Bad news at the dentist on Tuesday. My one crazy wisdom tooth has to be pulled. I never had one come in on the bottom so this tooth never had one to meet it and it has slowly been pulling away in the back so I got food caught back there a lot and was always flossing it. He always mentioned pulling it and I said not until I had to. Well now it has a cavity so out it comes. I'm not scared of the pain or anything. Just the thought of having my mouth propped open with instruments in there makes me want to gag. I'm a gaggy person anyway. But I will survive. Luckily I've made it 35 years and this is only my second cavity. And since it's getting pulled out,does it really count? :) I also tried to give blood yesterday since my last blood work said I wasn't anemic anymore. Guess what, blood count too low. I was at 11.8 and you need 12.5 to give. I feel like a reject this week! :)

Swim lessons are going well. Noah went all the way under water yesterday and didn't even hold onto his nose. I"m so proud of him. This is such a big step for him. Drew is taking lessons too. It seemed silly for him to sit on the side when his age group was at the same time as Noah's and he needs more practice too. So they are both having fun.

Todd and I had a little "date" on tuesday night. When I came hom around 9 he had pizza ready and we sat out on the porch swing. He had candles all lit up and some Mojitos for us to drink. It was so relaxing. Then we came in and watched Xanadu. Can you see he was buttering me up?? I thought it was sweet. Noah and I had our date on Wednesday. He wanted to eat at Pizza Hut and we went to see Ratatouille. We did the buffet which was awesome. The movie was cute but a little long for a cartoon. I was so tired too. I guess I fell asleep because I hear Noah going "Mom, mom, are you asleep??" Before I could deny it, he said "Your eyes were closed" Ooops, guess I dozed off. Does that make me old?? I've enjoyed having all the one on one special time with my guys this week. I want to have a lot of that before school starts up next month.

Todd's cousin is doing better. His memory is improving so they are optimistic. I can't imagine not remembering what I did yesterday. Wait, I already have that problem.
I did find out that his aunt Angie is in the hospital in Springfield. She is having twins and due next month sometime. Both babies are in the same sac so they are wathing them to make sure they're cords don't get tangled. Hopefully they make it safely through the rest of the pregnancy.

That's all for now in the Klauser house. Tball is over, small break till soccer starts. Todd has joined the new Quincy Multisport Club that meets on thursdays. They do different routes of jogging and biking and sometimes swimming, like small triathalons. There are a lot of people that he sees in the races he does. He is really enjoying it. I'm having all the girls over for drinks and snack tonight so I'm looking forward to that. Woohoo.

What a week it's been. It's hard to believe we've only been home from CO for a week, it's been so busy. Last weekend Todd's cousin Kevin was in a motorcycle accident. They found him unconscious with a dead deer nearby so they're assuming he hit it. He had staples on his head in 3 places, a punctured lung, broken collarbone and I don't know what else. The scary thing is, his short term memory is horrible. Todd's dad went and saw him two days in a row and he didn't remember seeing him the day before. When Scott saw him they had the same conversation twice within a half an hour. The tests aren't showing anything so hopefully it's from the concussion and will wear off soon. They just had their first baby last month so I can't even imagine how Brooke is coping with a newborn plus all of this with Kevin. We're hoping and praying he's back to normal soon.

We got the results of Noah's kindergarten testing back. He scored 105 out of 117. I'm pretty pleased with that--he's definitely ready for Kindergarten. Now I just have to get myself ready for it. :( I'm really proud of him though, on vacation he did so much better about getting his face wet in the water. He's decided, on his own, that he's finally ready for swim lessons. And he was ready to take real ones, not just have daddy work with him. So he starts tomorrow at Wavering. It's every day for two weeks so I think that will be a good start. I'll feel so much more comfortable once he learns all the basics. I'm so proud that he's taking this big boy step.

