Drew's Birthday in St Louis

Since 10 is a big birthday I asked Drew what he wanted to do to celebrate and we could do something a little bigger this year. He really wanted to go to St Louis for 2 big reasons.....to eat at Chuck E Cheese and to go up in the arch. He had just finished a book that talked about the arch in it and he was curious to visit. The 4 grandparents and the 5 of us headed to St Louis on Sunday. We started off at Toys R Us then headed to Chuck E Cheese for lunch. The boys had a blast there!

In this game Drew told me he was shooting down airplanes and other aircraft. Nice. So this is where they train you to be a terrorist.

Hang on Aiden, it's a wild ride!

Noah's playing one of my favorites....skee ball.

After lunch we headed for the Arch. After all the rain and snow Saturday at home, it shaped up to be a really nice day in downtown St Louis. It was about 50 and sunny, much nicer than we had anticipated. The arch was beautiful in the sunlight.

This is standing in the middle looking up. I still get dizzy just looking at this picture.

These little pods you ride in to get to the top can make you a bit clautrophobic...they put 5 people in there. I remember as a kid getting stuck in there for awhile....no fun!

Me, Todd, Aiden, and Grandma Paulette rode in this one.

Grandpa Ken, Grandma Tunie, Drew and Noah rode in the other one. Grandpa John decided to spend his time in the museum while we went up.

Here's a picture of Busch Stadium from the top of the arch. I'm amazed at how well the picture turned out considering how every window up there was covered in finger and nose prints!

Noah and Drew gazing out the window. It was neat but I was getting dizzy and queasy up there. It was a windy day and I was feeling it. Blech.

After the arch we headed to Target and to the Mills Mall. We did a little shopping, the males all rode the go-karts, we had a quick supper at Steak n Shake and headed home. It was a wonderful day, the boys behaved so well, and Drew was a very happy 10 year old.

Happy 10th Birthday Drew!!!

Well, you did it Drew. People only get to do this once in their lifetime, and you did it----you hit the double digits. I knew this birthday would hit me hard, you really are growing up. I see you starting to mature and want to do more grown up things and I alternate between wanting to shelter and overprotect you to wanting to let you have some of that independence. You are very responsible and mature for your age and that makes me proud. It doesn't always make it easier for me to step back and let you do your own thing though. I can't help but want to baby you, are ARE my baby after all, no matter how old you get. I want you to know I am always here for you and I want you to be comfortable talking to me but at the same time I don't want to be pushy and nagging. There's such a fine line. You make me so proud in so many ways. I think the one thing about you that makes me the most proud is that you are a leader, not a follower. You do what YOU want and you don't feel like you have to go with the crowd. The other kids look up to you and that makes me happy. It makes me feel more confident that you can avoid peer pressure and that you are confident in yourself and what you want. You are always willing to try new things, no matter what they may be or how scary they might be. I wish I had that quality myself. I've been trying really hard to let you have your space and your say in things a bit more lately.

You've had my heart from the day I saw that pregnancy test. It was about 6am in the morning and I rushed in to wake your dad. He instantly had tears in his eyes and we just hugged each other in excitement. I played hooky from work that day. I knew there was NO way I could sit at my desk all day and act like everything was normal. I wanted to shout it from the rooftops. Instead I had a quiet day at home by myself. I rushed out and bought What to Expect When You're Expecting and laid out on the hammock...one hand on my belly, the other holding my book. I daydreamed most of the day and let it all sink in. Your dad and I were going to wait until we got back from our vacation to tell the family but we just couldn't keep quiet. We had to share the news. I can remember it all like yesterday....the pregnancy, the 28 hour labor, seeing you for the first time. It's hard to believe it's been 10 years since you were born. In that one moment my life was changed for the better and it got even better with the arrival of each of your brothers. I love you my Cuddlebug, my Drewdles, my Drewbie. (Thank you for not getting mad when I yell "Go Drewdles" on the soccer field....it just slips out) I know this is a special birthday for you and we will have so much fun this weekend. I hope it's everything you wanted and more.

I sat going through old photos and realized there were too many to pick from. I also already posted a lot of my favorites last year on your birthday. You were such a beautiful little guy and still are in my eyes. You and I are so much alike, it's scary sometimes and I love our special times together.

Just a week old. One of my favorites of you and Grandpa John.

