The motto of my kids this trip was to wake up bright and early...actually, make that DARK and early. Needless to say, they were up way earlier than this 2 AM Mom wanted them to be, and a bit after, Amanda and Sydney joined us. Since we certainly had PLENTY of time to kill, we headed to the park down the street after breakfast.
Makin wanted Sydney to sit on his lap. Of course we couldn't get them both smiling at the same time. ;) What a good sport she is! And Lor still calls her "Baby Sydney." Not sure when that will ever change!
My kids LOVED getting a chance to take Sydney's wagon to the park. Lorelei pulled a good amount of the way there, then Makin attempted to pull both girls on the way home. He did get a few feet! :) They loved the playground and also loved playing a little soccer on the lawn next to it.
Amanda and I took turns watching the kids and getting ready. She had them out on the swing set and drawing with chalk! We then headed over to the college in Canyon to get a chance to see a baby buffalo (their mascot) and of course, Lorelei asked the guy a ton of questions. They were bummed they couldn't pet it but still liked looking. :)
Then we headed over to Amanda's parent's house (they now live in Canyon just a street over from her) for some play time and lunch. This family was like family to me growing up, and just love getting a chance to spend a little bit of time with them. They are so great playing with all our kiddos. And we loved getting to see their new house.
And one pic of us two girls with our kids. So many different phases in life and just love sharing so many of them with you, Amanda! :) Thanks to you all for having us. Can't wait for the next visit!
Going to Canyon, TX on the way to my parents is not much out of the way, so we plan to make sure and stop there if we can when we visit my parents. Gotta get our John, Amanda and Sydney time!
We enjoyed a little play time, yummy home-made supper with Amanda and Sydney, followed by a bath for all the kiddos. They loved checking out Sydney's cool bath toys and paints. Makin ended up with bubbles in his mouth (Lorelei requested lots of bubbles, so of course Amanda complied!) and he and Sydney had a dual melt-down in the tub. Then it took FOREVER to get the three of them to sleep. After that, John was home from work and he made us delicious margaritas! We got to have some much-needed kid-free chat time until 2 AM, when we made ourselves go to sleep...next time we are going to make sure the boys can watch the kids the next day! :)
We headed out Friday morning for a week in Oklahoma. We found out Thursday Brad couldn't come with us. The shortish version of why? Basically, his old job lost a huge client, therefore decided to disband their technical team and outsource what they needed to maintain the websites...therefore Brad was on a job hunt and found a new job, but had to start immediately. Now after the rush of starting immediately, they are waiting to hire him full-time (trying to keep this short) and he is only working part-time for them for now. We are thankful that he has Guttie Golf (his other site he works on on the side) to keep him busy as they have 100+ hours of work they want him to do. SO the job thing is looking positive, but this is what resulted in the kids and myself making the trip on our own. Oh, and we turned Makin forward facing 2 months early for the trip. And here they are, rarin' to go Friday morning. :)
It was a 6-7 hr drive to Canyon on Friday. (We stopped to visit the Rogers family...more to come on that.) 1 1/2 hrs into the trip...Lorelei was already having a melt down. Thankfully that was pretty much the worst of it. We made it three hours before stopping at a rest area for a picnic lunch and stretch. And boy did I watch for snakes! They had several signs posted. :) And I was reminded...once a car sleeper, always a car sleeper...and of course my other, never a car sleeper girl did NOT take a nap. Thank goodness for DVD players! And one of my favorite sites as we neared Canyon...tipped over combines...reminded me of Mater tipping over tractors in the movie Cars, but Amanda told me he was going for Cadillac Ranch. :) Still amused me enough to turn around for a pic!
Our summer hibernation time is officially here. Yesterday was somewhere around 107 degrees. Every day in the forecast is near 100 or above. But its better than 4+ months of snow! :)
I had just planned to be around the house packing this week, but Lorelei mentioned something I had said we would do when it got hot, so we switched errands to yesterday afternoon so we could have some fun this morning. It was a good combination of inside AC with a bit of water fun too. At Highland Village they have a huge Barnes and Noble and outside there are water fountains the kids can run through. We may even try to hit up story time for our next visit.
