The Perfect Day

Today was one of those wonderful fall days. It was also one of those fun and relaxing days. This morning the 5 of us hopped on our bikes and took a bike ride out to Edgewood Orchards for some apples. Due to the frost in the spring, they lost the majority of their crop, which is really sad. The only apples to pick from today were the Golden Delicious which was ok with us. We bought caramel dip for later too. We then sat outside and each enjoyed a sweet juicy apple before we rode back home. I would have loved to have my camera. Aiden was so cute eating his apple whole. The weather was so perfect and riding along out in the countryside was so peaceful and pretty. It kind of makes you forget about everything else and really BE in the moment. We got home and made a yummy lunch on the grill. Then Aiden and Todd fell asleep for about 2 1/2 hours while Drew and Noah spent that time painting, drawing and coloring. I got a lot done around the house during that time. Afterwards, the boys went to Gma Tunie and Gpa Kens to play and set up Halloween decorations. Todd and I took advantage of that time to go look at kitchen cabinets and get pricing ideas. Todd took part in some kind of symposium through Quincy University and got $1500 from participating in it. Woohoo, mama's getting some new cabinets! Ours were in bad shape when we moved here 10 years ago and we've done a lot of repairs to them. They're getting annoying. Week before last I had 3 doors fall off the hinges in one day. Let me tell you, it's not fun having a 3 foot tall cabinet door fall on your head. The hinges on most of them are shot. So anyway, we start looking at cabinets and start dreaming our usual dream......knocking out the wall between the kitchen and dining room to open it up. I have ALWAYS wanted that but what a pain in the butt. But since we will be in this house forever, why not do it up right and be happy with it?? So we are tossing ideas around and getting all excited. We picked the boys up, came home and Todd made taco pizza for supper and we've been relaxing around the house. I'm loving today.

The rest of the weekend was wonderful too. Saturday morning Drew and I went to Panera for breakfast and then hit Hobby Lobby and Scrappin' It for supplies for our card making and scrapbooking. Then Drew had a soccer game and it was perfect soccer weather. I really enjoyed watching him and his team play. After naps we headed to Grandpa's cabin for Ty's birthday party. Ty got all kinds of cool toys and books and the boys all had fun out there as usual. We've been so lucky with beautiful weather on the weekends lately and have gotten to spend a lot of time out there. Then we came home to get the boys ready for bed so Todd and I could get ready to head to Scott's annual wine party. Cousin Sarah came over to babysit and the boys were so excited. Knowing how Aiden is, I was going to put him to bed before we left since it was close to bedtime anyway. I asked him who was going to tuck him in and he points to Sarah and says "Say-rah" HUH?? He's NEVER picked anyone but me to tuck him in when I'm around. He won't even let Todd tuck him in. So we decided to give it a go. Looks like we made a breakthrough. Sarah said he was the easiest of the 3 to tuck in. So Sarah, or Say-rah as Aiden pronounces it, must really rate and that's good for us too!! The Kings of Stalling (Noah and Drew) pulled their usual bedtime tactics on her. Sorry Sarah. The party was fun and I think this was the best tasting batch of wine Scott has made yet. I was thirsty though and sucked the first two glasses down pretty quick and they really hit me. So it was water and yummy snacks the rest of the night for me.
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This and That:
Drew got his midterms and got 7 A's and 1 B. YAY Drew.
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Todd told me the story of taking the Aiden and Drew to McDonald's the other night. Aiden kept singing E-I-E-I-O when they got there. I guess he thought it was Old McDonald's restaurant.
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When Todd tucked Noah in the other night, Noah kept pondering whether he would get married and have kids someday. He couldn't make up his mind. Todd said he had a long time to decide that one. Noah said that he wishes he could be married and be a daddy half of the year and NOT be married or have kids the other half of the year. Don't we all wish that honey, why didn't I come up with that idea?? He said he guesses he'll just have to marry mom. Awww, thanks sweety.
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Off to eat some pudding crepes before tucking the kiddos in.

Look, Mom, I'm Two!!

Yep, somehow he's done it, he's grown up!! It feels so wierd to say I have a 2 year old. Almost makes me want to have another baby. Aha ha haha! Ok, now that I'm done laughing........Like I always tell the boys, 3 is our magic number.