One of my all time favorites. I could just eat you up here.

You with your Pooh Bear and rocking chair.1st Christmas 1999

My sweet, sweet Drew. When I had my Mary Kay Holiday Open House in December, you got all dressed up and wanted to help me. Here you had just set up my sale table for me and then you helped with the big display table and snacks and drinks. I was so proud of you and for being so grown up and so happy that you wanted to be with me and do this with me. You'll always be one of my best helpers around the house. You have such a big heart and love to do special things for others, even if it means using your own money or giving up your time. You are growing up, big guy. I love you and appreciate all the little things you like to do, like cook us special meals, do extra chores, etc. You are one special dude.

Gettin' My Craft On....Part 2

I'm starting Part 2 of this post with some creations from Drew and Noah. Recently we had to repaint their bathroom. 1. it needed it 2. it really needed it after Noah drew all over the wall with a blue highlighter. If only I had taken a picture of that artwork....it had a butt with poop coming out of it. I guess it's a fitting picture for a bathroom, but.........

So we had leftover khaki paint from our bedroom that would match their little half bath but we didn't realize how much darker it would appear in there. So I used that handy dandy 40% coupon for Hobby Lobby and got some 8x10 canvases and then let the boys pick out some bright colors. They painted these beauties to brighten up their bathroom. Noah did the top one and Drew did the bottom two. Cute aren't they??

They DO help to brighten up the walls.

The boys have had a blast with Wikki Stiks. Noah made these two creation....the left one was stuck right on his wall. The picture on the right scares me just a bit, if you have a sick mind like me, you can see the possibilities.

This is one of Drew's Wikki Stik creations. After this picture he also added a monkey. The cool thing is, this is the second picture he designed for me to hang up at my work. You can't even imagine how many wikki stiks we have sold....people ask what you can do with them, we point to Drew's examples and they say wow, that looks like fun. Maybe he should earn a commission....
This is another Klauser decoration. I got the plate for .80 at Big Lots. I didnt' like the white rub ons that I had so I gave my Love, Elsie rub ons a try and added a "family" rub on and a little bling. Cute and quirky.

Ok, I gave up trying to get this right side up. I promis it's normal on my computer software. Blogger just won't let me do certain pictures right side up. I was just playing around with some of my Unity stamps. (best stamps ever!!) I have a major weakness when it comes to them. Anyways, I made this little picture. A little corny but it makes me happy.

When we went to Todd's school for the mini golf day, I took one look at the poster of the boys hanging in his room that his dad had made and took it down. It was very outdated. I took the frame home and put some newer pictures in it for him to hang in his room. This thing was huge...those are 8x10 pictures! (are you sick of these pictures yet? I think I've done every possible project with them!! They are just too cute though) I took this picture at night in the kitchen lighting so the colors suck....it's a lot cuter in person. Todd has it hanging proudly in his room now. I used lots of numbers in the background and on the paper to go with the math teacher theme! ;)

This was an combination of a saying I saw on something at Hobby Lobby and a design I saw on a picture at Kohls. I tried to put the two together but it's still not what I had in my head. I wanted those to be ovals or circles but didn't have the right sizes to nest them. I'll have to tweak this at some point but I'm sure I'll ended up doing something else entirely so it's staying for now.

It says "Cherish Yesterday, Live Today, Dream Tomorrow" Such wise words.....

I spent all evening the other night reorganizing, rearranging, decluttering my craft room/ storage room. I am so excited with the results and now just want to hang out down there. I have some more projects I'm anxious to tackle. Let 's hope Aiden continues taking naps for a long time to come!!

Gettin' My Craft On...Part 1

I've been a busy girl lately making fun things for our house and for gifts. I'm pretty pleased with most of the results, some make me as giddy as a school girl! I just had to share a few recents ones that I am so excited about. Part 2 will be tomorrow.....some of those will include craftiness from my kiddos, they really amaze me sometimes!