Makin is very into trains lately. I made the mistake of mentioning the train table first thing in the morning, so all I heard was, "Ain! Ain!" until we finally got there. He was completely content playing. Lorelei was more interested in me reading her books and then even sat through part of Spanish story time.
Her favorite part was the fountains. It took a bit for them to get the courage to go through, but they got braver every minute. Hoping next time they will stay even longer.
So thankful for many options to get out of the house the rest of the summer. :)
Saturday morning we girls headed out for coffee, shopping and lunch. It was sooo nice to have my shopping buddy back for a day! :) And we are so thankful for husbands who will watch all those kids for us to enjoy some time to ourselves.
That afternoon we headed out to our community pool. The kids loved it and it was Brad first chance to get to swim with them at this age.
Cooling off from the heat (we are in the 100s now until Sept probably...very toasty) with ice cream and a movie. Followed by some noisy kid-friendly fire crackers.
Along with Aunt Sarah, Tom and Verna are Lorelei's godparents, so just wanted to get their first pic together! Just a few years late. :) It was fun to give them a taste of a little girl just before they have their own. :)
We had such a wonderful time and cannot wait for our next visit. Guess we will have to trek north and meet this sweet new baby...not in the winter though! :)
We met Jerry and Joyce at the Stockyards in Ft Worth on Friday morning. (Fellow Columbus, NE friends unite!) They had not been there in many years, but helped us find our way around the true "Texas Experience." :) This is where they would bring all the cattle to load them up on the trains many years ago.
We enjoyed walking around a bit. The kids loved petting some of the horses that were going to heard the cattle. Getting 5 kids ages 8 and under to look at a camera IS as hard as you would think.
Waiting to see the long-horned cattle mosey down the street. The fan misters were awesome. The Volkers were living on icies to cool them down, so of course my kids had to follow suit. And again, thrilled to pet another horse.
No surprise, but the petting zoo was the absolute highlight of our trip. We got to pet and feed a baby long horn calf, a llama, goats, sheep and we think a reindeer. Pretty sure my kids could have stayed here all day. :)
We decided to try the cattle-pen maze. The goal was to find all four letters of the word MAZE. We got the A and my kids were ready to be done! Luckily they got their tiny prize anyway. :)
We enjoyed a BBQ lunch, Lorelei got her balloon hat she was desperate to have from the clown, and we made them pose for a few pics with a giant spur. Then we went into Billy Bobs (A famous honky-tonk that is 3 acres and can fit 6,000 people.) A couple of the highlights included the indoor rodeo arena and a huge stage that many famous singers have performed on. Lorelei loved walking out on stage and standing under the huge saddle-turned-disco-ball. :) Oh and she got tons of compliments on her boots! (Thanks Grandma!)
Thankfully the kids got naps on the car on the way home before we enjoyed our grill Friday at home. Great chance to enjoy each other's company over beer, margaritas and yummy food. We are so thankful for these friends and a chance to all get together!
After an evening arrival and late bedtime, the kids were all still up plenty early vegging out first thing in the morning. Thankfully they are early risers as well so we didn't mess up their sleep TOO bad.
We broke out the water fun first thing that morning! It is certainly hot enough for us, and more than hot enough when you are used to Minnesota weather.
Love slip-n-slide faces. :) Simon opted for having a slide to himself into the kiddie pool...but not without the extra challenge of going in head-first. :) Lorelei got completely soaked and had fun doing it again and again. Luckily I heard the idea of using dish soap to help make it extra slippery...and boy did that work! The boys loved being covered in suds. :)
That afternoon the Volker family headed to Legoland. We decided to stay home since we had been recently, and it worked out perfectly for a quiet house for nap for mine to recoup from the night before.
And of course, great giant-lego building family. :)
The first of many Lorelei/Simon pics...just in case we need to use them in a wedding slide-show someday. :)
Waiting for visitors to arrive is pretty tough at any age! :) We hung out on the patio for a bit and I couldn't resist just a few pics. :) Makin is big into carrying around his cell phone and was holding it out saying "eeeeeese!" :)
(My apology for the poor-quality pics...we have to open up an old computer to get to our "before kids" photos so it was just easier to take a pic of them in albums for now.)
Every one of you has heard me refer to "The Volkers" or "Verna" many times, and now you are going to know the entire backstory...because its fun to tell and reminds me how much I love them, and I'm hoping it will make you even more happy when you see all the pictures from their visit.
