Friday Funnies

Time to Move On

We've decided that it's time to move on to a new computer. "Oh, is that all" you say. Now, now, a lot of thought has been put into this, and a LOT of waiting at the mercy of our computer. Our dear computer is about 8 years old and I think we've put it to good use. It still works ok - just can't handle all the tasks we need it to do. We got this computer before digital cameras were in use, before MP3 files were everywhere, before digital videos were popular, before KIDS!

Hopefully by Friday I will make a decision on a unit and get it hooked up. I figured I better get some posts in before then so that you wouldn't miss us too much.

My friend, Jamie, and I went to the movie My Sister's Keeper on Saturday. Heard it was a tearjerker, but we figured we would both be all right since we had read the book. WRONG! Ten minutes in and I'm reaching for the tissues. The water works didn't stop til about 10 minutes from the end. A very touching story. Thanks to Jamie for being my date.

Sunday John and I took the kids to a community center a few towns over. The Welcome Wagon had given us a family pass to use their when we moved in so we thought we'd check it out. It had a heck of a kid's pool and Will and Katie had a great time. Katie could touch because it never got deeper than 3 feet and Will liked it because it was zero entry. Thanks to Katie's swimming lessons she can put her face in the water now without screaming about it. She can bob her head under too - although just above her eyes. Close enough. She has 3 swimming lessons left and will be VERY sad when they are over.

On Monday I had to turn in Katie's immunization paperwork for kindergarten. While we were there we played on Katie's new kindergarten playground to make sure that it would work. Will seemed to think it would be just fine for him too.

I don't think I need to tell you how excited Will was to find a TRACTOR there to play with.

Ah, peace. Each in their own space...each with the same toy.

I don't think you can see it in the pictures, but Will took a header over the weekend on the cement patio out back. John said when he saw Will fall he was sure that there was going to be some teeth loose, but it seems Will's nose broke his fall. He had quite a scrape on his nose and upper lip, but it's almost gone now. Didn't cry much - wanted to keep playing.

In trying to keep the kids busy tonight, John weighed each of them. In THIS corner we have the great Katie Lady weighing in at 36 pounds...and in the other corner, her challenger, the Willie Man, weighing in at 30 pounds! A 6 pound difference. I found that humorous. Will goes in for his 2 year check up tomorrow to log in his 'official' weight. We're glad his vocabulary has started to pick up. Shouldn't be any surprises.

Happy Birthday!!

Today we would like to send birthday wishes out to our friend Shelley Mahannah. (Newly married...first time I typed that name!)

She even took a day off work today to treat herself. :)

Happy Birthday!!

Remember me?

Ok - so it's been a busy week here...busy day, busy week, busy summer. I need to get some postings done!

Let's re-cap the last week...

A week ago last Sunday I got some kid-free time and was able to visit my friend, Shelley in Rochester. I was able to look through all her beautiful, funny wedding photos (at a "Deb" pace, not a "Mom" pace). We were able to spend some time catching up and I got out of there with a bottle of yummy wine from her reception. Not to mention a box of leftover reception goodies for the kids. They are having a lot of fun with the stickers and necklaces.

Katie started swimming lessons last week and they are going terrific! She has put her face in the water, but not her entire head...yet. I expect it to come by the end of the session. We have 3 about 6 lessons left this session. I hope to get Will into some type of class this fall too. I'm thinking a parent/child swimming class.

During the lesson, Will likes to practice his superstar windblown look. (From the vents in the floor)

This past Sunday we went to Rochester to meet up with some college friends and their kids. We met at a park for the day and had a picnic. The weather was great and everyone had a good time.

Cameron and Noah

Smiley little Cameron. It's hard not to take a cute picture. Here he's enjoying some birthday cake. Happy Early Birthday Buddy! He will be 1 tomorrow!!

One more thing...

One more thing...

Keep a friend of mine and her family in mind. Cori, a roommate of mine from college, had to watch her husband leave for Afghanistan yesterday. Cori and her two boys will be without Chris for 6 months, and although he'll miss Thanksgiving, Christmas and birthdays I know he'll return safe and sound.

Pie and Baseball

Saturday was Will's birthday, as you know, and we were able to get tickets to a Twins game for that evening. First, we had to have Will's birthday pie. He was able to blow out both candles on the first try! Kinda took us by surprise.

Katie was in a funk for part of the day. I think she was having a hard time with Will having the spotlight for the day, so I suggested that if we make a sign for her to take to the baseball game, it might land her on TV. (Note to self: Don't make a promise of being on TV to a 5 year old.) We watched a tape of the game and Katie was no where to be seen - but she also realized lots of other people who had signs were left out too. There's always next time.

"Bert" is the TV announcer for the Twins. Lots of people bring signs that say "Circle Me Bert" in hopes of getting on TV and being circled.

The game was good - we had great seats. And we had a lot of patient, forgiving people sitting by us, which always helps. Will must have kicked the people in front of us half a dozen times, he coughed on them, sneezed on them, threw a bottle at them and poked them with Katie's sign. They were very nice and insisted that they understood.

