Monday and Tuesday Indoor Busyness

I have been getting a bit of cabin fever being stuck inside due to heat, so I decided to make sure we got out and about indoors a lot this week.

Monday was a trip to the mall. Purely for entertainment and just plain getting out of the house. The kids spent tons of time at Barnes and Noble playing with the train table and listening to books. Of course, Lorelei also found their stuffed animals and played with those too. Makin was all train table. (Oh and of course don't forget we started with our Starbucks treats before heading down to the kids area! :) )

We also enjoyed a carousel ride. Both kids totally love it. We finished eating lunch watching the ice skaters and hockey practice.



Tuesday was a bit of a wash. Brad was supposed to be home all day, and ended up having to go in. He had to sleep in from working late the night/morning before, but we wanted to catch at least an hour with him before he left, so we were home all morning.

Reminder to fellow moms...toothpicks make food way more fun. :)

The kids and I ended up heading to Target for the afternoon to look for backpacks (no cute ones left, ordering online instead) just to get out of the house once for the day.

One cute story from our "outing" was from Makin. We don't usually peruse the toys, but today we walked through the aisles for fun. He picked up a Lego dump truck and just said "Peeeeeeese!" :) Cutest please I have ever heard, and that guy has never asked for anything before, so I was completely shocked. Lorelei was quick with her favorite saying of the afternoon, "Maybe for your birthday, Makin." We heard her say that about 100 times in the hour at Target. She also said, "Lets go look for more things for Makin's birthday." :)

I have discovered I am such an "outdoor Mom" so to speak...so am counting the month and a half left of this heat and just trying to stay busy! :)

Book Of The Week

Mr. Brown Can Moo Can You?

Didn't read this one growing up, but Lorelei was given it as a gift when she turned one. They looooooove when I read this one. So many fun sounds. :) We have the board book version and I have not read the longer one.

Looooooong Week

Its been a rough week. A long week. Brad has been working A LOT. We have been lucky to see him for one hour a day, basically. (He is here to sleep some, but that doesn't count in our hours in my book.) And of course, we are all worn out for all different reasons. It is one of those situations where, you know it is working out, and you can see the light at the end of the tunnel, but man I just wish I could sleep on the rest of the ride. And wishing I had a fairy godmother to come play with my kids and give me a break. And I know each and every one of you reading this would love to do that! :) Anyway, its been almost a month where I feel close to being a single parent at many points, but it should get better soon. Prayers for patience for me and rest and recoup for Brad who is way overworked are appreciated!

And, to top it all off, after working Saturday (yes, ugh!) we were supposed to FINALLY have Sunday as a family and also go out to Red Lobster for supper to celebrate getting the keys to the house ONE YEAR AGO!!! Hold your applause please. ;) Anyway, you read the word SUPPOSED to correctly, beacause I am, in fact, blogging on my Sunday afternoon while Brad goes out golfing. Now that I got you mad, I have to explain that it was a huge opportunity for him because he is golfing with... the owner of the Dallas Cowboys!!! Some of you don't care, but it is so exciting for him, and the owner is actually interested in using the Guttie Golf software for a Dallas Cowboys golf tournament. So anyway, he couldn't pass it up, and I cannot wait to hear how it goes. So, now a few pics from our week. :)

The kids and I have been keeping busy, mostly inside because of the heat, with play dates, library time, etc. We are all very ready to be settled into a normal routine again...Daddy included!


"Carwash" with shaving cream and paint brushes. The idea mentioned a spray bottle, which would have been a great feature. On the list for next time. Lorelei loved loved loved it. My little tactile learner all the way.









Couch tent with blankets! :) Love them.













Yes, I have really lost it by this point. Finger painting across the floor. ;) They were supposed to have fun using the different textures, like bubble wrap, but she just loved the finger painting. Makin barely touched it. :) My little neat freak.

