Flashback Friday

Happy 38th Anniversary Mom & Dad!! I found a few pictures from recent years. I hope you guys make time to do something fun today! You guys have been so busy building your new house that you don't take much time for yourselves. Enjoy today!! We love you!

October 2004--One of my favorite pictures of you.

July 2004
Dad making us laugh as always.
Colorado --- July 2007--our favorite family vacation spot with your "baby".

October 2005 Family Picture ( I think it's time for an updated one with Ellie!)

Feelin' The Love

Aiden: Mom, are you happy?
Me: Yes, I'm happy. Are you happy?
Aiden: Yep, I happy. I really happy.
Me: What makes you happy Aiden?
Aiden: Soup!
Me: Soup, huh?
Aiden: Yep, and YOU make me happy mom.
Me: You make me happy too Aiden.

I was feeling warm and fuzzy during that drive to the bank when it hit me......I came after SOUP!

My First Digital Layouts!

Recently I found Scrapblog.com and gave digital scrapbooking a try. It was fun!! I played around with some of my pictures from our Florida trip. There are 5 pages to this "layout". If you click on the play button or the right arrow button, you should be able to see all 5 pages.

I'm Having a (Purple) Cow!!

If I thought I was excited by Vanilla Joy giving away the Cricut on Monday, I'm even more excited by today's giveaway!! What I wouldn't do for a Purple Cow paper trimmer, a Sizzix of my own, and this cool ribbon dispenser.
http://www.vanillajoy.com/blog-giveaway-purple-cows-sizzix-creative-options.html

I've been in paper crafting heaven lately but it's an expensive hobby. I might get lucky and win some goodies!

Church Pictures

Have you ever seen anything cuter in your life?? Seriously people, do you know what the odds are of getting all 3 of my boys in a picture and getting them to all smile cutely at the same time?? You have a better chance of winning the lottery! We had to get pictures taken for our church directory in June and amazingly they didn't turn out too bad. I about got sick paying the crazy prices they charge, but I had to buy some of these!! Who knows when I'll get one this good again?? They look too grown up in this picture though!

MY SWEETIES.

Here is our family picture. This is the one that will appear in the directory. Please ignore the two goofballs in the back--Todd and I are NOT photogenic.

The Good and The Bad

I'm NOT happy with the predictions for this coming winter's colder than average temps and above average snowfall.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080824/ap_on_re_us/farmers__almanac

But I AM happy and excited about Vanilla Joy's giveaways this week on her blog.
Today is a CRICUT....this is every paper crafter's dream. I want to win this.
http://www.vanillajoy.com/blog-giveaway-cricut-by-provo-craft.html

Things That Make Me Happy

They say it's the little things in life that makes us happy. That certainly holds true most of the time. You know you' ve had a good day when you can sit down at the end of the night and think of good that has happened that day, big or small. Then there are days when life throws you a curve ball and you have to deal with it whether you like it or not. Some days the good things don't always come to you.........some days you have to search for the good things and find ways to make yourself happy. I've had some hard days lately, but am trying to focus on the positives......I've found 5 things that make me happy this week and wanted to share them.

Caprese Salad. What can be better than Fresh Basil (from my herb garden), fresh mozzarella (on sale nonetheless!), and home grown tomatoes (from my mom's garden because herbs are apparently the only edible thing I can grow). Drizzle a little EVOO (extra virgin olive oil for you non-Rachael Ray fans) and some black pepper and you have one yummy lunch.

School supplies. Yes I had to buy myself some things too. Why should the kids have all the fun?? Back to school time is also my time to get re-organized. I had to get these folders to go along with the matching binders I bought last year to keep all of my "stuff" organized. I found these awesome notepads at Michael's when I was in FL. Both are magnetic for the fridge....I can keep a list of "to do's" for every day of the week and keep a list of what we will cook every day that week and the ingredients I'll need to buy on the side. Let's see how well I keep up with that craziness!