We stayed til the end of the game, which was a good thing because the last half inning was the most exciting of the whole game! But in the end, the Twins lost 8-7.

Seriously - what's more American than splitting a hot dog with your dad at a baseball game?

P.S. - Also, Katie had an appointment on Monday with a pediatric optometrist. At a recent check up it was noted that Katie's right eye was a bit off center and wouldn't turn in when she was trying to focus on something close up. (Like crossing your eyes) The condition is called Convergence Deficiency and she now has eye exercises to do everyday. When she focuses on something far away, her alignment is great - if it wasn't, we would have to do glasses, but for now the exercises are all that is needed. She goes back in a couple months to see if it's any better. It isn't serious, but could cause problems when she starts to read more.

Happy Birthday Will!

Today is Will's 2nd birthday! Very timely because he just learned to say birthday this morning. He's had a great day so far - and Katie has had, well, an ok day. It's a learning experience for her to step back and let Will have the spotlight for a bit.

We are all going to the Twins/White Sox game tonight - game time is at 6:10. Look for Katie - she's hoping to take a sign saying that today is Will's birthday. :)

Yesterday the kids and I took a school bus field trip to Como Zoo. Will was very excited to ride on a bus for the first time.

It was a very "Thomas" filled morning.

Everyone enjoys Will's new train table and trains. (Thanks to Craigslist!)

Gotta run and get lunch started so we can blow out the candles on Will's birthday pie. Yes, that's right - pie. Will chose Key Lime Pie for his birthday. That's our boy!

Friday Funny...a little late

Spongebob Squarepants and the other guy...oh yeah, his name is Patrick. I keep wanting to call him Kevin. They were doing a meet & greet at the Mall of America on Wednesday while we were there with Sarah and Denise. Sarah was WAYYY to embarrassed to take a picture by herself so the rest of us joined in. Katie wanted to take the picture because she thought that would make Uncle Wally jealous.

Family Time

Denise and Sarah are here for a few days. They made it fine - even with Sarah driving part of the way.

We spent most of last week in IA.

It seems that the weather never cooperates on our vacations. Whenever we travel up north to the lakes - it's always cold...whenever we go. (50-60's)

When we went to Florida to get married in 2003, they had record frosts set. (50 degrees in Miami!) All the news coverage was about losing the orange crop. Luckily the powers that be pulled a 70 from somewhere for our actual wedding day.

John and I went to the Seattle area about 3 years ago for our first trip since Katie was born. We took in two wonderful days of Pearl Jam, but had to endure 116 degree heat. That's not heat index, that's actual temperature. Geesh it was warm - didn't even get below 90 at night. But that's what cold beer is for I guess.

We took Katie to Phoenix in 2006. Went to the Grand Canyon and visited on the day of their first seasonal snowfall...it was 20 degrees! Not hiking weather.

So why did we think that this would be any different? Because we are idiots that's why. :) Even though it wasn't warm enough to go swimming or camping, we still spent a lot of time visiting family. Here's some shots from last week.

Will and his cousin, Emily sporting matching cheeks. (Jeff's twins)

Katie and cousin Ethan. She was a bit more excited than Will.

A trip to Grandma Mary's is not complete until you sit on a tractor with Uncle Jim.

What gets your goat?

On our last day in IA we visited the Yohe's farm. John grew up with their son Rick, and he was nice enough to take us and the kids around on a little tour. What's special about their farm? They have goats! They have about 165 goats total and they milk about 95. The kids got to meet just about all of them!

There was an equal amount of excitement on each side of the fence.

Will really liked the babies. These guys are just a couple weeks old.

Will kept his distance with the bigger guys.

Katie liked anything that paid attention to her...from behind a big fence.

Happy Fourth of July!

Happy Fourth of July everyone! I hope all your holiday plans go smoothly and safely.

The town where we live has it's own celebration and we have had a good time so far. Katie and John walked in the Kiddie Parade last night for the second time. I think Will should be able to do it next year. Katie threw tootsie rolls in the parade and she thought that was pretty cool.

After the parade we ate supper there at the park, despite the crowds. We made a decision that we would NOT go on any rides there this year, and it went over pretty well. Will watched some skateboarding shows while John and Katie played on the playground. Each time one of them fell Will would say "Ow!" but they just got back up and kept going.

Will is waving in hopes of scoring some candy.

Today was the big parade. We went and put our chairs down around noon, then came back home to pack some snacks. The parade was just the right length and Katie made out like a bandit with the candy.

I know! We had a nice spot right? About 40 seconds after the first piece of candy was thrown - BOOM - we were mobbed with about 8 kids standing right in front of us, well, mostly John. Luckily they got the hint about halfway through the parade.

Just as we were leaving the parade it started sprinkling, but it looks as though it should be clear for fireworks tonight. We are going to walk to a park that is near our house and watch there. Will is taking a very late nap so he should be good to go. Thanks to our 6 days in IA, the kids are used to going to bed a bit later and waking up a bit later.

Happy 4th of July!

Friday Funnies