classrooms. Katie and I rocked out to "Jesus Loves Me" and "Father Abraham." I remember what a FUN song "Father Abraham" was when I was little, and it still holds true today. Katie and the other kids were laughing and having a great time with it. So far, I like what I see. Everyone was very welcoming and approachable - sometimes you don't get that with Lutherans. :)

They also have a children's choir for 3-5 year olds that meets every Wednesday for 30 minutes. I thought that would be right up Katie's alley - we'll try that next week. Hopefully we start to meet people in the neighborhood and maybe we'll see some familiar faces at kindergarten next year. But c'mon a group of 3-5 year olds singing...how cute is that?

A Belated Happy Anniversary!

I meant to do this yesterday, but the day got away from me!

Happy 46th Anniversary to Grandpa and Grandma Lyla. (Luckily we had a party last year for the 45th...otherwise I probably would have NO IDEA how many years it was.)

Hope you are able to do something fun to celebrate!

First Day of School

Today was Katie's first day of preschool. She said she had fun with her teacher, Ms. Erin. She also was happy to see some old friends from last year as well as learn some new names of friends from this year. Katie will be going M/W/F from 9:40 - 12:10.
This year Katie had to show up the first day with a pretty swollen nose. She was at the playground near our house last night, slipped on some rocks and, well, her nose broke her fall. :( She was mighty upset for a while, but calmed down once the ice cream was dished out. We put some ice on it, and today had it x-rayed...just in case. Good news - nothing is broken, just bruised. It doesn't bother her AT ALL. :) I think she got my clumsy gene.

Happy Grandparent's Day!

Here's a cheer to Grandma Mary and Grandpa and Grandma Lyla! The kids are so lucky to have you in their lives. We love you!

Meet Betty Pladsen

We have a new addition to our family. Meet Betty Pladsen. She is a Betta fish that Katie picked out today at the pet store. So far...everything is great. Katie got her new home ready and fed her. She seems happy, if fish can be happy. Katie spent about 45 minutes talking to her and singing her songs. Will likes to look at her, but I think for the most part we will keep them away from each other. :)



Will discovered the art of golf last week. He really likes to hit the little balls around the room. He is surprisingly pretty good at it too. I guess he got that gene from John. So far he's only clobbered Katie twice and John once. :)

Will climbs to new heights

Yesterday Will climbed to new heights in the kitchen.

I thought, "Aw, cute - he's going to sit in the chair."

But he decided to keep going...

and going...

all the way to the top...the little stinker.

Pictures from IA

Seriously, the library is the perfect place for a little nap.

It's a good thing he took a nap cuz Will had to help Grandpa Hanson with the yard. It's good practice for when he'll have to help Jim on the tractors!

We found some dogs we liked at the family reunion. Katie actually touched them!

Will likes picking on cats better.

Will found a younger buddy at the reunion too.

Just an extra note...Katie went to a class today at a local nature center. She had a VERY good time and even got to eat lunch there. She gets to go again on Thursday before she starts preschool next week. There were about 5 kids from her old preschool class there and we found out one of them is going to be in her class for next year. She (and I) are very happy about that.

Home sweet home

We are back from our vacation up north and our visit to family down south. I really don't know where to start.

Our trip to Brainerd was great - my goal to blog about our daily activities was squashed early on. Besides tennis we all went golfing, played badminton, took a boat ride on the lake, and went fishing. Pretty much everything we wanted to do while we were up there - we did. Katie and John even caught some fish! I don't know which one was more excited. :)

John took all of us golfing one day as well. Not sure how often that will happen, considering I think I lost his 8 iron somewhere on the course. :) Katie had a blast driving the golf cart and Will, well, he liked holding the golf balls. We all agree that we should go back next year.

After our vacation up north we headed down to IA to visit our families for an entire week. Katie and Will took Grandma Mary to the library. (What a great place for a nap! Will slept like 1 1/2 hours right there on the floor in the children's area.) We visited a friend from college and got to see her new baby boy, had a picnic, and managed to squeeze in a family reunion too. It was a great trip...here are some pictures...

Katie got kind of excited after she made her first putt.

Will was very proud to it on Katie's bike.

Will says "What the heck is a boat??"

Katie and John's third or fourth fish.

Will is all about elegant dining.