When I'm upset, I organize or clean. I've put off the computer area all summer because it was horrible and I just felt overwhelmed every time I went near it. Even sitting at the computer I could feel my OCD telling me to take care of the clutter but the rest of me yelling "Nooooooo!". Sunday I broke down and went through EVERYTHING. Now look how neat and organized I'll be. Just ignore the fingerprints on the computer screen. I didn't say I cleaned it too!
How do you know fall is on the way??? Candy corn, baby!!! One of my many guilty pleasures......candy corn mixed with dry roasted peanuts. Yummy. Whoever thought of putting those together was a genius. I was at HyVee on Monday and saw the candy corn and it made me smile, had to buy it.

Another sign of fall........Pumpkin Pie Spice Coffee Creamer, Dianna and I's coffee addiction. Why they don't just sell this stuff year 'round I'll never know. D and I could probably keep them in business with it ourselves. When the holidays are over, I start stocking up for fear of coming to the store and seeing that it's gone for another year. Oh my sweet sweet pumpkin pie spice, come to momma. Some days it's more like "would you like a little coffee with your pumpkin pie spice creamer?" Yeah, I've got it bad.

And one bonus "Happy". Last but certainly not the least....My Dad. I love you Dad. You are always on my mind.

Look at all of those crazy grandkids. How could that NOT make him happy?? :)

What Makes You Happy????

Question of the Day

In the car earlier, Drew asks me "Mom, who came first....Adam & Eve or the dinosaurs?"

Whatever happened to "Mom, what's your favorite flavor of ice cream?"

1st Day of School

Ok, so it's the first day of school and I'm calling a DO-OVER on the first day pictures. Did my kids forget how to smile??? or do they only know how to make goofy faces?? Here are the best of my worst. Really guys.

Aiden has a thing for scrunching up his face when he smiles. Not attractive buddy. And yes, he's in his underwear.

Drew sporting his new school bag and a goofy expression.

Mr. The-Sun-Is-In-My-Eyes Noah

Is there anything cuter than a little kid in boxer briefs? You can't tell it by his expression, but I promise I didn't force him to pose.

I saved the best for last. This one makes me laugh my butt off.

They were all safely delivered to their school. Their classrooms look awesome, they have great teachers and they were so excited to see their friends. Aiden was excited to have me all to himself again. Today is only a 1/2 day so I'm anxious to see them come running off of the bus and hear about their day. After lunch, I'm taking them out for a treat to celebrate.

My 'artwork'

I've been wanting to make something to hang in my bathroom that has pictures of the boys. I decided to also make a frame for my mother in law to hang in her house for her birthday. (Today is her birthday.....Happy Birthday Tunie!). I did hers first since her birthday was quickly approachig. I was so excited with how it turned out. I used pictures from our trip to Florida and used colors to match the interior of her house. This picture is really crummy unfortunately. Trying to get a good picture without the glare but still showing the true colors was hard, but you get the gist! This was done on a 12x16 frame. On the pictures it says Dream, Laugh, Cherish.
I was so excited that I finally tackled the one for our bathroom. I'm not completely happy with it though. I don't know if it's the placement of the pictures, the green that doesn't match exactly with my bathroom, or if the background paper is too busy. I love the brown matting of the pictures.....I'm tempted to take them off and start the background all over again. What do you think?? Any suggestions would be appreciated!!

Missing Underwear Part 3 and CASE CLOSED!

Ok, I know you're on the edge of your seats wondering how we figured out the case of the missing underwear. If you need to catch up, here's Part 1 and Part 2. Last night, around 10:30 or so, Todd and I were watching TV and Noah came out of his bedroom and walked across the hall into the bathroom. After awhile, Todd went to check on him because he never came out. He called me in to look and said he thinks he knows what happened to the underwear. I was puzzled so I peeked into the bathroom and saw this:

Noah was sound asleep on the bathroom floor with his underwear around his ankles. I tried a full body shot but little boy parts were showing, and I just couldn't do that to him. Todd pulled his underwear off and Noah just looked up at us and went back to sleep. We tried to get him up to go back to bed and he was mumbling about being tired and confused. This morning I asked him if he remembered any of it and he only did a little. I'm thinking the little kiddo is sleepwalking or something and is getting up at night to potty and leaving his underwear in the bathroom or his room and doesn't remember it. I'm just thankful we were awake when this happened or he could have spent the night there. Or worse yet, I would have gotten up to go to the bathroom during the night, would have tripped over his little body and then wet myself!!!