Train! With an extra caboose. ;)













Brad working Saturday = Baking Mommy some comfort cookies, oatmeal chocolate chip of course. :)

And so, SO thankful for these BEAUTIFUL smiles I get to see each and every day. Would not trade what I do for the world. They are my blessings, even if I'm out of patience. :)
Love them so much!

Baby Kyle Has Arrived!

And yes, I had to look back at posts from 2010 when Emma and Leah were born to see what I titled them. :) Some things have to stay the same. :)

We were excited to visit the Hughes house Wednesday and meet 1 1/2 week old Kyle. :) He is already a sweetheart and came early for his Mommy who was ready to be DONE. :)

He was a complete sport when we took 200+ pictures of him for his Mom. :) So much fun!

Lorelei asked "Mi Mi" (Mary's Mom) about every 5 minutes, "Can I hold the baby again?" Needless to say, she was in love.

I am so looking forward to some baby cuddle time coming up!

Special Video Post For A Most Wonderful Lady

Hi Gigi!!!!!!

Mom and Heather are at my grandma's house in Wisconsin for a week. They are taking her to a Starbucks with internet and plan to show her the blog. We decided that meant videos were in order. Figured the rest of you might like watching the kids too. ;)



Miss you sooooo much, Grandma, and can't wait for a visit to your place soon! Give Pops a hug from us!

Map Practice and What Is In The Sock

Okay, so you may start to notice a trend in some "at home games" or activities coming up. This is for several reasons... A)I have finally been taking the time to go through my lists on Pinterest and have found some AMAZING ideas. Loving it. Wondering why I haven't thought of them myself! B)It seems like we have been staying around the house more lately. Partially because of the summer hibernation and partially with Brad's wacky work schedule. Anyway, excited to try out some new things for sure!

One of our first fun ideas will help the kids learn map skills! (Melissa, I can picture your kids doing this for HOURS. It seems like a Bonfiglio game to me. ;) )

Originally I tried to have Lorelei draw a map of the living room. While I would like to claim that she drew this instead of myself, I AM that bad an artist. I may have Brad spruce it up a bit later. :) She did not grasp the idea of making her own map. Maybe in a year. :) Anyway, she had tons of fun playing "hide the toy" in the living room. Then I put the X on the map where the toy was located, and then they found it. It is still WAY trickier for her than I thought it would be. Definitely going to be teaching her something! They have a blast. Makin runs around saying, "X! X!" Of course, we have also tried in the reverse where she hides it for me, but as mentioned, we need practice for sure!

Another quick one we tried was, "What's In The Sock?" I found objects that could fit in a sock and then she had to guess what was in it. It was interesting to see what she could easily guess (block, ball and magnifying glass) and then struggled with. Again, learning experience to grow from!!! Then she picked toys for me to guess while I did the dishes. Fun to see what she picked to put in the sock. :)

Thankful For Sand Time

It was ONLY going to get to 96 degrees today. Mom and kids were very, VERY thankful for a little over an hour of sandbox time early this morning before it got too toasty.

Book Of The Week

You all probably already have this one, but had to put it just in case. Such a memorable book! (And I can practically recite it by heart thanks to Amanda, who used it in speech class so I got to hear it rehearsed 100 million times.)

From the moment Alexander wakes up, everything goes wrong! He wakes up with gum in his hair, fights with his friends, and has to eat lima beans for dinner. At the end of his rough day, Alexander learns some days are just like that. All kids experience this type of day, and will be glad to find they are not alone!

First Of Many...

Shaving cream activities!!!

I'm channeling my inner Glenda Friesen with this one. Great 1st and 2nd grade memories of cleaning our desks with shaving cream. The kids had an absolute ball with this.

New Favorite Pastime

Magnetix - highly recommend as soon as your kids won't put them in their mouth!

We are working on an entire magnet bin. Right now this kept Lorelei's attention for multiple hours over the last few days. This is now her indoor sandbox. ;)

Ice Cream! You Scream! We All Scream For...

Ice Cream!!!!!

