It's almost 2007

Hello and Happy New Year everyone. It is 9:38 p.m. on New Year's Eve and Adam and I are sitting here at home watching the Discovery Channel. What we are watching is actually rather interesting. It is about Mount Everest and people attempting to climb it. I guess we are getting too old to go out and whoop it up on New Year's Eve. We had a busy weekend and are both tired. We will be asleep when the new year rolls around. We left on Friday morning and went to Carroll to have Christmas with the Sullivan side of the family. The kids got to open their gifts that night so they were pretty happy about that. On Saturday morning Adam and I took Maddie and Carter shoe shopping. They both needed new shoes. Maddie had a tear in her old shoes and her socks kept getting wet and her feet getting cold. She really plays hard during recess on the blacktop at school and she is hard on her shoes. They usually only last half of the school year before we need to replace them. Carter just outgrew his shoes. It worked out perfect because Kinnick fits into Carter's old shoes. When we got back to Grandpa Sullivan's house Carter was very cranky (he stayed up until 1 a.m. the night before). He did not want to take a nap but needed one badly. He finally fell asleep on my lap so I just left him there. I did not want to try to move him and end up waking him. I watched the Hawkeyes play basketball and ended up falling asleep myself. While we were napping Adam and Kinnick went to visit Grandpa Adkins. They spent some time hanging out over there and I think that Grandpa really enjoyed watching Kinnick run and run and run some more. Maddie went to see Charlotte's Web at the movie theatre with Aunt JoJo, Kate and Logan. When everyone got back to Grandpa's house we watched the Alamo Bowl. We all know that the wrong team won that game! This morning we got up and came home. The drive back was CRAPPY. The weather is not nice here today. We got back home just in time to unload our stuff and head into Whittemore for another Christmas gathering. This was the Simonson Christmas with my aunts, uncles, cousins, etc....We did not stay very long because our road was bad on the way into town. The visibility was not the best either. We had an early supper, gave the kids a bath, and got them off to bed. Maddie is spending the night in Whittemore with her cousins. I think Adam and I are on our way to bed now too. We are tired!!!!! Love, Stephanie

Hope you had a GREAT CHRISTMAS!

It is hard to believe that Christmas has come and gone once again. We had a wonderful weekend. I spent all day Friday cleaning the house. On Saturday my mother-in-law and her husband arrived. We stayed up late wrapping presents for the kids and setting up the Geo-Trax set that we purchased for the kids. That took until 4 a.m. On Christmas Eve we had our Christmas with them. The kids were excited about having them here and opening gifts of course. Kinnick did not want to open gifts. All of the excitement was too much for him. It really threw him "for a loop". I felt terrible for him. When we were done opening gifts we had chicken noodle soup, chili and ham sandwiches. The kids were tracking Santa on the NORAD website and were excited when they saw he was in the United States. We got the milk and cookies out for Santa and then Carter asked if we had carrots for the reindeer. We did not have any so we decided to leave an apple for Rudolph. They went right to bed after that and we did not hear a peep out of them. We got the gifts out and by the time all of that was done I was more than ready for bed. The kids got up around 8:30 a.m. Christmas morning and were ready to open gifts right away. Some of the presents were wrapped and some were not. Once again Kinnick did not want to open his gifts. He was frustrated with all of the excitement and noise. When the gifts were all open Adam's mom and Doug got ready to leave for Carroll to see Grandpa Adkins. Adam and I spent most of the day taking the toys out of the boxes. THAT TAKES FOREVER! The boys took a nap and when they got up we headed into my mom and dad's house to have Christmas with them. We opened gifts, had snacks and watched football. It was fun and the kids got more fun stuff to play with. They spent all day yesterday and today very entertained by all the new things they got! This weekend we will go to have Christmas with Adam's family and will need to be back here Sunday afternoon for the Simonson christmas. BUSY! We will ring in the new year at home with our children. If we stay up that late....