An Unexpected Surprise

I got a call last night from the boys' principal. She called to ask me if I'd be interested in being a teacher's aide for the preschool class. It would be 2-3 mornings per week from 8:20-11:30. To say I was excited was an understatement. To say it was rotten timing was an understatement also. She said I could take a day or two to think it over. If I'd gotten this offer 2-3 years from now, I'd snatch it up in a heartbeat. Right now, I have a good number of personal reasons that I can't take it. I am going to offer tomorrow to be a substitute for whoever they hire though. Then I can still have a taste of it. Who knows, I may get the opportunity again in the future?? Right now I need to do what's best for me, Aiden, and my family.

KofC BBQ

The KofC Barbecue is always the last hurrah of summer before school starts. For those who aren't from around these parts, it's real similar to a fair....rides, games, food, good times. The weather was great for it this year, it wasn't too hot and there wasn't any rain. We had a great time. Here are just a few of the pictures I took last night.

Aunt Beth and the 5 boys trying to win a fish. We played this one last time later in the night before we left. Drew won a fish and was so excited. Unfortunately, he didn't survive the night. Since we already have our little fish tank back up and running, I guess we'll be making a Walmart run for another little goldfish.

Noah and Aiden patiently waiting for the race cars to start. Ty was in the car behind them so they were talking to him.
My niece Ellie. Drew says she's like chocolate....too good to resist. I have to agree!Drew at the bumper cars.
Yikes, I let my baby go on that ride! Drew is getting too big for the kiddie rides and he's definitely tall enough for the adult ones, I'm just too chicken to let him ride them. I finally conceded and let him and Todd ride this last night....he loved it!! It's called The Screamer. That's what I felt like doing when he rode it.
Aiden driving the bumper boats. It was for really little kids. In fact, to give you some perspective, Noah was almost too tall to ride them and he's 6! Aiden thought he was pretty big stuff though.

Missing Underwear Part 2

I wrote last week about Noah and his missing underwear. It happened again. The other morning Aiden woke up and for some reason went into Noah's room to see if he was sleeping. I ran in really quick to get him out before Noah woke up. Noah happened to roll over.....I look over and see his naked bum peeking out of his covers. A few minutes later Noah came out of his room wearing some underwear, but they weren't the ones he went to bed in. I asked him what happened to his underwear and he looked visibly upset. "Mom, I told you, I don't know what happens to them. They just disappear.

Either he's undressing in his sleep or the underwear fairy is coming and taking them. The first time I at least found them in his bed covers. This time?? Nowhere to be found.

Noah's Date

Noah had a "date" yesterday. There's a little girl in his class named Grace and she happens to live up the street from us. One of the little kids in their class had a birthday party at Bonkers the other night and she came home and told her mom that Noah is the nicest boy in her class. (That warmed my heart, I hope that means he'll be good husband material someday!) I guess he helped her by going up and ordering her a slushy for her. Anyway yesterday she asked her mom if Noah could come over and play. I thought that was so cute. He spent the afternoon over there yesterday playing with Grace and her little brother, who's 3. He had fun and wants to have Grace over to our house next. Should I be worried? He IS only 6. ;)

Just When You Think You Know Someone.....

I've known my husband for 15 1/2 years now and I thought I knew everything about him.
**************
Little did I know.....
I was wrong!
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Yesterday I discovered something shocking about him......and it frightened me a little.
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My sweet hubby is allergic to bee stings!
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After Drew's soccer practice Todd went over to pick up a sign that had been knocked over in the parking lot. I guess that's where a bunch of bees were hanging out. He got stung on the top of his head and on the back of his hand. By the time he got home, both were swollen and disgusting looking. He had also broken out in hives all over his body and was itching like crazy. The sting site was burning and irritated also. He took some Benydryl right away and made a baking soda paste to put on the sting. Then he put ice on it to try and get some relief. He was scratching like crazy. It took awhile for the medicine to kick in but his body finally calmed down. I felt bad for him. I also felt a little guilty because when he first got home, I thought he was making a big deal out of nothing. Let's face it girls, when men are sick or hurt, they just aren't as tough as us gals. But when I took a look at all the swelling and the hives, I knew he had legitimate complaints. I asked him if I should worry about his throat swelling shut and he said no. :)
He was up and gone to work by the time I got up today so I'm assuming all is well again. I'm just hoping the bees stay away from him for a long while!