This is hanging on my plate rack in my dining room. I've been seeing so many cool vinyl things on the internet and some on tiles but couldn't find exactly what I wanted and prices I was wanting to pay to just try something out. So I tried this little thrifty trick.....and it is awesome. It's basically a ceramic tile from Home Depot and rub-ons from Hobby Lobby (1/2 off of course). How easy is that?? I'm making quite a few for gifts so let's just pretend I've slaved for days over these ok?? wink wink

This was my procrastination project. Last summer when we went to visit Dianna and family in FL, we collected a lot of beautiful shells and sand from the beach. I was planning on making some sort of momento with it but wasn't sure of what. One day I saw these glass blocks at hobby lobby, inspiration struck, and this was born. The photo is of Drew and Todd walking along the beach. It was one of my favorite pictures and I wanted to do something with it so I thought this was perfect. There is a quote on the picture that I "borrowed" from Amy. (thanks girl) It is from a Jody Picoult book............ "A photo says, you were happy and I wanted to catch that. A photo says, you were so important to me that I put down everything to come watch." Throw on some stickers and rub ons.....piece of cake. It's just a beautiful reminder of all the fun and beauty of the beach and the memories we made there.

I FINALLY got around to matting some pictures of the boys to hang on my stairwell to the basement. I used the photos that my SIL took and just matted them with some scrapbook paper and added a touch of embellishment. I wanted to keep it simple and elegant but at the same time add some color. Our basement is all done in shades of gray and white so I use a lot of blues and greens as accent colors. Our stairwell is in dire need of some color, decoration, something!!! I've got more plans to spruce this area up too. More to come on that.....

I lined up the frames side by side on my ottoman for pictures so they aren't the greatest. I think you can even still see my socks in some of them!

Arrgh, I keep trying to post the picture of them hanging on the stairwell but the picture keeps uploading sideways even though it isn't that way on my computer. I give up!

Fun Filled Weekend

We had quite a fun weekend.

We played in a box of packing peanuts.

We played a little football. Look at my form, my grace.....I was going to catch that ball, darn it! LOL

Drew's a little light on his feet.

We also have been playing a lot of basketball now that we moved the hoop to the front of the garage where we have a bigger "court" to play on.

Noah went to the district wide Pinewood Derby competition on Saturday. He ended up somewhere in the top half so he was happy. That's his car on the far right.
You probably can't read my text in this picture but that brown blur is Noah crossing the finish line in first place.


Saturday night we all ate at my mom and dad's since Nate was in town. It was good to see my littlest bro and the weather was nice enough for all the kiddos to play outside. The food was awesome, nothing like a burger on the grill when the weather is nice and it was a nice relaxing evening.



Sunday, Grandma Tunie and Grandpa Ken threw Drew a pool party at Fairfield Inn with his friends for his 10th birthday. It was a VERY long 2 hours. 'Nuff said about that!

Make a wish Drew!
He opened some cool gifts, had cake and ice cream, swam and had a blast with his friends, brothers, and cousins....Blake,Ty,and Ellie.

Noah doing a crazy belly flop!

Poor Ellie was the only girl there. She was stylin' in her adorable bathing suit and pigtails though. I could have eaten her all up.

We also took a family jog on Sunday. I jogged further than I ever thought I could do without stopping and then walked for awhile after it. I'm a little sore today but feeling very confident about pulling off my very first RUNNING 5K in May. I much prefer to walk them but decided to join Drew in his run so he wouldn't be alone if Todd did the half marathon. It's also one more thing to add to my list of things that I have done that I never thought I would. I'm happy to say that list is growing! I'm getting more adventurous in my older age. Aiden and Noah did well with the jog yesterday too. We all know Aiden has boundless energy but I didn't know if he'd have the stamina....he did great! I see more family jogs in our future.

Drew and I finished off the weekend watching Twilight on DVD. It was my 3rd time and since I didn't want Drew to read the book till he was a bit older, I did think the movie was ok for him and he LOVED it. What a wonderful weekend. My To-Do list is still a mile long but at least I procrastinated tackling it by having fun with my family. The dust and clutter will still be there tomorrow.

Flashback Friday

Ok, so flashback friday is a day late, story of my life sometimes. I did get the pictures loaded yesterday and then sat down numerous times to type.....but then I'd get interrupted by one of the boys or I would sit and stare at the screen while a number of memories flooded my head. I just didn't know where to start or what to type. How do you put years worth of memories down in one blog post??? You can't. My flashback is about two important parts of my life that are now gone.....my friend Kathy and this amazing house.