Well, I will try and get some pictures emailed out tomorrow for you to see. Love, Steph

Went to visit Santa today

Well, we actually did it. We went to Algona with all 3 kids and saw Santa today. I had them all dressed in blue jeans and red turtlenecks. They looked so cute. Kinnick wore his little Santa hat too. Carter and Maddie did not want to wear theirs. When we got there Carter instantly latched onto my leg. Maddie did not want to sit on Santa's lap but did promise that if it would help convince Carter to do it then she would. So we all went over to sit by Santa, including me! Maddie sat on Santa's lap and Kinnick stayed close to me and Carter did too. None of them cried so that was a bonus! I was pretty happy about that. I really expected Carter to flip out after how he was at Halloween. After we were done with that we had to go to K-Mart for a few things and then it hit me, a migraine. It was terrible. All I wanted to do was come home and sleep. The kids were cranky when we got home so I told Adam and Maddie to go into town for supper and I stayed home with the boys. We were all supposed to meet for supper tonight with the people who help us with farm work, but I just had such a terrible headache. It is 10 pm now and the headache is a little better. Well, I suppose I will try and get some pictures to upload so that you can see our visit to Santa.

The weekend is here

It is Friday night and almost 9 pm. Maddie and Carter are watching a movie together in the living room. It is a Christmas movie and they both seem to be watching it quietly. Must mean it is good. Kinnick went to bed an hour ago because Carter only let him nap for an hour today. FUN! Adam is on the phone and I am sitting here just working on the computer. We plan to take the kids to visit Santa over in Algona tomorrow afternoon. That should be interesting. If I am able to get any pictures I will post them this weekend. We are going out for supper tomorrow night with all of the people who help us out on the farm during spring and fall. I also hope to get some gifts wrapped this weekend too. I got a few done last night but my basement was really cold and I did not sit downstairs very long. I used to love wrapping gifts but I am just not into it this year. I just think it needs to snow so that it feels like winter. I am hoping for a white Christmas. Well, Carter is yelling for me now and he seems to be convinced that I need to come and watch the rest of the movie with him. Have a super weekend everyone! Love, Steph

I wonder if anyone checks this anymore???

I have been so bad about getting posts on here that I wonder if anyone still checks this BLOG out? I sure do hope so. I need to get better at posting and I am going to try really hard to do better. I cannot believe it is the middle of December already. I just got my Christmas letters ready to mail today. That is not like me to be so behind. Things have just been crazy. I am looking forward to Christmas but will be happy when the chaos ends and things start to settle down. I will really need to work hard to catch back up on my school stuff. I have been slacking in that department and will need to pick up the pace after the first of the year. Adam has promised me that he will handle the kids when he gets home from working at the bodyshop so I will have my nights free to focus on schoolwork.

Our puppy is doing well. He is getting so big already! He is pretty well behaved and seems to be adjusting to living with 3 children. He knows just how to look at me with puppy eyes and make me want to stop what I am doing and pet his belly.

I am going to try and put some pictures on so we will see if that works or not. It is almost 11 pm and I should get to bed soon. Adam is sitting here watching TV and enjoying a bowl of ice cream. What a great bedtime snack!

Take care! Steph

I have not posted forever!

I really am sory that I have not posted for so long. I am sitting here thinking that gosh, it is already December. Where did the year go? We have been really busy!!!! I had family here the week before Thanksgiving and so we hung out at my mom and dad's house quite a bit. My stepsister, her husband, and 3 of the 4 kids came up from Oklahoma City. It was great to see them! They headed home the day after Thanksgiving and that afternoon Adam's mom and her husband came to our house and spent a few days with us. It was fun to have them here. We spent quite a bit of the time shopping and by the time we were done we had a new living room set and a new kitchen table and chairs too! It was our Christmas gift from Adam's mom. I love all of it! I still walk into my living room and cannot believe it is mine. It just seems as though I am going to leave the room and when I come back it will all be gone. Well, I need to go and get supper ready. It is almost 6:30 and I do not have any idea what we will have! Have a great weekend everyone! Love, Steph

Pictures of Wrigley

Let it snow let it snow let it snow

Well, I thought that once we got the first snowfall of the winter that I would be in the mood to Christmas shop, but I was wrong. For some reason I am just not as "ready" for the holidays as I usually am. It seems as though there are just not enough hours in a day to get things done that I need to do. Only in Iowa can it be 80 degrees one day and not even 3 days later snow 9 inches and be 16 degrees. CRAZY! My kids were happy to see the snow this morning. Maddie went to a friend's house and spent most of the afternoon outside playing in the snow. Carter begged us to let him play outside but since he has been battling a cold we decided not to let him go out. Both boys are sick with this cold and so far Maddie and Adam and I have avoided getting it! YEAH!