Tri-ing to Help Triathlon

Yesterday was the Tri-ing to Help Triathlon that was sponsored by the Quincy Multisport Club. Todd organized this as the club's first triathlon and as a fund raiser for Ross, a local boy diagnosed with leukemia earlier this year. They were wanting to raise the money to help with his medical expenses. They had a great turnout for the first year with the adult triathlon being at 7am and a kids triathlon at 10am. Drew and Noah did the kid's triathlon and had so much fun. Noah kept telling me how much he loved doing them and they did such a great job. I'm just proud of them for doing them because it's something so great for their overall health. Noah got 2nd place in the boys' 6 and under age group and Drew got 3rd place in the boys' 7-10 age group. They are hoping for this to be an annual event for the club.

Noah on top and Drew on bottom. I was lucky to catch them both together as one was swimming up and the other was swimming back.

Drew on the biking portion.

Noah on the biking portion.
Noah and Drew shortly after they finished their run.
Noah receiving his 2nd place ribbon from Ross.
It's so nice that so many people worked together to pull this off for this sweet boy and his family. It makes you so grateful for your health and just goes to show how anything can strike anyone at anytime. No one is safe. I wish him and his family the best and he continues his battle.

Missing Underwear and Buzzing in the Dark

Why do interesting things always happen at our house in the middle of the night?? Why can't I get a good night's sleep like normal people?

Here's my conversation with Noah at 3:00am last night.

I'm getting up to go to the bathroom and run into Noah in the hallway.
ME: Hon, what do you need?
NOAH: Sometimes, I don't know how, but some way, somehow I'll wake up in the middle of the night and my underwear are gone.
(sure enough, he is completely naked---my older boys only sleep in their underwear in the summer)
ME: Ok, let's head back to your room...........Where are your underwear?
NOAH: I don't know..............oh, here they are in my bed.
ME: Do you want to put them back on??
NOAH: No, I'll sleep naked............and will you lay with me for awhile??? I'm a little scared, I think I just saw a big bee buzzing around.
(keep in mind it's completely dark with the exception of a little nightlight....oh, and we ARE sleeping in the house, not outside)
Later in the night I get woken up again because he had a bad dream about 3 bees buzzing around and he had a headache (Must have been all the buzzing).

We were also up with Aiden for awhile because his allergies or something have kicked in and he was all congested and coughing. Todd was also up half the night all nervous about this triathlon he's putting on Saturday so he got up around 2:30am to work on things. I think we're becoming nocturnal.....except we don't sleep during the day either!

Flashback Friday

I honestly hadn't planned on this today but my Aunt Cindy's comment reminded me I hadn't done a Flashback Friday in awhile. Since my last post was all about my first post blogging and how it's been over 2 years since I joined the blogging world, I thought I'd post some pictures from the month I started blogging about these awesome boys of mine. It's amazing how much they have grown up in 2 short years. To put some perspective on it....in these pictures Drew is just a few months older than Noah is now. So here are my boys in June of 2006.

Aiden

Father's Day 2006

Father's Day 2006
Posing for our Father's Day gift to Todd (thanks Beth)

Rub a dub dub, Noah & Aiden in the Tub
Aiden's first day in our "swimming pool"

Waiting for Todd to finish the Tri-Jesus Triathlon.....a cold day in June!

