End of Summer...

Carsten is doing much better with his clavicle... He really only complains when he falls and at night when he rolls on that side. It has not slowed him down at all and he continues to get himself in predicaments--I don't know if that will ever end.
He also has 12 teeth just for the record with two more working at coming in on the top...

Unc received a gift certificate to a fondue restaurant and he offered to take me with him! Last night we left the little ones with Opa and Oma and went to fondue... It was great. We started with a cheese fondue, then salad, next was the meat fondue, and of course a chocolate fondue to finish it off. We chose the S'mores chocolate fondue for dessert--chocolate, marshmallow creme, and graham cracker crumbs... delicious! It was a fun evening--fondue takes about 3 hours, so we were gone awhile...


After convention the boys and I rode home with my parents in the motorhome to their house... A good friend is going to be coming west and I'll get to see her later this week!

At Oma's there was a surprise hand-me-down from these kind kids... He loves it!!! A peddle tractor his size. He peddles it up and down the driveway--last night until he was beet red in the face!

Oma and Opa's neighbors offered their pool to us, so we might be heading over there later this morning...

Last week we spent 4 days at our church convention. My Uncle and Aunt were there (my dad's older sister)--great to see them. It was a wonderful 4 days!

A few questions...

Just a few questions Internet fans...
How many x-rays can one child have?
Have we met our deductible yet?
Is there a way to budget for childhood injuries?
Is there a way to measure the years off your life each time your child gets hurt?
Is Motrin really enough for a broken clavicle?
Is there a way to keep kids from climbing on chairs, etc.?
Is there a way to know how we are going to cope these next few days?

Our more accident prone child--no names, Carsten--fell off a kid chair tonight (so 1 1/2 feet off the ground) to the kitchen floor... He has done this before--this time he wasn't consolable, he kept clutching his collar bone... I just felt like something was wrong. Off to the ER, where we are starting to recognize the staff... An x-ray later we were told he broke his clavicle and that all there is to do is give him Motrin... So, we are home and trying to figure out how to accomplish the normal tasks of getting him undressed, dressed, how to nurse without crushing his side, should we let him walk around and fall like he is always doing??? Oh, boy...

Growing Up...

Our neighbor outgrew his little two wheel bike, so he passed it on to Reese. Reese is so thrilled! He wants to ride it any free moment and we have to take it with us when we go to grandparents, etc. I was just noticing today that Reese can reach light switches that he previously couldn't--I believe he is growing...

Weekend Trip...

On Sunday... Reese and Carsten loved the fire truck at Great Papa's house... They crawled all over it and tried on the fire helmets... We could have stayed here all day.

We went camping this weekend with Jim's mom's family. On Saturday we went to the river. It took Reese awhile to enjoy the water. Unfortunately life vests are not comfortable, so we took it off and put him in water wings and a tube. Hailey had a comfortable life vest, so we might have to look into getting one like hers...


Hailey at the river.

Justin's morning smile.

Reese in the morning...

Abigail

Carsten showing off to the girls... He happens to be our fearless one.

Name Game...

I need help...
I am thinking of getting a little more into photography, not professional--don't know that I'll ever achieve that, but I do need a name.
Any suggestions? I'm thinking something to do with kids/families... (don't want to do weddings).

Will I ever catch up???

I promise that I am not sitting around eating bon bons and reading magazines... I wish I was, but alas laundry and other not so interesting housey items have my attention these days.

During my lack of blogging, Carsten got tooth number 11! He has number 12 right behind it on it's way... They are on the bottom, on either side of the middle two.
Carsten is wearing a size 6 1/2 in shoes all of a sudden and Reese is only wearing a size 8... Reese had better watch out! Carsten is signing more and more--he signs for the words: more, all done, thank you, dog, and we are working on please.
Reese is always saying something funny and he calls his brother, "bigoly"--thanks to Oma. Today he asked me why God made the railroad tracks... He talks constantly to his contractors on his play cell phone and Sunday he said that he couldn't go with us as he needed to do some work for his contractor. Wonderful.

We had a great treat last week... Our friends from where we used to live stopped by on their way to grandparents... So fun to catch up and see kids that we rarely get to see!


Reese and McKenzie had a great time playing the piano and just goofing around.

Without Oma...

Without Oma here I haven't had time to post! Pathetic I know... Here is a little of what's been going on here...

Our two cute little boys...

We went to Nana Wendy and Bob's this weekend and Reese got to play with Cole! His special buddy. They get along very well--wish we lived closer!


Reese couldn't get enough of the fishing pole and outsideiness of Jim and JoAnn's backyard. I was over taking pictures of their grandkids and my two were in outdoor heaven.

Carsten trying his hand at fishing in the grass...

Bliss...

I believe I mentioned in an earlier post about how a new pair of shoes makes my day... I need to say that I have now found something much better, bliss--a visit from Oma. Having Oma here means a few things--I haven't unloaded the dishwasher once in the past three weeks (my least favorite house keeping duty), I get 3 hours a day of freedom as she naps with them. I haven't given one bath, I rarely change a diaper or get someone dressed other than myself. She even let Jim and I go to the midnight release of Harry Potter last night! Oma is going home tomorrow, Sunday, and I'm going to go through withdrawals, depression, sadness, and having to deal with grandchildren that miss their Oma...

Too Much...

Well, it seems that just daily life is too much... I can't seem to do the laundry, pay bills, cook, clean, bathe children, pick up, go to doctor appointments, read blogs, AND keep up my blog.
We are still around and we are doing fine. Oma is here and keeping us sane, so I can try to do all of the above, but I am still sinking some days... Each day we try to accomplish something else on our list and we do, but we also add a couple more things each day. Oma is here until Saturday and then she is going home... (how will I do it???).