Tomorrow Maddie is going to Waterpark of America in Bloomington Minnesota. A friend from school called and invited her to go along. (THIS FRIEND IS A BOY!!!!) When his mom called to talk to me about it I was a little shocked, but then I thought Maddie hangs out with the boys at school anyway and so I think she will have alot of fun. They were going to go today but the weather was too crappy so they changed their reservations to tomorrow night. She will leave around lunchtime and will be home on Sunday early evening. I have not been to this indoor waterpark but from the looks of it on the internet it looks pretty awesome! She is a strong swimmer and that makes me feel alot better.

Our puppy is doing well. We are getting him housebroken and so things are getting a little better. I did alot of research on the internet on the do's and don'ts of training a puppy so that helped me some. The boys still are not quite sure what to think of the puppy when he jumps up on them but they are getting used to him and he is also getting used to them. Carter likes to grab the puppy when he jumps and sometimes the poor puppy gets jabbed in the eye.

I am going to get Maddie and Carter off to bed now because it is 9:48 and they are still awake. We just got done watching a movie that we taped called "Spookley the Square Pumpkin". Pretty exciting for a Friday night! The older we get the lazier we seem to be. After we get the kids to bed we will work on getting our finances in order for the banker before the end of the year. What a fun husband and wife bonding project that will be!

Have a great weekend everyone! Love, Steph

Our new addition!

Well, I have been waiting since the weekend to share the news about our newest addition to the family and I have not had the time to sit down and get this done. We are the proud owners of a puppy. His name is Wrigley (yes, after Wrigley field) and he is a chocolate lab. Maddie and Carter have been bugging us for a puppy for quite some time now and when Grandma Jayne and Papa Doug were here at the beginning of October they heard all about it. Grandma promised the kids that if we found a puppy for them she would pay for it and it would be part of their Christmas gift to the kids. We got the phone call from a friend of Adam's on Sunday morning before we went to church. There were 2 puppies left to choose from. We went and looked at them and the rest is history. He came home with us and the kids just love him! It is nice to have a puppy that we can train right off the bat to behave with the kids and not to jump up on them. Since Adam is busy in the fields I am the lucky one who gets to discipline the puppy when he misbehaves. It really is just like having another toddler to take care of. We are getting him housebroken and that is going okay so far. He stays in the kitchen and entry way/bathroom until I know he is completely trained so he won't pee on my carpet. I want to post some pictures for you but I cannot until I buy a new battery for my digital camera. It won't even charge anymore so I need a new one I guess. Maybe I will get that tomorrow. Well, I should go for now. I will post pictures as soon as I can! Love, Steph

What a wonderful day!

Wow, what a nice day it turned out to be! The kids were able to spend time outside this afternoon! They loved it! I just got them back inside a little bit ago and gave them a bath. Adam is putting on anhydrous for the elevator up by Fenton and should be back early evening so we will wait for him to get home to have supper. Maddie had her first soccer game this morning and Adam went over to watch her play in that while I stayed home with the boys. Last night Maddie spent the night with a friend from school so they took her to the YMCA for her game this morning. When she got home from her game she was really excited to show me her report card. She did AWESOME! She got "E" for enthusiastic in Art, Music and Phys Ed. She got "A"s in Religion, Reading, Language, Handwriting, Spelling and Math! We are very proud of her! We have parent teacher conferences this Wednesday night. Not much else happening here. Hope that all of you are having a good weekend! Love, Steph

Halloween pictures of the kids

Halloween has come and gone for this year and I am pretty happy that it is over. Carter did not like Halloween at all! He would not even ride in the same vehicle as Maddie because he was scared of her costume. Then when we started trick or treating he was scared of the other kids we saw in costumes. It was a really SHORT night trick or treating. I felt bad because Adam spent so much time making the John Deere costume for Carter to wear. Maddie was a little bummed about not doing that much trick or treating, but she was really cold too and wanted to be inside where it was warm. I guess that 29 degrees is just not the right type of weather to walk around in a costume in. After we got done we went to my mom and dad's house because it was my dad's birthday. We ordered pizza and hung out there for awhile and then came home so that we could get the kids off to bed. I did get some pictures of all three of them and will try to attach them here. Hope that you all had a nice Halloween! Love, Stephanie

Some pictures...