Aiden had his checkup yesterday. 28lbs and 35 1/4 inches. Todd and I were talking last night and I had to pull the little sheet out from the nurse and re-read it. I thought there was no way he was almost 3 feet tall! But it is right. Thank goodness I have it in writing. I do a great job of keeping my blog updated but not so good with the baby books. I may need to refer back to this in the future.

Happy 2nd Birthday Aiden~~~

Aiden, how did you go from this tiny little baby to this grown up toddler so quickly???

One of my favorite pictures---my little reindeer. December 2005
He rang in his birthday with a party. We had Grandpa Ken, Grandma Tunie, Grandpa John, Grandma Paulette, Aunt Beth, Uncle Matt, Blake,Ty, and Godmother Johnna with Mark,Ben, and Ella. We had a yummy supper, opened presents, had Blue's Clues cake and ice cream. I think he had a blast. He got very nice presents and had so much fun playing with everyone. Today he gets to spend his bday with Grandma Paulette b/c unfortunately mommy has to work. But tonight he will get to open his presents from mommy and daddy, have some more bday cake and do whatever the birthday boy wants. Aiden, I love you more and more every day. You bring smiles to our faces and even your big brothers still think you are the best thing in the world. I love seeing the 3 of you playing together, it warms my heart. I hope you enjoy your birthday and I look forward to all the adventures we'll have in the years to come.

The Reign Has Ended...........

We have one tired but happy little King. The football game was so exciting. I tried to get a little video but had technical difficulties (meaning I don't know what I'm doing) but managed to capture the walk. The first picture is of them right afterwards standing in front of the cheerleaders. Paige and Noah got to get a professional picture taken together at the dance. I can't wait to see it. The background colors went perfectly with their outfits and they looked so precious together. When we arrived at the dance, they ran to each other and hugged. I think we may have a romance on our hands. We found cousin Sarah right off the bat too and got some pictures with her. The highlight of my night was when the Homecoming Court got to dance the first dance and I got to watch Noah and Paige dance to "Wonderful Tonight" by Eric Clapton. It was too dark to get too good of a picture but I will never forget them them dancing and twirling. Yes, I admit it, it made me cry. It was too sweet for words.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TODD!
We have a busy day getting ready for Aiden's birthday party tonight. Happy 12th Anniversary to my sweetie, Todd. I know this isn't how we normally celebrate our anniversary but honestly can't think of a better way. 2 years ago today we went out to eat to celebrate our 10 year anniversary and I went into labor that night. What better anniversary gift is there?? Can you believe our baby will be 2 tomorrow?? Looking forward to celebrating Aiden's birthday tonight and our anniversary with you Tuesday night when we attempt to go out to eat without kiddos! I love you, without you we wouldn't have this beautiful family that makes me smile every day. Thanks for finding something special in me and dedicating your life to me and our 3 boys. We love you so much!

King Noah

I had planned on waiting till the hoopla was all over to post the pictures but I couldn't wait. (For those who don't know, Noah got asked to be the little King for Senior High's homecoming. He got to be in the parade, he'll get to be in the halftime show at the football game and he'll be announced with the homecoming court at the dance Saturday) So here's a few from the parade last night. Noah was so incredibly cute. He was just cheesing and waving the whole time and had so much fun. The guy driving the car was the little queen's grandpa and he said that Noah sure had a lot of people cheering and waving at him so I'm thankful for all those that were there to see him. He said it was really fun getting to do something by himself without his family around. I totally understand what he means. I think it's great that he got to do something that no one else got to do. Usually Drew gets to do everything first being the older one so it was special for Noah to have this. I know I'm a biased, but I thought he was the cutest little King ever!! I can't wait for the halftime show at the football game tonight!! More pictures to follow..........................