Todd and I had a special date Friday night. He won it on the silent auction at the St Dominic's Picnic. We had dinner at Lakeview and went to see the musical version of Footloose at the Community Theatre. Dinner was awesome, we go to sit outside by the lake, which we've never done before. Footloose was amazing! I loved it. It made me want to get up on stage and sing and dance with them. If only I had the talent! A few of the kids Todd had taught so that was neat for him. We went to the St Anthony's picnic last night. It was really nice. This was the first year in as long as I can remember that the picnic wasn't horrible hot. The weather was beautiful. A good time was had by all and the kids were very well behaved. Today I got to have my Drew and mommy date. I took him out for lunch. He chose Lakeview first then we remembered it was closed on Sundays. He decided he wanted Papa John's pizza and we took it down by the river and sat and ate and watched the boats. Then we went to see Hairspray. We loved it!!! I was dancing in my seat. I'm going to have to get the soundtrack to it b/c I can't get the songs out of my head. Then we went shopping with Todd and the boys and spent too much money but got a lot of their school supplies and clothes for them and Todd. Wednesday is my date with Noah. He won't tell me what we're doing...it's a surprise. He had talked about us going to hunt for caterpillars so I'm hoping he's changed his mind!

I do have a funny Drew story. He's been REALLY wanting a Nintendo DS and wants to save for one and then will sell his Gameboy. He was talking about what color he would want and all today. He then was talking about looking at the fish pond and what they cost there and I asked him what he meant. He said it's a place where you can buy them cheaper. I was still confused and he said maybe it's a duck pond, he couldn't remember the name of the place. I was really lost by this time until he said. "There's one downtown and one across the river" I absolutely lost it. I laughed till tears were rolling down my cheeks. He meant the PAWN shop, not POND. I'm still giggling about it as I type. Too funny.

Gotta get ready for bed, another long day at work tomorrow. I'm working 2 days per week till the end of the summer plus a saturday here and there so work is keeping me busy on top of everything else. The extra money is VERY nice though and I love this busy time of year at the store. It's so much fun.

Pictures

I have a million things to write about but no time now so posting a few pictures really quick. Will get back to this later.

The bricks were finally installed at Quincy University. A little over a year ago, me and some girlfriends bought a brick in memory of Kathy and mom bought a brick that has her,me,Todd,Matt and Beth on it w/ our graduation years. They are finally here and they turned out great. I'm so happy with them.

This is the area of QU where they are located.

Todd also got a tattoo for his 35th birthday. It is really neat and has a neat story behind it--he designed it himself. It is an Icosadodecahedron (c'mon, you knew there would be some math in it!). It has 6 perfect circles that overlap and every 2 of them are linked together. It forms pentagons and triangles. The pentagon is 5 sided and we are a family of 5. The triangles are 3 sided for our 3 boys. The bands all overlap and keep us intertwined. Each of our names is on a band and the 6th band around the outside is God. Is that cool or what?? He got it on his thigh. Aiden had to have on too so Todd let him pick out one from all the temporary tattoos we have. Aiden is now sporting a Spiderman on his upper thigh and loves to show off his "tat". Drew says he wants one when he grows up of a snake wrapped around a sword. Ugh, I hope he changes his mind about that one!!

I would like to get one for my 35th too but need to decide on what. Right now I like the idea of a green 4 leaf clover for good luck and then I can put a T,D,N,and A on each leaf. We'll see.

Colorado Revisited

Some things that I learned on our CO vacation.

1. I am now addicted to Dill Pickle flavored sunflower seeds in the shell.

2. Don't expect a place that sells stamps and postcards to sell postcard stamps. That would make sense wouldn't it?

3. Don't expect to get your own ticket when you go to an eating establishment.

4. Just because there are tables open, doesn't mean there are seats available.

5. If you want clean towels, you have to throw them on the dirty floor in a wet pile. Don't we spend our lives teaching our kids NOT to do that???

6. Don't expect the hotel to provide soap or shampoo. Apparently conditioner is all you need.

7. Do not promise your 8 year old he can try the bumper boats, they are never open.

8. Who says you can't have a snowball fight on a warm sunny day??

9. We can't get cell phone service in our own home, but dammit we can get it from the highest mountaintops.

10. Soft car top carriers ARE aerodynamic. When Joe says he thinks one of your straps is loose, it really means all of your shit is gone.