Okay, it has been a long time since I have posted pictures. Here are a few I took tonight before the boys went to bed. I should have some pictures tomorrow after trick or treating too so I will try to get those out this week too!

Friday night

Well, here it is Friday night and I am watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse with Carter and Kinnick is upstairs in bed, he is not sleeping, but seems to be having quite a fun time jumping up and down in his crib making noise. Carter will be going up to bed soon, so they will probably be jumping in their cribs together. They really like to do that and giggle at each other. It is pretty cute! Maddie is spending the night at a friend's house up in Bancroft. She will be home late tomorrow afternoon and then it will be time to get her dressed up in her costume for the Halloween party that Whittemore puts on for kids. She is pretty excited about it. I am not sure if the boys will go to it or not. Will have to see how our day goes tomorrow. I tried taking Kinnick shopping for groceries tonight and that was an awful experience. In fact, we did not even make it to Hy-Vee. When we got done getting the few things we needed at K-Mart he was more than ready to get out of the cart. Even if I buckle him into the cart he can squeeze out! Little stinker! Oh, I almost forgot, the whole reason I was posting was to tell all of you that we got Kinnick's hearing tested at Prairie Lakes in Algona this morning and he passed! So we know that he can hear perfectly! Well, I suppose I should get Carter off to bed. Have a GREAT weekend! Stephanie and family

Rainy Thursday

Well what a yucky day it has been here. Just dreary and somewhat rainy all day long. When the weather is like this it really seems to affect the mood of my kids. It is almost 3:30 and Brennan and I are playing together and watching Dr. Phil. Carter went with Adam to pick up Maddie from school and take her to an appointment at 3:30. Then she will go to the YMCA until soccer practice starts at 5. She is such a busy girl! Tomorrow night she is staying at a friend's house for a birthday party and won't be home until late Saturday afternoon. Kinnick is upstairs napping, his second nap of the day. We are pretty excited because we got him to say da da last night. That was so AWESOME to hear. His teacher was here yesterday afternoon and worked with him here at the house for an hour. He really likes her. She brought a bunch of instruments with her for him to play with and he did a great job imitating her. So that was great! I was so proud of him. I guess that since we have started working with him I feel really good when he does what we want him to do. Every little step counts! There's not much else new with us. I cannot believe that Halloween is next week already. I am curious to see what Carter will think about trick or treating. He is terrified of the Halloween section at K-Mart, so it should be interesting when we see kids in their costumes! Well, I should get my towels folded that are in the dryer before Kinnick wakes up because he likes to unfold them as fast as I can get them folded! Love, Steph

Sunday night

Hello! Well it is Sunday night and our weekend was pretty uneventful. I took the kids grocery shopping with me on Friday night. What a mistake! They were SO crabby. By the time we got to the checkout we had 2 boxes of Lucky Charms opened and I had 2 boys that were crying. Kinnick was screaming as we were getting checked out. It took all I had to keep him in the shopping cart. He was drooling all over and making himself gag. Yeah, it was a temper tantrum! Everyone just stared at us. I felt awful, like I was this terrible mother. Carter was trying to grab every type of candy at the checkout counter that he could get his hands on. Maddie was pestering me to let her get some candy. Of course, when things like this happen you see someone you know and are just mortified that they saw you. Yep, that is what happened to me. I was in my grubby clothes, without makeup on and my hair was pulled back with a headband. I looked pretty scary. But who do you expect to see shopping for groceries on a Friday night???? FUN! Oh the joy of parenting. I called Adam on the way home and was in tears. I wonder how the kids would be if Adam took them to the store by himself? I think it would be interesting to say the least.

Saturday I spent most of the day laying on the couch. I felt like complete crud. I was supposed to help serve at a funeral dinner in the morning and then I was invited to a baby shower in the afternoon. I did not make it to eitherone of them. Maddie really did a great job helping out with her brothers. They sure do like it when she plays with them!

This morning when we got up I still felt yucky, but as the day has gone on I seem to feel better. When I came downstairs I found Adam on the phone in the kitchen and both of my boys in the living room without diapers on. Carter obviously decided he wanted his diaper off so that he could go pee. He did not bother to tell anyone he needed to go, instead he went in his toolbox in the toy room. Thank goodness he told me what he had done. It would have been bad if Kinnick would have found the tools and started to play with them. So that is how my day started off.