A Little Bit of Heaven

You know how some days you have a small space in time that is just perfect and you want to savor every second of it?? I had one of those yesterday. I got to watch Blake and Ty for the morning. I adore my nephews, I love them to pieces. But usually when I'm with them, I have to share them with the rest of the family. Yesterday it was just them,Aiden and I. We had the best time. We sat and played just about every toy we have, we did puzzles, we read books, sang songs. I had hoped to get a bunch of pictures but we were so busy, I didn't get a chance too. I managed to capture a few at lunch though. We sat and sang along with Barney while we ate and had a good time. It was the best morning and I thoroughly enjoyed spending such quality time with them. I know it was good for Aiden too as he misses his big brothers during the day. So even though Matt and Beth think I did them a favor, they actually did ME a favor. Thanks for that special time with my buddies.

Busy Weekend

The weekend started off busy. Saturday morning both boys had soccer games and Todd had his Monster Adventure race (http://www.monsteradventure.com/ ) It lasts all day so Todd would keep us updated where they were and we would meet up to watch when we could. Of course we always wait for him at the finish line. I snapped this picture right after they finished. They beat last years time, finishing in 9hrs and 51 minutes. Todd only had 3 flat tires this time. Something about this race and his bike tires just don't mix!
Sunday we headed down to the river for Riverfest. The weather was beautiful, we ate some good food, and had some fun. The boys (all 4 of them) got to ride on the fire truck which was a thrill for them. We had a family picture taken at the library's booth that turned out pretty good, which is amazing for us!! I can't wait till they email it to us! Then after Aiden's nap we headed out to the cabin with Dad, Matt,Beth and the boys. They had so much fun out there. Blake and Ty brought their little Gator and shared so nicely with our boys. They also took rides in the big Gator. Beth and I decided to try and get a pic of all 5 boys. This is the best that I came up with! It's a challenge, that's for sure. Maybe Beth has a better one?


I love this next picture although it's starting to get dark. Ty and Aiden had so much fun playing over there. They were sticking things down in the holes that an animal had dug around there and just talking away. I would have loved to have been close enough to hear their conversation. It looks like they are up to something!

Drew broke out in hives Sunday morning. We couldn't think of anything different that he'd eaten or done to cause them. I gave him Benydryl every 4 hours and they continued to spread. By the time he went to bed that night, they had spread over every inch of his body, even on his feet, scalp, and some on his face. When he woke up monday morning his body looked much better but his face looked awful, all swollen and broken out. But by the afternoon he was all cleared up and back to normal. Not sure what caused it, just glad they are gone!

Taking One For The Team

My dad was doing his part for the United Way this year. One of his volunteer duties was to go around to some of the businesses to pick up donations for the United Way compaign. Well on Friday he was in one of the offices when a pit bull attacked him. No lie. What the hell was a pit bull doing in someone's office you might say?? Who knows. But he knocked Dad down, chewed his arm up real good and was biting at his leg. Thank goodness he's so "solid" or he might have gotten hurt worse. How scary. But to lighten the story up a bit, Todd had a good joke.
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When John was asked how his United Way volunteering was going, he said "Well I gave an arm and a leg". Ba-da-boom.
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Feel free to add your own.........

Spin the Bottle

Should I worry that my three boys and three of the neighbor boys are playing Spin the Bottle?? Luckily their version doesn't include kissing. In fact, it didn't include much of anything. They just spun it, saw who it landed on, and then would spin again. The 6 of them have played a lot of hide and seek lately though. It's so funny. Aiden just doesn't get the concept of hiding...it means staying in one place and being quiet. He finds a place to hide and yells, "I ready".
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The boys had a half day of school today so we met Johnna, Ben and Ella at the park for lunch and play. It was the perfect fall day. The kids had a blast and we hung out and talked. The temperature was awesome. I love this time of year. I wish we could have low 70's temps every day.

Tonight is Night One of sleeping in the Big Boy Bed. Shocker of all shockers, he didn't climb out of his bed once we tucked him in!! We'll see what the rest of the night brings. Like I said, this kid always manages to pull the unexpected.

My little cheesy boy. Night, night Aiden!

I hate that word.....