Oh yes, its that time again. National Ice Cream Day/Month! And this ice cream lovin' Momma has to get her sugar kicks where she can.

Sunday we kicked off our ice cream week with the official National Ice Cream Day. The kids (and parents) got to pick out what toppings we wanted at the store on the way home from church that day. Lorelei's request was sprinkles and a cherry. :)

After nap, we enjoyed making our sundae's. Amazingly I did not get a picture, because...we invited our neighbors over to join us! (And we don't want them to know my crazy-picture taking insanity YET. ;) ) So, that meant we had to make sundae's again later in the week and get pictures then. Bummer. ;)

And here is our second time with ice cream treats. Makin did NOT want his cookie crushed and mixed it. He ate it separately. ;) Yum yum.

Book Of The Week

I am all about seasonal books. The pile I have the least of, is summer. When I saw this at Barnes and Noble I had to add it the collection. Totally love it, and love that its a simple reader so that it will be great for when the kids are learning to read!

A boy, a girl, and a dog share the joys of summer–swimming, fishing, gardening, watching fireworks, chasing butterflies, and toasting marshmallows–in this newly re-colorized back list classic.

Check it out at your local library! (Sorry, had to channel my inner Reading Rainbow again. ;) )

Low-Key Week

My goal was to get back to some sort of normalcy after the crazy summer we have already had! I'm soooo thankful for so many fun things we have enjoyed, but you all know how crazy it is with little ones needing sleep, routine etc. I am ready for a few weeks of normal for sure. :)

I also took as few pictures as possible. Our poor kids had 500+ pics taken of them in a week and a half...so I thought we all needed a break. ;) And yes, I admit, something is wrong with me!

Monday - laundry and recoup day. God's weather plan provided a bit of entertainment when we walked out in the rain, with and without umbrellas.

Tuesday - The rain brought a slight cool front this week, which meant we were out in the sandbox in our jammies first thing in the morning. :) They had quite a break from it from the heat and trips, so they loved getting dirty again! Makin enjoys it much more when he is not overheated. Lorelei would play in it through the heat. That led right into us heading out the door for library story time. It was extra-special with a guest story-teller who had lots of songs and puppets, and acted out each story. It was SUPER crowded so not sure how many summer story-times we will get to.



Wednesday - Stayed home and played with our neglected toys! :) Then after supper, Lorelei asked to head outside, and we opted to run through the sprinkler! (This is also when it dawned on me that our kiddie pool blew away over the weekend!!!) The kids were having a blast, and when Lorelei asked me to join them I had a ton of fun. They loved playing ring-around-the-rosy and then getting sprayed in the face when they sat down. We also did follow the leader when Lorelei could show us how she wanted us to go through the sprinkler.

Thursday - Met with Mary, Aubrey and Morgan at a sale in the morning...I believe we may have done the sprinkler again this evening as well.

Friday - Met with Rebecca, Kaitlyn and Haley for our water fountains/Barnes and Noble combo. My kids were not that into the water for some reason this time. As usual they loved the train table and books. We then followed it up with the super-fun play area at McDonald's.


Our schedule was a bit on the crazy side where family time was concerned. Brad put in 52 hours work time and a 3 hour commute every day but Thursday. (That was the only day he didn't go to a golf tournament...still had 45 min drive both ways in the evening that day.) This was between working at Guttie Golf tournaments as well as for the new temporary job that will eventually be normal daytime hours. Needless to say, we saw very little of him and did not enjoy that one bit. Much better plan for the second week of "graveyard shift" coming up. Guess this will make us GREATLY appreciate normal hours and NO commute! Soooooooooon! (Crossing fingers!)

July Family Pic

11 days late...but that's life! :)

What We Love

About Nana and Papa's House

Feeding the calf.
(Or "Maf!" as Makin calls it.)

Playing Piano
("Pawano" according to Lorelei.)

Cattle At Sunrise

Grace
("Naysh" according to Makin)
They both loved, loved, LOVED having a dog to pet every day. Completely cherished her.