11. No matter what Dick says, there are no lambs with pink bows. He doesn't know a llama from a stick in the ground.

12. Sippy cups can evaporate into thin air.

13. add your own....................

COLORADO 2007

Bozarth Family July 2007

Our trip was a huge success. My only complaint for the week was that Aiden slept like crap and with all 5 of us in one room, that meant we all slept like crap. But our days were wonderful and we were all in decent spirits. Driving was a piece of cake, the boys did absolutely wonderful. Arriving in Kearney the first night was exciting because of the water slides and water playground for the boys. All 3 of them had fun.

On Day 2 we stopped in Loveland to hit the outlet malls and of course we hit the Dam Store on our way into town. After checking in, we had to hit our favorite picnic spot in Endovalley to eat supper and the boys had a blast throwing rocks in the water as well as getting to see some animals.
You can barely see the deer in the background.

On Monday we did a hike up to Bierstadt Lake that was absolutely amazing. There were plenty of rocks for the boys to climb and the lake was gorgeous with ducks to feed. But the trail coming down was by far the most beautiful part of the trip for me. I was blown away by the view, it was like being on top of the world.



Todd and Aiden took a nap during the stroll. :)

Looking refreshed after a little snooze.

Family pic at Bierstadt Lake

This picture does not even begin to compare to the actual view. It was amazing.

Cindy gave us a warning to watch out for the poop on the trail. Thanks to her, no one stepped on it.
When we got to the bottom, there was a deer that came right up to everyone and let the kids crowd around it. She even ate right out of Drew's hand.

The three youngest kiddos got their first taste of the go-karts and the big slide. Aiden and Ty didn't care for the big slide but they and Blake LOVED the go-karts. I got to take Aiden first and he was so excited. I don't know who had more fun, him or me!! He just laughed and smiled the whole time. When we were done, I unbuckled him and he tried to buckle himself back up and said "More, more". So I told Todd to take him b/c he had so much fun. Drew, Noah and Blake loved the slide and the carts. They were all so cute on them. Cousinly Love!

One of our other favorite places to visit is the Alluvial Fan. I could hang out there all day with a book and a coffee (or mixed drink!). We got a LOT of good pictures there.

Me & My Godson!

Friends & Cousins

The one afternoon we took the boys to rock climb. They had so much fun. The walls were at least 2 stories high. Drew did awesome as I knew he would. I thought Noah would get scared being so high with nothing but a harness holding him but no way. He was awesome. They both went all the way up and did it 3 times each. We got some good video too. They had a blast and it looked like so much fun.

Weds. evening mom and dad took all 5 grandkids to McDonald's and the playground. Matt and Beth went to Mama Rose's to eat and Todd and I went to this really cool place where you could sample wine, cheeses, and meats and they came with different olives, breads, dried fruits, nuts, grapes, etc. It was heavenly. We each tried 3 different wines, 3 cheeses, 2 meats and all the goodies that came along with them. It was something different and fun and it was very filling.

The drive home was a bit interesting on Friday. We had the cartop carrier which has been a pain from the get go. We were at the end of the pack and we ended up passing Joe and Cindy. A couple of minutes later we hear Joe on the walkie talkie saying something about the carrier and the strap. We could hear the strap flapping on the roof so we pulled over to see what was the matter. Todd comes over to me and says "our luggage is gone" I wish I had a picture of my face when he said that because I think my chin was in my lap. WHAT?? My first thought was I hope it didn't cause a wreck. My second thought was that it had been over an hour and half since we stopped for lunch....it could be anywhere. But Joe said it was just a ways back. He didn't see it come off but saw it tumbling into the ditch between the highways. I hoped like hell everything was in one piece b/c we had the backpack carrier for Aiden that we had borrowed, mom and dad's fan and a suitcase of all of our dirty laundry. I sure didn't want my dirty underwear all over the interstate. But luckily we found it pretty easily and it rode the rest of the trip on our empty seat. We are 2-2 with car top carriers. They both only last one trip. IF we ever decide to buy a new one, it will be a hard top carrier. Obviously the soft top aren't strong enough for this family. We laugh about the whole story now but it still scares me to think of what could have happened if it fell off the back end of the van instead of the side, especially since Joe,Cindy,Eric and Cody were behind us. I would have died if something happened to them.