They are getting here on Wednesday evening and we are just beside ourselves with excitement. It has been 4+ years since we have seen them and we have been waiting for this for months! Okay, so here is the story of "Our Volkers." :)
Our life in Columbus, Nebraska is such a special time looking back at it...when we were there we didn't really appreciate it. Guess it works like that a lot in life. ;) Anyway, we went nearly a year knowing no one, with Brad not meeting any people for us to socialize with at his job, and me only subbing. So, when the pastor's wife at our church asked if I wanted to help with Vacation Bible School, I jumped at the chance to get involved and meet people. And THAT was the start of a beautiful friendship. ;) If you don't know, Verna is the pastor's wife (one of three pastors there at the time) and after helping unload Christmas trees for part of the VBS set up, we started chatting and haven't ever stopped. :)
She is a full-time mom as well, and I loved helping with her then, two boys, Avery and Jonah. Since I was subbing, I could go places with her during the week and both of us had a wonderful time. The zoo, the pumpkin patch, shopping...tons of fun. Oh and cannot forget some fun girls nights...trip to paint plates/shop and eat in Omaha and a youth slumber party where we belted out songs during karaoke with the teens.
I got to spend a lot of time with Tom when he and I were two of the four adults on a youth mission trip to Canada. Nothing beats those talks over miles and miles in a van full of teens and being stuck in a house with 11 people sharing one bathroom. He and I would have been friends if we had grown up in the same town...we are the nerds and Verna and Brad and the jocks. Its nice to have equal jock/nerd relationships. ;)
It amazes me how much these two have influenced our lives. So many ways they don't even realize. They were the ones who got us started going to local events/activities. She was also my first look at, "Mommyhood" when we were contemplating kids ourselves. Little things she would say like, "They can have yogurt when they are done. Its like ice cream to them." And, "We have to get out of the house almost every day." Her kid's schedule is my kid's schedule. Consignment shopping...she took me to my first-ever children's consignment store and taught me her $5 and under policy. They also started me on Red Robin and Starbucks. Yes, they are the ones at fault for my pumpkin spice latte addiction. It was also wonderful to see how Tom is as a dad. He and Brad would check out the latest movie out about once a month.
The last time we saw them Lorelei was a tiny little bean inside my tummy and we were JUST telling people, and still not even wanting to tell people! :) We got to tell them we were pregnant after telling them we were moving (just like our families, talk about happy/sad news) and then were thrilled to receive a phone call from her soon after we moved that she was expecting their third! I remember talking to her on the phone when Lor was a month old saying, "Well, the first month was rough." And her quickly saying, "OH yeah, the first month sucks!" :)
And my latest favorite Verna-phone moment? Verna: I'm pregnant. Me: What!? You got rid of all your maternity clothes!!! :) Yep, Baby Volker #4 is a GIRL and we are beyond giddy. Tutu's and bows are about to invade a Lego/Super-hero ridden house, and I cannot wait.
So, there is our story, and we are gonna have a TON of fun seeing those little boys all grown up and seeing what these friends think of us with our kids! :) So many changes in so little time. :) Oh its gonna be fun. :)
We had one of our favorite girls over for the day. And what a life-saver that was! I had a ton of baking/laundry/cleaning to do for our next house guests, so it seemed like a great chance for the kids to get to play with Alysa. They had a ball.
As I was driving I went through a yellow light or something like that and was saying that I shouldn't have done it. Lor followed with, "It's okay. Some people make steaks." :)
And this picture is showing what we do with our extra time we have sometimes if Makin is still sleeping. Using our brains playing Memory! She always wants to get the "Yucky Yadybugs" so we trade if I get that match. ;)
When Heather was here and going to play a good morning song for us she asked Lorelei, "Will you dance to it? Maybe?" Lor said, "Maybe not."
Mom asked Lorelei if she could talk in her quiet voice and she followed with an extremely loud, "NO I AM A VERY LOUD PERSON!"
When she can tell I'm getting angry or frustrated she gives me a huge hug and says, "Am I melting you yet?"
She likes to tell you random "Spanish" words. One of the most amusing was when she was trying to convince my mom that a sandcastle was actually called a "camecia."