Seasoned Blogger

I just realized tonight that I have been blogging for over 2 years. My first entry was on my old blog site on June 6, 2006. Wild isn't it?! Here was my first entry. http://www.momsbuzz.com/blogs/klauser/2775/I%26%2339%3Bm+a+newbie+at+this.html
It's funny how much has changed since then. And how I wish I had time to go back and read over all of those entries. I'm sure there are plenty of things I have already forgotten, which makes having a blog so much better. It has been quite a journey. I've learned a lot, discovered a lot, and have met some really cool bloggers out there as well as finding some really cool web sites. I love keeping in touch with my family and friends, I enjoy sharing my life and my family, and I love keeping up with everyone else. I have noticed that I tend to keep it more light and funny when I can. I would love to get on and vent when I want or write about my innermost feelings but I have a feeling that might not be the best idea. Unfortunately I worry too much about what others think and seriously, you'd think I was a nutcase sometimes. Of course I know I am, so it wouldn't be news to me! :) I want this to be a place (and hope that it is) that people enjoy coming to and enjoy reading and I want it to be a place for me and my hubby and boys to be able to look back and remember all that has happened. As for reflecting on my feelings, what I'm going through on my journey, and the obstacles I'm trying to overcome.......that might be better saved for another blog, maybe even a private one. I'm giving some thought on that........ Cheaper than therapy huh? :)

I don't know where I'm going with all of this, just reflecting on the whole blogging thing. Two years and counting..............

Time Out

Last night I was in Aiden's room putting away his clean laundry. Todd brings Aiden in his room for a time out and leaves, locking the door. Here's how our conversation went.

Me: Aiden, why are you in quiet time?
Aiden: Because daddy put me in quiet time.
Not the answer I was looking for. Aiden then gets a confused look on his face.
Aiden: Mommy, why are YOU in quiet time?
Me: Honey, I was just in here putting your laundry away.
Aiden: Oh.
I then go to the door planning on going to put away everyone else's laundry, only to find the door locked. (we had turned the knobs around to lock from the outside)
So I yell for Todd a few times.
Aiden: Mommy, don't yell at daddy.
Me: I'm not yelling AT him, I'm trying to get him to hear me so he can let me out.
Aiden: Oh.
Todd finally hears me or realizes what he did. He unlocks the door to find Aiden and I standing there looking up at him.
Me: Can we get out of quiet time now daddy?


(Come to think of it, I never did find out why Aiden was put in quiet time. I can definitely come up with some good guesses though!)

The Diego Brothers

2 Brothers Watching TV.

Matching Diego Underwear.

The Youngest Being Almost Potty Trained........PRICELESS!

He is well on his way, I am so impressed. We got back from vacation and it was like a light went on in his head. You'd have thought it was his idea all along. Keep it up big guy.......momma's ready to toss those pull-ups forever!

Wii Be Getting Fit...............

................and having fun doing it!!! We've been trying to get a Wii Fit for ages....it's about the equivalent of finding the Holy Grail. Holy crap, if you thought getting a Wii was hard, try getting a Wii Fit. I think the people at Gamestop and Best Buy think we are stalking them. But obviously we aren't the only ones, since they are always gone by the time we get there. Today Todd had gone jogging and ended up jogging to Walmart to check out their laptops. Then da-da-da, there it was, one lone Wii Fit in the display case. Todd went to get an employee to get it out for him. As the guy was getting it out, someone else came to ask for it. So it was our lucky day, Todd saw it at the right moment. Wheeeeee!! Drew and Noah are playing with it now, but I can't wait to try yoga and snowboarding this afternoon!

Wii party at our house!!!

Drew's Day Camp

A couple of days before we left for Florida, Drew got a great idea to have a "day camp" for Noah and Aiden. He worked really hard putting together art activities, story times, games, etc.

Here is the schedule for the day.....looks a lot like school doesn't it? :)

He even sent a note "home" with the boys for me and Todd. I cracked up at "see how there learning has increased" and "Mr. Klauser"

Here is "Mr. Klauser" reading to the boys at story time.

All 3 boys had a blast, I can't believe they lasted almost the whole day. I thought it was so sweet of Drew to do this and it was helpful for Todd and I since we were busy packing. Noah wants to plan one now too!!