It's been almost 3 years now since Kathy passed away. I think about her a lot, about how damn unfair it is that she is missing out on her kids' life, missed out on her life. I know if I could be with her right now, she would make me laugh my butt off over stupid stuff. That's what good friends do, right? She would cheer me up out of a funk. See this house??? It's been almost 14 years since it was torn down to build a parking lot. Kathy, me and some of our best girlfriends lived in that house for our last 3 years of college. Ah, so MANY memories in that house. I think that house haunts me.....I have dreams about it all the time. I can still see every nook and cranny of that old, beautiful house. It was the perfect place for us to live in--we took good care of that house, we were proud of it. We even named that house. Everyone knew it as Tapped Out. See that window on the top floor?? That was Kathy's room....we would all climb out of her window and lay out on that roof, trying to catch some rays and talking about life. That porch was the best porch in the world. I WANT that porch on my house. We had a porch swing where we would sit at night and hang out. We had a huge concrete basement that looked like a cave....perfect for Halloween keggers when we didn't want our house trashed. :) We had an attic where we often heard little critters scampering around. We even caught a bat in a mouse trap one time--we could tell you a number of bat stories in that house. When that house was torn down, us girls drove over one night and we all stole a brick from the rubble....I still have it along with the stained glass 1115 that hung proudly over the front door. My dad got that for me and I still cherish it. House, I love you. We were so lucky to have you to make incredible memories in.

Here are the 4 roomates. (Do you think striped shorts were popular then???) Kathy is on the far right. We had so many good times together. We had our rough times too but we made it through. Some of my own rough times I never would have made it through if it hadn't of been for my girlfriends.

1993

I just had to add this last one of Kathy, it makes me smile. We started out having all of the same classes together our freshman year, then moving into a dorm room together at Christmas break to escape our current roomates, to moving in the house together, to a lifelong friendship that was unfortunately cut short. I miss ya girl, I hope you're living in that cool house of ours right now smiling down on us all.

Pete, Kathy, Mark

Anyone For 9 Holes?? / Pi Day

Today I'm not going to brag about my boys or talk about what's going on in my life. Today I'm going to brag up my hubby a little. He is a high school math teacher and in my eyes, is an incredible teacher. He has such a passion for what he does and really cares that his students succeed. He also comes up with fun ways to incorporate math into their daily life. Recently his Geometry classes used their skills to design a 9 hole mini golf course. Every year when his classes do a project, they design a math related t-shirt to sell to students to raise money to pay for the materials needed. For those of you out of the math loop, March 14th is Pi Day. You know...3.14....... (Todd can recite the numbers for pi....it's really sad.) His math classes celebrate that every year with a miniature pie that Todd picks up by the caseload at Walmart. This year all of this fun fell on the same day. Todd took some pictures....a ton actually and then after school last friday the boys and I went to school with him so they could play a round of golf themselves before we helped Todd take down the golf course. So here are a few of the many pictures (I'm on my laptop so I can't use my photo editing software....sorry some are dark)

Here are a few of the holes from his mini course. They had it set up in the back hallway by his classroom.

Here is Patrick with one of the math t-shirts they sold draped over him. The equation may not make sense to most of us but when you solve it, or reduce the equation, or something......the answer reads "i over 8pi" Hmm, that's funny that the pi symbol isn't on my keyboard. I'm sure most people need to type that all of the time, don't you think?? Anyway "I over ate pie". Are they comedians or what??? They sold a ton of t-shirts at school as they usually do. I think it's kind of funny to imagine a large portion of the student body walking around with a math related joke on their shirts.

This girl got into it even more by painting the pi symbol on her fingernails.

Striking a pose or a hole in one??

Drew concentrating on his putt.

Daddy and Aiden race down the hall.

Those 3 shadows are my boys playing. I told you the lighting was bad....maybe I should have used a flash, huh?? :)

Such concentration............

Todd's problem solving class is currently working on a scale model of the Sydney Opera House. I'm anxious to see how it turns out.

Handsome Dude

Drew brought his spring pictures home from school yesterday. Seriously kid, stop growing. He looks like 14 in this picture. We all agreed last night that he looked a lot like his Uncle Scott in this picture, I think it's the smile.