Lorelei was reading Makin's simple tractor book to him, which has things like "tractor" and "baler" with the pictures..."Once upon a time there was a farmer working very hard on the wheat. Then another guy came. He said, 'No! Don't mow that!'"
Lorelei could here me getting frustrated with Makin and said, "You gonna put him in the trash can?" Me: I want to. Can I? Lor (very seriously and quietly): No. I would miss him so much.
And we are hearing Aubrey's influence on many daily sayings around here. Just had to get videos because its not nearly as cute to type. :) She was a bit goofy in the videos, but hopefully you get the idea. The "AGAIN" is usually said with annoyance and "What in the word?" is usually as you would think...not singing it. ;) Anyway, enjoy.
This is Makin's face when arguing with me as a plane flew across in the sky, which occurs daily. I tell him, "airplane" and he argues with, "Ca Ca!" (helicopter) :) Not sure he will ever learn the word airplane as this is way more fun.
When shopping at Target a few weeks ago we were in the dollar bin and Makin was in the aisle next to me. A lady asked me, "Is that your son?" Pointing to where I knew he was, so I said he was. She followed with, "He is putting a bunch of stuff in your cart. I just wanted you to know before you went and checked out." Oh yes, he put 10 containers of chap-stick in my cart!
He loves the color green. If you give him multiple colors to pick from, he will pick green.
He is talking much, much more each day. Leah and Emma would still talk circles around him, but he is holding his own and tries nearly everything we ask him to say. He will ramble on a full sentence of mush. He is also starting to put two understandable words together. His new favorite word is an exuberant, "YAH!" Loving our next little chatterbox!
And here is what we've all been waiting for!!! D!!!!!
A boy and his pudding pop. :)
He still loves to sing. He will sing along with everything. Love it.
When I give him "the look" he gives me a pretty endearing look that makes it hard to keep my look!
He loves to turn over onto his stomach on the changing table and then proceeds to start "snoring." :)
When we don't understand something he says, he repeats it and gets louder and louder until he is yelling it, as if the problem is really our hearing.
He makes the sweetest car/truck/plane noises and sticks his arm out to be an airplane many times when being carried.
Not just any guy could pull off an Abby Cadabby helmet. :) He loves to "knock" on it. Don't worry we will get him a boy one eventually. ;)
On a side note, one of Brad's cousins had a baby last week who was born with a cleft lip and palate, and they had no idea. They did not catch it in the ultrasound. I believe it is her first baby...anyway keep them in your prayers as they work to deal with this unexpectedly. Thankfully they have reached out to us to talk to her and we just hope we can help her from our experience! Her mom said they showed her pics of Makin and that helped...so thankful we can help with anything for them!
So I have this idea to do a book of the week...we'll see if it becomes book of the month or the year, no promises, but I'll explain why. As known to all of you, I love, LOVE books. Especially children's books. I am hoping I am turning our little ones into bookworms with baskets and bookshelves overflowing. As I was reading Corduroy for the millionth time I was reminded of the idea I've had a few times with such special books, which is making sure you all know some of our favorites! We have a wonderful collection and I wanted to share it with you other mom readers who may not have read all of them. So, now you will get some recommendations to check out from your local library if you don't have them already! :) Okay I am starting to sound like Reading Rainbow now, but I guess there could be worse things. ;) So here is Corduroy...The story of a little stuffed bear who anxiously waits for a family, and the little girl who spends her own money to buy him. A classic and favorite at our house. Hope you get a chance to read it!
Our Father's Day was enjoyable, but sadly not as relaxing as I would like for Brad...hopefully next year it will just be an afternoon watching The U.S. Open. :)
Brad started his morning sleeping in (this is the easiest gift for us to give each other! and ohhhh so nice! :) ) and then making his own eggs. (He is the egg man around here.) He gave Makin the carton to play with and Makin then went into his toy kitchen and found the two eggs we have there and put them in the carton. He kept walking around saying "eggs! eggs!" :)
Then we went to church where Brad got to enjoy sitting in quiet as both kids went to Sunday School/Child Care. Then we ate at out for lunch before the shopping began...a few things needed for our next round of visitors and using a bit of anniversary money on ourselves.
