July

That went fast!!

We had a lot of busy weekends in July - two golf tournaments each and an overnight in Eau Claire for Country Jam. This last weekend was nice and relaxing, minus the epic meltdown Cale displayed in Dick's Sporting Goods on Saturday - over mini NFL football helmets. At least we have an idea for a birthday gift!

I don't have a lot to write, so here are a few recent quotes:

Cale: "I have a lot of good ideas."

Cale: "Halle Berry Ranch?"
Me: "Say, H-i-d-d-e-n."
Cale: "Hidden."
Me: "V-a-l-l-e-y."
Cale: "Valley."
Me: "Ranch."
Cale: "Ranch."
Me: "Hidden Valley Ranch."
Cale: "Hidden Berry Vranch?"
(Giggles ensue.)

Maren: (In the Restroom at Dick's Sporting Goods.) "Mommy, me wipe you?"
Me: "No Thanks, Maren. Mommy will wipe."

August looks pretty clean so far. We're going to attend a Gopher scrimmage at the new stadium on the 22nd and we're planning a mini vacation in the cities during August 28-30. Then, football season will be sneaking upon us.

It's the simple things...

Yesterday I came home with a couple bags of new fall clothes for the kiddies. They are their mother's children - they love new clothes!

So, Cale is digging through the bag on our way home from daycare. First he pulls out the dinosaur sweatshirts - sooo cool. Then, he finds the underwear.... Dinosaur and Baseball underwear!!!!!!!!!!

This is what I heard for the next 7 miles:

"Mom, I really like these underwear."
"This underwear is so cool."
"I have dinosaur underwear."
"Maren, look at my underwear. Aren't they cool?"
"Maren, Maren, Maren." She finally decides to listen, "Do you like my new underwear?"
"Can I wear these to Vanessa's tomorrow?"
"These baseball underwear are so cool."
"Mom, can I get more underwear like this?"
"I'm going to tell Andrew about my dinosaur underwear."
"I really like these, Mom."
"Thank you, Mom. I like my new underwear."

...then we arrived home. Cale walked in the door, dropped trou, and tried on his new dinosaur and baseball underwear -- fit like a glove! We promptly threw them in the washing machine so he could wear his new underwear to Vanessa's today.

Summer Photo Shoot 2009 - added commentary

We went back to Photography by Kari since she did such an awesome job last year! Here are the sneak peaks from her blog:

I added bit of commentary so you can really appreciate the experience along with us...

This picture is so sweet! Yeah? They're fighting. Cale is attempting to open the gate and Maren is pulling back and yelling, "Caaale, NO, Caaaale! No open Gate! NO!"
It would be interesting to see their faces - probably not as sweet!

This picture - well, this one is sweet.

This is our blood, sweat, and tears picture. After Cale catches Maren, Maren trips, Cale follows and nails his two front teeth on Maren's head! Instant tears. Maren's are quickly quieted with the offer of another fruit snack. Cale didn't get off so easily. His gums were bleeding and it hurt to chew - in fact it hurt all day. We had just started adding Cale into the pictures, and I had worries that he would be done. Luckily he pulled it back together, with minimal complaining, and Kari continued to work her magic.

His comment: "I look mad in that picture."
My thought: You're growing up too fast!

Evidence of my attempt at bribery: fruit snack in Maren's hand. She'd take a picture with her "cheese" smile and come back for another.. and another.. and another! I ran out of fruit snacks long before the shoot was over.

Thank you, Kari! And thank you, Paul and Pat, for letting us use your landscape for our pictures!!

What we've been up to...

In May, we went to Dora Live and spent a few nights at a Holiday Inn waterpark in Owatonna.





On June 1, Maren turned 2! TWO - ALREADY! She's not a baby anymore!
*She loves playing babies and polly pockets - polly pockies, in two year-old slang.
*She's really getting into pretend play with the play kitchen - her specialties are mac and cheese and coocoos (cookies)... and when she's the Mom, she always has plenty of Dora fruit snacks for everyone!
*She's very much into: "me, mine, myself, my do it!"
*She finally has hair so she's into ponies (pony tails) and pretties (barrettes). And she loves wearing her pretty dresses and sandals, too!
*Her favorite thing to do right now is probably copy her big brother -- good in some ways - not so good in others (see previous post).
*We've started potty training but haven't gotten too serious yet. We tried underwear one day - 15 minutes, 3 changes...I think it was too early! :-)




In July, we've been relaxing and having fun:






As of yet, we don't have any big summer vacation plans, but we've been tossing out a few possibilities. North Shore? Dells? Maybe we'll just stick around here and save up for another time? I've finally taken up golf again, and I'm loving it...so we've been on the course as often as we can - taking days off here and there to take advantage of the irresistably nice days. All in all - Life is good!

Yeah, we're still here...

So, it's been awhile. We've been busy trying to effectively discipline a 4 year old and trying to prevent a 2 year old from copying the aforementioned 4 year old. Seriously, Y'all (that's for you, my southern friends), Parenting is hard work! Cale's latest logic: since Grandma and Grandpa are my Mom and Dad, that means I'm still a kid.... so, he doesn't have to listen to me! HA - good try, Honeybun!!

My guess on the latest score:
4 year old - 50
Parents - 5, but those 5 victories are oh-so-sweet!

It's kinda like golf: total frustration one minute, and the next, utter satisfaction! One of these days, we'll consistently hit it in the fairway, figure out how to chip, and sink the putts....Right?? Practice makes perfect - and lately, we've had A LOT of practice!

So, needless to say, the kids are growing up way too fast!!

**Apologies to my husband & family for not keeping up with the posts. I will strive to do better, I promise!

Itsy Bitsy Spider

March 2009, in Pictures.

The kids and I went to AZ to visit Grandma and Grandpa. We went to the zoo, visited family, did some shopping, swimming, and managed to get in some putting practice. It was a great time, but it went by much too quickly!! The weekend after we got home was beautiful! The snow was melting and we had the perfect little mud puddle at the end of the driveway - right where our great snow hill was the month prior. The clothes went right into the washing machine!