I always love the spring pictures at school. I've always been lucky to get really good ones of the two older boys and the prices aren't too horrible. Noah still has to get his taken though. The day these were originally taken he woke up with swollen glands. He looked like he had an egg in the side of his neck. So I kept him home and took him to the clinic. Aunt Jane took good care of him and he tested positive for Strep. He felt perfectly fine other than the swollen neck so that was kind of funny. But he started on antibiotics and his neck was normal again in a couple of days. So Noah will have to get his taken on retake day and hopefully will not look like the elephant man this time.

Pinewood Derby

Sunday was the annual Pinewood Derby races for Scouts. This is the first year that Drew and Noah were competing against each other so I was curious to see how that would play out. The boys got creative with their cars this year and did most of the work by themselves. As you can see below, Noah made his to look like a Hershey bar but named his Noah Bar. Drew's is the plain block of wood next to his. It's made to look like he didn't do anything to it but add the wheels but actually he sawed it in half, hollowed out the insides and glued it back together and put weights in the back. It amazed everyone that it was fast. It's kind of funny because everyone spends hours making theirs look good but it doesn't take much to make it fast!

Noah's cheesing in this picture because his car just took 1st place. Drew's took 2nd during his heat so we knew it would be a close race. The first time their two cars raced each other, Noah's beat Drew's and that didn't go over well.
In the end, out of their pack, Noah placed in 3rd and Drew got 4th. I was proud of them and their hard work. The first two places out of each pack get to go to the mall next Saturday for the city wide races. Our 2nd place person will be out of town so that means Noah gets bumped up and will get to compete Saturday for the championships. Drew handled it very well, especially since this is technically his last year he can race. So that's where we'll be next Saturday afternoon if anyone wants to watch Noah Bar race!

Here's a picture of Noah with his car and trophy. You can tell he's proud of his first year of racing. Do you like the new haircut?? He wanted to be bald so he wouldn't have to wash his hair anymore. This was the compromise.

I'm not posting the picture of Drew with his car because he was sulking about Noah beating him in it. Frankly, it pissed me off. He should have been happy to place and get a trophy. Sometimes he's too competitive and he can definitely be a sore loser. Luckily he got over with fairly quickly but I have to say I was disappointed in him.

Happy St Patrick's Day!! It's going to be a beautiful weathered one here!

Should I Be Jealous??

My cat seems to spend more time sleeping in Noah's bed than mine. But when I think of how scared Noah was to go to sleep tonight because of bad dreams, and I see how protective Grayson is of Noah, how can I be jealous? I know Noah is sleeping soundly and feels safe with Grayson's paw laid protectively on his arm. I love that cat. (AND that kid!)

Drew, My Soccer Stud

Indoor soccer season is finished for all of us in the Klauser house. We got a few pictures of Drew from his last game.

Here he is after the game, all rosy-cheeked from playing hard. He just looks so cute and grown up in this.

Unfortunately this is a really crappy picture but I had to post it because this is where Drew shoots a beautiful goal.....it just sailed over everyone right into the goal.


Another action shot of Drew kicking the ball. It's really hard to take pictures through plexiglass! On the left there, you can see the reflection of the hallway to the concession stand. I cropped out Todd's brother standing there because his reflection was a little ghostly! LOL

Spring soccer starts up soon and Noah is the only one playing....his indoor team decided to stay together and do that league. It's just a 6x6 outdoor soccer league. I'm hoping to get some good action shots of Noah out in the spring sunshine. Spring IS right around the corner, right???

Was That Out Loud??

3 Things Happened to Me This Weekend That I'm Embarrassed to Admit:

1.) I cried over the finale of Tool Academy on VH1. I know, I should be banned from reality TV forever.

2.) I think Daylight Savings Time affected me more last night than my children. I tossed and turned all night long and couldn't sleep. I also played musical beds with Aiden. When he came in our bed, I went to his, then he followed me back in later, then I went back to my bed. Needless to say we all almost overslept this morning but speedy Drew woke up at 7:30 and got completely ready for the bus by 7:45. I only woke when I heard him go into his bathroom to brush his teeth. I did have to drive Noah though, he wouldn't know speedy if it hit him in the face.

3.)Friday night, the males in my family all went out to my dad's cabin for a campout. The boys spent the evening there and then I picked them up at bedtime. I waited all week long for this precious time to myself and had it all planned out. I loved every minute of it and honestly, it went too fast. The confession??? It was a little too quiet and a little lonely with them gone. Was that out loud?