After getting home we had an ice cream treat and Lor and Brad watched a movie (Makin a bit, but can't sit through it yet so he and I played) before early bedtime and after a few more jobs he finally got to catch up on the golf he waited all day to watch!
Okay, so I missed putting a Mother's Day video up on the blog, but mailed them a picture...and didn't get the Dad's mailed anything in time, so I guess you get a video for now. SOOOO sorry. I'm sure I will get better...I hope. So much love to our Dads!
After our last crazy-fun-but-busy weeks I wanted to make sure and lay low and catch the kids up on sleep as much as possible. To say they were cranky and naughty would be an understatement. They are waking up extra-early and Lorelei thinks she only needs a 1 hr nap as well. Not a good combination.
Tuesday the kids and I were excited to head to our community pool for the first time this summer. We had the entire place to ourselves and they had a ball. Lorelei just loves swimming all over the pool. Makin's favorite thing would be jumping in! Yikes. Floatie for him on the list! :) Loving that we are in the low 90s right now, so great swim weather before the major heat kicks in.
Thursday we joined Kaitlyn and Hailey at their community pool. (We all better be utilizing these HOA fees we pay! :) ) Lorelei liked trying out the pool noodle along with her floatie. They even met another friend for a bit who shared her mermaid dolls! Makin again loved jumping in! Pools work pretty good for moms trying to catch up after a couple weeks! :) Of course we had a picnic lunch poolside too. :)
Friday we met Aubrey and Morgan at the Frisco Commons spray park. They were in and out of the water but played great together. Makin accidentally got dumped on from the huge bucket of water but was fine after a bit of consoling. They definitely had fun having friends to play with there!
Spending the morning at work/doing laundry making phone calls including calling the bug guys AGAIN.
Making arrangements to get the car dent fixed and then finding out we need to wait until next week.
Planning on making your easy "date night" pasta you both thought was in the freezer and then finding out it actually ISN'T right when you are planning to cook it.
Yup. It was one of those days.
Thankfully Brad had made a little extra effort ahead of time and found a fun date-night game we could do. We filled out questions about each other and then answered the questions to see who knew who better. And surprise! Brad won! And the wager is a 30 min back rub. He will need it after this week! :)
I decided Brad will be writing his own updates. Maybe more motivation? :) So from now on, they come from him!
So apparently as a public humiliation for only losing a 2-3 pounds this past month, my wife is making me write my own blog posts moving forward. Yes, only 2-3 pounds. Things have still been quite hectic this past month. Hopefully in the upcoming weeks I'll be more motivated to wake myself up early and work out in the mornings.
And now to leave with you some food for thought:
A blonde is terribly overweight, so her doctor puts her on a diet. I want you to eat regularly for two days, then skip a day, and repeat this procedure for two weeks. The next time I see you, you will have lost at least five pounds. When the blonde returns, she's lost nearly 20 pounds. "Why, that's amazing!" the doctor says. "Did you follow my instructions?" The blonde nods. "I'll tell you, though, I thought I was going to drop dead that third day." "From hunger, you mean?" asked the doctor. "No, from skipping."
We are sooooo thankful that we got to spend good time with Mom/Nana. My kids are so blessed to have you in their lives. We loved having you and cannot wait to see you again in a few weeks. Love you!
The motto of my kids this trip was to wake up bright and early...actually, make that DARK and early. Needless to say, they were up way earlier than this 2 AM Mom wanted them to be, and a bit after, Amanda and Sydney joined us. Since we certainly had PLENTY of time to kill, we headed to the park down the street after breakfast.
My kids LOVED getting a chance to take Sydney's wagon to the park. Lorelei pulled a good amount of the way there, then Makin attempted to pull both girls on the way home. He did get a few feet! :) They loved the playground and also loved playing a little soccer on the lawn next to it.
Amanda and I took turns watching the kids and getting ready. She had them out on the swing set and drawing with chalk! We then headed over to the college in Canyon to get a chance to see a baby buffalo (their mascot) and of course, Lorelei asked the guy a ton of questions. They were bummed they couldn't pet it but still liked looking. :)
Then we headed over to Amanda's parent's house (they now live in Canyon just a street over from her) for some play time and lunch. This family was like family to me growing up, and just love getting a chance to spend a little bit of time with them. They are so great playing with all our kiddos. And we loved getting to see their new house.