Wind Blowing Bubbles Like Crazy

Tupperware

Home-Made Play Doh

Cookies

Disney Movies

Making Mud Soup

Uncle A.J.
(Who read books, entertained with musical instruments and is just all-around wonderful.)

And of course, Nana and Papa

We are SO thankful to you for a wonderful visit.
We loved it and love you all so much! Miss you!

Okarche Family Tour

I asked my dad if he would give us a tour of his family's farm in Okarche, Oklahoma. We made this visit our chance to get to see it. I do not remember being there before this, so was thankful my Uncle Howard was gracious enough to open his home up for us to see.

We headed out Saturday morning and met for lunch at the famous Eischen's bar. I had heard stories about it from my dad and had never tried it until this now. Brad also drove up to meet us for the weekend. Yay! :) Apparently all Oklahoman's are as crazy for Eischen's chicken as my dad...it even made it into the top five in Taste Of Home magazine! :) It was good chicken. If I took over I might add a few more yummy sides though. ;)


We headed out to the Bohlmann family farm after lunch. I loved the old barn. It was there when Grandpa Bohlmann bought the land in 1909. (Hoping I get all this historic info right! If not, there may be a few corrections after a call from Dad!) Needless to say, its an old barn. :) This is where Dad and Howard milked the cows back in the day. Then we also have the three men down in the "pantry" where they kept all the canned goods. And also the front of the house. He moved a house from down the road to combine it with another to make a bigger house. We got to see the tiny rooms upstairs that the six kids in his family stayed in.


The two brothers. And our family in front of the barn. And I may have to kill A.J. who is an ADULT NOT looking at the camera in this pic. People, people. ;) At least you can't tell from far away. ;)


After the farm visit, we headed to the hotel for some swim time. Despite the green color of the pool, we had a great time swimming. (And love that Heather could take some pics!) Lorelei ended up with a mouthful of water, and as soon as she could speak she said, "Is my mouth green?" (Remember the color of the pool. ;) )


We topped off our evening with pizza. Where we enjoyed Lorelei's other quote of the night when, while Heather was chatting up her usual storm, Lorelei interjected, "Heather, don't talk so fast, okay?"

Then followed by Braum's ice cream. (Adults only...my kids were in bed by then. And have you noticed how much ice cream they have had this vacation!?) (P.S. Mom thought Heather was going to start driving with that ice cream on the dash. ;) And yes, my brother is looking so old and handsome. Its freakin' me out. ;) )



Three of my favorite boys walking into "the oldest Lutheran church in Oklahoma" for church on Sunday. This is where my dad grew up going to church. After the service I got lots of, "I knew you had to be a Bohlmann, you look just like ____ (insert sibling name here)." Was fun seeing the people who have known my Dads family FOREVER. :)

Thanks so much for the tour, Dad! Loved seeing some of our history! :)










After lunch the Stahl family got on the road to get home in time for bed.

And just to show how exhausted the kids were... Lorelei slept an hour in the car...don't even know the last time that happened. Completely bushed!

Tractors, Combines and Haybales Oh My!

Well, one of the best things about the farm for kids? The rides and the hay! :)

Dad was thrilled to give the kids a ride in the tractor, then the combine another day, and also climb a few hay bales. :) Love it!


As we were going out to the tractor Lorelei said, "Mom! Its even louder than the lawn mower!" :)

They both liked riding in the tractor. Lorelei would warn Papa not to hit things she saw near the road. Makin loooooved being the one at the wheel.





When the kids saw the combine pull into the yard they both gave a huge "WOW!" :)

We loved the extra space in the combine and took a longer ride this time. A great view of the milo header and lots of fields to watch as we drove around. Again, favorite part is to be the one driving! :)









Check out those hay bales! :)

I wanted them to see the baler (we have it in a book, plus wanted them to see how they were made) so they took a peek inside. :)

Love that these "city kids" get a decent chunk of country life when they visit grandparents. So good for them to see and experience it!