Here's a few last pictures from the trip. There are too many to post them all.

July 4th

We had a great 4th. The day started out just getting ready for the CO trip. Todd took Aiden to do a few errands. Just to show what a little escape artist he is, he talked Todd into letting him sit in the big part of the cart instead of the seat with the belt. Todd was crouched down looking at something on the shelf and out of the corner of his eye, he sees Aiden taking off around the corner. The little stinker climbed out of the shopping cart and took off without Todd noticing. Maybe I shouldn't let Todd take him anymore....... Then Todd gets out our car top carrier. We had bought one for our last CO trip and the strap broke during our trip. When we got home Todd exchanged it for a new one, I assumed for another of the same. He pulls it out yesterday and it looked awfully small. He said it opened up more. Whew, good, because it looked like a freaking duffel bag and we needed it to be big enough for a stroller and a pack and play. Today he does a "test" run of packing and we find that it doesn't open up any more. It isn't big enough to hold a stroller much less a stroller AND pack and play. UGH. But it's big enough to hold ONE suitcase. Whoop-de-doo. Luckily all 3 hotels had free cribs and we got those in our rooms so we don't have to take the pack and play and I think we can make it all fit still.

That evening we spent at "the house across the river" at Uncle Tim and Aunt Janet's. The kids had a blast playing and throwing those poppers. The food was incredible and right after supper a nice breeze came through and cooled everything off so the rest of the evening was just perfect. We enjoyed a nice fireworks display, there were some really cool ones, even "The Big Dog" that Matt bought. Jordan bought a bunch too as did Janet, Matt, etc. We had so much fun.We got to watch fireworks on the drive home too. A lot of people were shooting them off and as we got closer to Quincy we could see the ones by the river and the ones at the Gems game. I wish we could have timed it so we were driving over the bridge during the finale. That would have been aweome. The boys were tired. When we got home we found them asleep in the back of the van.

Todd always said one of his favorite memories of childhood was when he'd fall asleep in the car and his dad would carry him inside and put him to bed. He says it's now one of his favorite things about being a dad. Todd was in heaven last night. He got to carry all of his babies inside.

We had a busy but fun weekend. Friday night started out with Drew's baseball game. Then I went to a wine and cheese tasting party at Johnna's house. Her husband volunteered to drive the women home. It was a lot of fun. I hadn't drank that much or been up that late in a long time. It was a blast. We decided we needed to do it more often. Johnna just had Erica, me, Jill and a couple of teacher's from her work. I'm going to host the next one at the end of July and have all the girls over for mixed drinks. Todd offered to drive everyone home this time. Wooohooo!!

Saturday was our Kuhlman family reunion. The day flew by and after 7 hours, we finally left the park! But go home we did not. We headed over to mom and dad's for pizza for supper. Sunday I busted my buns around the house to get cleaning done and then we ate supper at matt and beth's. Everyone going to CO this weekend came so we could talk about the trip and watch old vacation videos etc. It was a lot of fun.

Noah had another good one liner that night. On the way over to Matt and Beth's we were talking to Drew about his nail biting habit. I said we needed to come up with something else for him to do whenever he felt the urge to bite his nails. He suggested chewing gum which I said was good. I asked him what else he could do instead of biting his nails. Noah chimes in, "You could grab your wiener." I about died. Obviously that isn't an option. The boys all have a problem with that one already!!

I just had to throw this picture in for a laugh. My best friend Dianna has two girls. This is her youngest, Mallory. She found and proceeded to eat an Orange washable marker. I can just hear Mallory laughing hysterically in this picture. I'm sure Dianna had fun cleaning up this mess.