HATE. What a cruel, powerfully ugly word. I do not like to hear it although I’m probably guilty of saying it now and then. But I never say it about anyone. Honestly, I can say I’ve never hated anyone in my life. There aren’t even any foods I hate. I do hate violence, war, abuse, but I still rarely say the word. So when your 5 year old child, whom you love so much it hurts, tells you that he hates you, it’s kind of like a knife to the heart. I’ve heard it on 2 different occasions this week. Both times, I did nothing to deserve it. He made some bad choices, didn’t like the consequences, and got angry with me and said it. It absolutely killed me. He’s been really hard to deal with lately and I know why. The same thing happened with Drew. Going to school all day every day is exhausting, especially when you're 5 and have never done it before. He’s following in the same pattern Drew did when he started. He’s a lot whinier, more argumentative, and less fun to be around. That said, there was still no excuse for him to say that to me. The first time I got an apology. Tonight, I never got a verbal one, but by the way he acted and wanted me to cuddle him so much at bedtime, I think he felt bad. I’ll take that for now. The thing that hurt even more than that was that both times he said that I hated him and didn’t love him. Why in the world would he think that?? Tonight he said part of it was because he wasn’t born first. WHAT?!!?? I feel like I’m missing something here. We show no favoritism with the boys. Yes, Aiden does get more attention sometimes because he’s little and a bit more high maintenance than the older two. On the way to school the other day, he said it wasn’t fair that Aiden got me to himself all day and he wouldn’t get any time alone with me. So I wonder in a way if this is because he misses me?? I’m trying to make special time for the older boys in the evening since they are gone all day. It’s hard, but I need that time with them as much as they do. I’ll try and sit and have a talk with him tomorrow when he isn’t so emotional. I know this will pass and he will get more used to his new routine and new hours and I’ll get my old Noah back. I miss him. I did ask him at bedtime if he loved me and he said "Yes! You know I do!" That made me feel better. I guess he's comfortable enough to know that no matter what is said, he knows that I know he loves me. And I love my little Noah too.

BIG BOY BED

I wasn't ready for this at all but apparently Todd and Aiden decided they were. Aiden "helped" daddy put his big boy bed together today and we went out and bought his mattress. I wasn't ready for 2 reasons. 1.--a big boy bed means putting the crib away and it means one more step on the way to big boyhood. The potty training alone caught me way off guard, now the bed too?? He's supposed to be my baby right?? 2.--the crib is so easy! We read a couple of books, sing our special songs together and then I lay him down. He plays with his Barney and Elmo and goes to sleep. When he wakes up, he just calls my name. You know what a bed means.....they can get out!! I've been through it twice already and I'm not ready to go there again. The "let's see how many times I can climb out of bed before mommy wants to rip her hair out and bang her head on the wall" game. I can't tell you how many times we put Drew and Noah to bed only to have the crap scared out of us awhile later when we found them standing silently in the hall. And they also discovered they can get up during the night and come in our bed. Aiden has been my good sleeper all along, this could ruin it. But I will do my best to stay positive. He's surprised me in many ways, both good and bad, so he may surprise me here. Tomorrow night will probably be his first night in his new bed. We'll see what happens.Before you watch the video below........if you are prone to motion sickness, you may need Dramamine before you watch this. Noah was the filmaker! 'Nough said!

Speaking of Todd, (well, I guess I wasn't but I needed a good segway) he was quoted in the paper today. A writer from the Herald Whig called him to interview about the Midwest Monster Adventure race he's doing this Saturday. Here's the link to the article. His friend Tom is going to died when he reads it. You'll know why when you read it. It's good. Drew and Noah were even mentioned.
http://www.whig.com/7005598598702.php

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Had a great weekend. I went to an overnight scrap event with some friends. There were 14 girls there but I didn't know everyone. But all the girls were so nice and we had so much fun. I didn't get to bed until almost 3 am and woke up about 6:30. (what's wrong with me!?) but amazingly I didn't feel tired. We scrapped all day too and then we went to the Blessed Sacrament picnic last night. Johnna and Mark worked the beer tent from 7:00 on so we had Ben and Ella till they got done. It gave me a taste of what it would be like to have 5 kids. Keeping track of that many kids in a public place is tricky. Luckily everyone behaved well though. We put them to bed at our house until they were done working and they came to get them. It was a fun evening. I think the kids enjoyed themselves.