I got lots of laundry done today. YEAH! Adam just came in the house, and it is early, only 9:40. I just asked him what was going on that he was already done for the night and he says that the front end is out of the 8400. So that means he cannot drive it until John Deere fixes it. He is pretty sure they will have to come and pick it up with a semi and take it to Algona to fix. This harvest is just not going well for us! It seems to be one thing after another going wrong!

Well, I suppose I should get one more load of laundry done before I go to bed. Have a great week everyone!

Love, Steph

Kinnick

Hello! Just wanted to post about Kinnick to give an update on the meetings we have been having with the Prairie Lakes staff. For the last 3 weeks there have been 2 gals coming over to the house to work with him. They are here for an hour and teach Adam and I different things that we can do with him during the week. Today they informed us that they would like to work with him at least 6 months. They want Adam and I to spend 25 hours each week working with him one on one. They are happy that we caught this so early and called to ask them for help. The sooner we start to work with Kinnick the better. They have explained to us that they do not feel he has "medical" autism, but rather he meets alot of the markers that would indicate "educational" autism. I guess that is what we know for now. Carter is waking up from his nap so I need to go get him and bring him downstairs. Talk to you all later! Love, Steph

VIDEO CLIP

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dd23ZQotnSg

Here is a clip of Kinnick giggling and blowing bubbles and talking to me at the kitchen table.

Combine FIRE!

As you can probably tell by the title of my post, we have had a stressful evening. The guys were combining corn at a field north and east of Whittemore this afternoon when my Dad stopped the combine because he heard something make a "clunk" noise. He asked Adam to come and see if he could figure out what was wrong with it. As he was heading over to see what was going on he noticed smoke coming out of the combine. He jumped up into the cab and told Dad to shut off the combine because it was on fire and he grabbed the fire extinguisher to see if he could put the fire out. He told my Dad to have Mom call 9-1-1 for the fire department. The fire extinguisher could not get down into the area where the fire was so he grabbed Dad's water jug and took that to see if he could dump it out. When the fire department arrived they were able to contain the fire and get my Dad out of the combine using a skidloader. By the time the kids and I arrived the fire was out and Dad was out of the combine. As we were sitting there I remembered that I always have the digital camera in the diaper bag so I grabbed it and took some pictures. After the fire was out John Deere arrived and looked to see what had happened. The firefighters had to use more water because the fire was still smoldering. Adam drove the combine over to Algona so that John Deere can work on fixing it tomorrow morning. Both the firefighters and the John Deere guy told us that it is a good thing that Dad stopped when he did. And it is a good thing that Adam was in the field when this all happened. Things could have been really bad but it did not turn out that way. I guess God puts people in just the right places at just the right times. I am thankful that Adam and my Dad are both safe at home tonight!

Love, Stephanie

Some pics from today

Kinnick playing legos. He really likes them alot! He really had fun digging in the bus and making alot of noise. I think he was trying to wake up his big brother!

Here is Carter after I laid on the couch with him for 40 minutes trying to get him to fall asleep I got up to switch a load of laundry and he was sleeping when I came back in the room. How does that work anyway?????

Another crazy weekend

Well, our weekend was an interesting one. Friday was Adam's birthday and he ended up in the ER around 9:30 that night with severe back pain. The doctor could not believe how bad it was. He said it was like every muscle in his back was comparable to a clenched fist. I felt so bad for him. He ended up getting a shot and also a prescription for a muscle relaxor and a pain medication too. So, he was drugged up enough that he got some rest Friday night. He spent all day Saturday on the couch. Maddie went to her flag football game on Satuday morning with a friend of hers who is on the same team as she is. When they got back to Whittemore she called from his house and asked if she could hang out with him and play video games. They brought her home around 3:30 and she said that she had alot of fun. I went to Algona and got some groceries while the boys were napping for Adam. It was so nice to get groceries all by myself! On Sunday morning we got up and went to church at 10 and then came home for Kinnick to nap before we went to my nephew's birthday party at 1. When we were ready to leave the party we found that we were locked out of our suburban (thanks to Maddie). My sister ran us home and Adam went back to town with her to unlock our vehicle with our spare keys. The guys went to the fields after that and worked until about supper time when the combine broke down. John Deere was here first thing this morning and fixed the problem, so they are out now and going again. I just got the boys cleaned up from eating lunch and Brennan is napping. I just wanted to get a post for you all to read since I did not get to it this weekend. Have a SUPER week!