A Day In The Park

Yesterday was the perfect weather day and we did just about everything outside. When Todd and the boys got home we ended up hitting two different parks to play and we took a TON of pictures at the park. I tried to narrow it down to some of my favorites. It was one of the beautiful feel good days that makes you think spring is finally right around the corner and we soaked up every minute of it....even ending our day at TCBY with Grandma Tunie and Grandpa Ken sitting outside enjoying our snack. I'm so thankful for another warm day today!

I love this picture...he's so darn cute I can hardly stand it. Those brown eyes always get me.

Drew had to show his balancing skills.

The lighting stinks in the tunnel but it's such a cute picture of Noah.

Down the slide..........

Drew jumping off of the rock wall. These things rarely phase me anymore.

Noah is so proud now that he has mastered the monkey bars.

Aiden said "Hey guys, I could use a little help here".

Big brothers to the rescue.

One of my three monkeys.

Seriously, this was the kid that never wanted his picture taken. He was hamming it up yesterday and even asking for us to take a pic.

I love these three boys of mine and there is nothing better than the 5 of us out and about enjoying the day together.

Me Too, Aiden, Me Too

As I was putting Aiden's shoes on this morning, he says to me. "Mom, you are the best, but sometimes I don't like you." If only he knew that I sometimes had that very thought about him and his brothers.

The Wierdness That Is My Life With Three Boys

I've been the mom of boys for 10 years now. I still don't "get" little boy parts and why they are so unpredictable. I still don't get a lot of things about boys in general but I am getting used to it (and loving it!). Bringing my first born son home from the hospital, I was more than a little freaked about taking care of his little boy parts that were still sore from his circumcision. By the time the other two came along, they had an easier procedure and it was simpler to take care of. Aiming at the toilet???? What's the big deal??? My husband obviously doesn't take my side on this issue. Seriously, the kids are short and much closer to the toilet, really, how hard could it be?? Apparently, it's hard.

Take these examples.
1. I take Aiden to school last wednesday afternoon. When we get there, he has to go potty so I take him to go before I head out. Somehow he missed the toilet and got some on his underwear, while keeping his pants dry mind you. He tells me we need to go home and get dry underwear. For the love of Pete child, how could you not aim at the child sized toilet?? I know "school" is only an hour and a half and by the time we run home and get back, we lose a lot of time. So I did what any mom who desperately needed this hour and a half without her 3 year old. I took the undies off and he went commando that afternoon. I rolled up the damp underwear, tucked them in my pocket, and nonchalantly headed to my car. Problem solved.
2. Minutes before the school bus pulled up the other day, Noah went into the bathroom. He comes out and says he doesn't think he'll be able to ride the bus and when I asked why, he said he was afraid to tell me. I said it was okay, I wouldn't get mad. He replied that when he went to go to the bathroom he didn't realize his penis was pointing up instead of down and he got pee on his clothes. What??? How do you NOT realize it's pointing north instead of south?? How many times have I begged my boys to actually hold onto the hose when they aim?? I just told him accidents happen, he changed clothes, and I drove him to school.

I have many more stories like these, but I'm sure you get the point.

Being the only female in a house of 5, my boys aren't exposed to a lot of girliness. So when we visit friends and family with little girls, they are in bliss to be surrounded with pink, and dollies, and dress up clothes, etc. Sheesh, I almost feel guilty for depriving them. Sure we have dress up clothes, but not tutus, princess dresses, heels, lace and that fun stuff. Aiden's latest is having to carry one of my purses around with him. I'm trying to say yes more so that when I say no, it carries more weight. I tend to say no to things that annoy me or I don't have time for etc, but I'm learning to say no only when I have to. If he wants to wear his brown boots with his sweat pants, it doesn't hurt anything, he just looks like a dork right? So yesterday when we took Noah to the dr and went to the grocery store to get his prescription, I conceded and let Aiden take "his" red purse with him. At least it matched his red and blue coat right???

I've always said God gave me all boys to toughen me up a bit as I am a wimp about a lot of things. But I've also learned so much more about them and myself. I'm also much more nonchalant about a lot of things. Boys climbing up the door jambs??? See it every day. Pillow pit with all the cushions on the couch?? Don't you do that?? With the right imagination, anything can be used as a light saber, even a toothbrush case. Needing only mommy when hurt or sick??? Perfect!