New Klauser's

We have three new baby girl Klauser's that were just born. We got to meet Olivia at the family reunion last weekend. She was 9 days old at the time and so tiny. She had so much hair that Todd asked if she was wearing a wig--it was so thick and beautiful. She had the tiniest little feet, I couldn't believe her socks stayed on! Yesterday Todd's aunt had her twin girls. They were only about 32 weeks but I guess Angie's blood pressure was high and had protein in her urine and I don't know what all else. The girls are about 2lbs 10oz, so tiny. They will stay over in Springfield till they get closer to their actual due date. I'm sure Angie will be ready to come home, she's been over there mostly by herself for months as it is. Todd's uncle has had to be here to run the business and all. Since their youngest is in high school and she's spent so much time in the hospital, they don't have much for the babies. I think we are going to loan them our crib. By the time they come home from the hospital we can have Aiden in his twin bed and it was just going in storage anyway, I'd rather it be put to good use. (I just can't get rid of it yet) I'm anxious to see the. They are healthy so far so I hope no complications arise. So that makes 5 Klauser's born since MAY!! What a fertile family I married into!

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Aiden started his Music class today. We had so much fun. He took it last winter and you can really tell he has grown up some since then. He was so into it and he would look at me with that cute smile where he wrinkles his nose up. It made me melt. Afterwards we went down to the indoor playground to play and had fun there too. I'll definitely always look forward to our thurs. mornings there. Thanks to Gma and Gpa Boz for the music class for Aiden's bday gift.

***Potty Watch 2007***
Aiden peed in the potty 4 times yesterday and today he pooped for the first time!! He was so excited b/c I don't think he meant to do that when he sat down! He was just pushing to get that pee out and surprise. He's also liking to try and pee standing up. Yesterday he tried it with his little potty. He had both hands on the wall with his legs spread as if he was going to get frisked by the police. Todd had to help him aim but they made it in. He's just too funny.
(I know you're all thinking "enough with the pee and poop stories", but after the hell I went through to get Drew and Noah potty trained, this is actually kind of fun. He WANTS to do this! I just hope the novelty of it doesn't wear off anytime soon.)

My Conversation With Noah

Noah: Mom, I had to wash my hands when I brushed my teeth.

Me: Oh? Why is that?

Noah: Because I dropped my toothbrush in the toilet and had to get it out with my hand.

Me: What?! You didn't brush your teeth with that did you?

Noah: Yes, but I washed it with water first.

Me: Oh my God, please tell me you at least used soap with it.

Noah: I used soap and water.

Me: Go throw that toothbrush away now!

It took everything I had to keep calm. The germ-phobe in me was dying a thousand deaths. He was nonchalant about it, no big deal. This is the kid that will throw a fit if you accidentally put the wrong condiment on his sandwhich. I couldn't bring myself to kiss him on the lips at bedtime. I wish I had made him gargle with mouthwash or something. I overheard Drew asking him how he did that and I thought I heard Noah saying something about brushing his teeth while he peed. I pretended I didn't hear, that was too much for my faint heart.

***Potty Update*** Aiden peed in the potty THREE times this evening!!! I'm in total shock. We were all dancing around like a bunch of idiots cheering for him. If only someone had a video camera on us. I'm still not getting my hopes up, but damn, I'm impressed!

ZZZZZZZZZZZ....

Apparently the episode of Barney that I DVR'd today wasn't very exciting.

And for the record, I did try to wake him up, but it wasn't happening. So he took his nap today on the living room floor instead of in his crib. Does that make me a bad mom or a smart mom??

I DID IT!!!

Yes, Aiden did it. He peed on the potty for the first time. The impressive thing isn't that he did it, but that he did it on his own. He went into the bathroom, took off his pants and diaper, sat down and did his business. By the time Todd got in there, he was already playing with his pee. We are so proud. I took this picture of him sitting on his potty. Thank goodness for Adobe Photoshop, in the original pic you could see little boy parts and I figured that wouldn't work for posting on the blog so in this touched up picture, his shirt is pulled down over it. We were all dancing around and cheering for Aiden. You could tell he was so proud of himself. Drew shouts "Mom, now Aiden's potty trained". If only it were that simple!