Happy Birthday Adam!

Today is Adam's birthday. He is a whopping 31 years old! Give him a call and wish him birthday greetings at 515-320-3564!

Yes, it has been a long time...

Yeah yeah yeah, I know that I have been awful about getting posts done lately. Just so hectic now that Adam is in the fields and I am left with the kids and housework and birthday parties to plan, and schoolwork to do, and helping Maddie with homework, and babysitting Brennan and the list goes on and on and on.........

Let's see, alot has happened since I posted last. Adam's mom and her husband arrived last Friday to stay with us for a few days. The kids were really excited about them coming and it was great to hang out and spend some time with them. On Saturday we all went to watch Maddie play flag football in the morning. They took her shopping and to the band day parade in the afternoon. She had a blast and got quite spoiled when they shopped.

On Sunday afternoon we had a birthday party for Carter. It was a John Deere party of course! He got alot of nice gifts and so he has been quite entertained this week playing with everything he got. I still cannot believe he is 3 years old already!

On Monday morning Jayne and Doug left to go visit Grandpa Adkins in Carroll. They stayed overnight with Grandpa and then headed back to Wichita on Tuesday. It was a short trip for them, but we were happy to have them here!

Tuesday was a pretty ordinary day, not much going on and that is always nice! We had a busy day yesterday though. We had a speech pathologist and a teacher from Prairie Lakes come to the house and evaluate Kinnick. I am glad that we did because it seems that he meets quite a few of the "markers" that would indicate the possibility of him being autistic. They did not officially diagnose him yet, but will come back in 2 weeks with a plan in mind for what we need to do to help Kinnick and then we will go from there. They did both tell us that Kinnick has some really positive behaviors and actions, so they were happy to see that. They told us that the sooner we start working with him the better the outcome can be. I have several websites that I need to research before they meet with us again. It is nice because they come to our house and work with him here and will teach Adam and I things to do so that we can work with him also. He warmed up to the ladies really well to, so that was good. I will keep you all posted as things come along.

Yesterday afternoon I took Carter and Kinnick to get their pictures taken (Carter 3 years old, Kinnick 18 months old). What a catastrophe! Carter would not smile without shutting his eyes when he said cheese. Kinnick did not want anything to do with getting his picture taken and he cried the whole time. Carter decided that he wanted to help change the backdrop and when he yanked on the pulley he broke it. The photographer said it was fine, but I felt awful! Then when we were almost done with the pictures Carter found the pulley and was carrying it around. He ended up dropping it in his foot. It had to have been at least 2 pounds. He cried and cried! I got him calmed down and we went to pick up Maddie at school so that we could go to K-Mart and pick up a few things that we needed. Since the kids were good at K-Mart I took them to McDonald's for some ice-cream. As we were eating our ice cream Carter took his shoes off and started screaming that his foot hurt. I carried him out to the car and we came home. He cried for 2 hours so my mom and I ended up taking him to the ER in case he had broken a bone in his foot. It was somewhat swollen and his toe was turning purple. The ER doctor we had was super with him and that made me feel better. The nurse let him play with her stethoscope and he laid on the bed telling us that he was "Doctor Carter". It was so cute! When the x-ray lady came to get him he had a fit. So they let me take him back. Well, as soon as he saw the x-ray machine he went nuts! He would not let go of me and was totally freaking out! They had a nurse come in so that I could leave the room. I felt awful listening to him scream! There were no broken bones, just a really bad bruise. He was quite cranky when we got home and it took me quite a while to get him to bed for the night. He seemed to walk on it okay today. He said it hurt a little bit, but nothing quite like yesterday afternoon!

What a crazy day that was! Today was pretty calm and ordinary so that was good. I am happy that tomorrow is Friday and am looking forward to the weekend. Love to all, Steph

The Jelly Donut

Here are a few pictures of Kinnick eating a jelly donut. He was a STICKY mess when he was done. He ate the donut all gone which is more than I can say for Carter. He just likes to play with the frosting and jelly and make a big mess all over the table.