We had a great visit from Wendy and Callie--can't get enough of those two... Might just have to go and see them again before Callie leaves. It was Wendy's birthday, so we got in on a birthday celebration which is of course of one Reese's favorite things.

Both boys are doing good. Carsten had his one year shots yesterday and his fourth molar is finishing coming in so that has got to be painful. He signs now for; more, thank you, all done, and milk. He says, "woof" for a dog and he claps for everything.
Reese continues to say the cutest things even though I can't come up with one at this moment...

The 4th, Camping, Friends...

We went camping the weekend after the 4th with Jim's family. We got to try out our Suburban with the trailer--it did quite nicely. Oma was with us and we had a very good time. Reese and Carsten enjoyed the amount of dirt that surrounded us and were quick to cover themselves... not really, but it was a dirty weekend. Both boys were doted on by all the adoring relatives and we ate ourselves happy.

Carsten learned how to *pick* his nose. He really just figured out where his nose is and realized that by putting a finger in it all the people surrounding him would make a big fuss.

Abigail (Terry and Sara's girl) was there and she and Carsten tootled around together.



4th of July we spent with Steve, Barb, Heidi, Siena, Remy, and Oma. We went to a small town parade (which was way better than the circus) and then back to Steve and Barb's for lunch. The kids played with multiple water toys--a wiggly hose, water mat thingy, and a Elmo water spinner deal... Fun was had by all.

Friends, New Cars, More Teeth...

We are the proud owners of a Suburban as of today... We needed something to tow our trailer with and this one fits the bill. We brought it home and cleaned it to our little standards and put some of our things in it so now it is feeling like ours...

We had a surprise visit from our friends Siena and Remy (their mom and grandma too). Fun crazy kid times...

Well, Carsten has tooth number ten... He has the four top in front, two little ones in the middle on the bottom, and four molars. He seems to be handling this molar a little better. The other molars are finishing coming in at the same time. It seems so cruel the way they come in a little at a time.

Bibs, New Shoes, The Circus...

So, Carsten refuses to wear a bib at meal time, but yesterday and today he has worn a bib all day long just around the house. He pulled some bibs out of the drawer and tried to put them on. I helped him and he was satisfied and trotted off. Kids are really weird.

New shoes... Nothing makes my day more than a new pair of shoes. Especially clearance ones. These Keens are very comfortable and I think quite cute...

Carsten also has new shoes since he's a'walking.

Reese can never be outdone, so here are his new shoes that we got on clearance over a year ago, but that are fitting him now.

And... THE CIRCUS... What to say??? We thought it would be fun to go to the circus with Reese, so we took them on Monday night. We can honestly say we were disappointed. It was expensive--$20 for each adult--children were free, but good night that is still a lot of money. Especially when each item in the circus (popcorn, cotton candy, slurpies, etc.) were all $4-. The music was extremely loud (we were trying to cover the boys' ears). The performances were just okay, and there was a lot of wasted time. I don't remember circuses having advertisements, but every few minutes they would stand in the ring and show some new toy, drink, etc., and say that they wanted the kids to promise they wouldn't go home without one... oh boy. The crowd was fairly low class and the set-up was cheesy... the last performance was motorcycles in a globe deal going around and around--how exciting. We don't recommend the circus. period.

Boys, Sun, Water...

Our little park here in our development has lots of picture opportunities... I love the tunnel. This was Carsten's second time in it and he was just as excited as the first time...

Summer is here and the sun, water, and boys go quite nicely together. My two could live outside all day as long as there is an endless water supply. Did I mention sand and water go together as well??? If I'm not watching the sand box and water table get very mixed up and you can't tell which is which!

3 Years and 1 Year Pictures...

I finally got around to taking the boys pictures and here they are... I redid the header using them too, but it is not fitting quite right--oh well.

Father's Day Weekend...

Last minute we decided to go away for the weekend. We left after lunch on Saturday and drove a couple of hours to stay in a nice hotel and to relax away from home. We had a nice time. The boys slept on the way up and the way home for a couple of hours--traveling at nap time is great. We didn't do too much, a little shopping, a little sight seeing... Sunday we met with people we hadn't seen in a long time...

This was Jim's Father's Day! Thanks for being a great dad!!!

Big fluffy beds with lots of pillows make a fun playground...

Reese all dressed up on Sunday. He enjoyed being on the 13th floor and watching all the goings on down below. He would report on what he saw.
As soon as we got to our room he said, "Look they have a TV, I've always wanted a TV." Wonderful. Thankfully he didn't figure out how to turn it on and he didn't ask so our peaceful getaway remained peaceful.

Doctor, Vehicles, Boys...

We've had a fun evening... We ran around all day, had a doctor appointment, etc... When we got home we went for a walk/trike/stroller ride and then the boys played in the front yard with their vehicles. Carsten was thoroughly enjoying sitting on Reese's tractor and putting the scoop up and down. The picture above is of him laughing after putting the scoop down... he thought it was a riot. It also shows the wound he got by this walking thing... he fell against an end table and it left a dent--seriously a dent! He is now walking everywhere and loving it. Oh, boy.


On our walk we saw a different looking lawn mower and Reese pointed it out. I said that it must be an electric mower... He said, "Maybe that is the way God made it, maybe (shrug, shrug)."



Today was the boys' one year and three year check-ups. They both weighed/measured fine. Carsten is 21 pounds and in the 25 percentile in weight and height. I opted to wait on Carsten's one year shots as he is just getting over being sick and it seemed unfair at this point (for both of us--me having to put up with a cranky baby and him having to feel cranky).

Carsten also has tooth number nine. It is another biggie on the top. He seems to be getting four molars right now. Yick.