Today is Saturday and we got back from Algona just a little bit ago. Maddie played football this morning at 10 so we all went over to her game to watch her play. She did a really good job running one of the plays for her team today and she was proud of that. Adam's mom and her husband Doug got into town last night about 8 pm and so they went to the game with us too. That was pretty exciting for Maddie to have them get to see her play. Maddie's great grandma Bev and great grandpa Gib Buscher also came to watch her play. The weather was perfect outside and it was sunny and just a nice morning to be outside.

After we got done at the game we went to Family Table and had lunch. Then it was to Hy-Vee to pick up the cake I had them decorate for Carter's birthday party tomorrow. It turned out really cute! He is so excited about his birthday party. It will be fun, I'm sure!

Adam is outside getting the combine ready to go this afternoon. He is pretty sure that the beans are fit to go after the little rain we got last night. Carter is outside helping him as we speak.

Not much else new here, just wanted to get a quick update for all of you as I know that I have not been doing this everyday as I promised. Have a great weekend!

GO HAWKEYES! BEAT OHIO STATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pictures of Carter and Maddie in the Combine

It is a little hard to see them in the cab, but they got to sit in the combine on Sunday while Adam was doing some work outside on it. Carter would sit in it all day if we would let him! He went and rode with Adam for awhile this afternoon. He just has so much fun!

Hope that you are all having a good week! As you know, I attended a "staged" bus rollover accident at the Algona fairgrounds last night. It was quite an experience and one that I will not forget. I played the role of a student who was on the bus and was sitting in the front seat when the accident occurred. I was supposed to be a 5 year old girl with cuts on my face and legs. I was also supposed to complain about my head hurting from hitting it on the seat. There were 16 of us that acted as students. The fire departments, police, EMT's, first responders, ambulance crew, hospital staff all took part in the exercise. It seemed as though it took forever from the time the "rollover" occurred until someone arrived at the scene to evaluate what had happened. When the first sheriff stepped onto the bus I really gave it my all. I should have been an actress. I sat on the seat with my legs pulled up towards my chest and began rocking back and forth crying for my mommy. It seemed as though no one was paying attention to me. Finally I was asked what hurt and so I told the EMT. He told me that he needed to take care of other students who were hurt more severly than I was. I cried some more and some more and some more. (Yes, I really cried tears!) I started to look around and when I looked over the seat behind me I saw alot of blood coming from another girls neck. She had a puncture wound. I "FREAKED" out when I saw the blood. I then started to pound on the bus window and tried to open it so that I could crawl out. I kept calling for my mommy. There was a nice fireman on the bus who tried to calm me down. He had to sit with me until they could get me off of the bus because I had convinced him that I was going to try and crawl out on my own. When they got me off the bus I saw a sheriff who was asking me my name and the name of my mom. I recognized him and started grabbing onto him telling him I was related to him and that I wanted my mommy. He took me over the the triage area where the EMT put a neck collar on me and then strapped me to a board. (Talk about uncomfortable!) They had a fireman sit next to me after they evaluated me and I had to lay there and wait for an ambulance to be able to take me to the hospital. When I got loaded into the ambulance I was asked alot of questions and once again I was checked over on the way to the hospital. When I got to the hospital I was seen by a doctor and he determined that I needed a CT scan and x-rays. I was still strapped to the board they put me on and I just kept asking for my mommy. When the exercise was all over we were taken back to the high school where we all met before the drill started and we sat down and discussed what we thought were positives and negatives from the experience. It was a real eye opener for me and gave me some insight as to what Maddie may have experienced during the 2 bus accidents she has been involved in. She is who I kept my mind on during the course of the exercise and because I did that I was able to truly act and react to things the way I thought she would have. SCARY stuff for a little kid! I get no credit for being a good actress because my tears were real and that is because I thought about what the little kids went through that were on the bus when the real accidents occurred. It seems as though the school and other parties involved have worked really hard to put some thought into what needs to be done if there is ever another bus accident in the future. I am happy about that.

Well, it is 9:30 now and I need to go fold some laundry now. Love to all, Steph


VIDEO LINK OF THE BOYS AND I TONIGHT
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LeKYuPBTIY

It's a new week!

Hi! Well here it is Monday morning already! The weekend went by too quick. The sun is shining today and that just makes it a great day! Later today I have to go and particpate in a "staged bus rollover". They are doing a run through as if a bus full of students rolls over to test how EMS, fire departments, hospital staff, parents, and students respond. This is due to the accidents that have happened over the past 2 years. It will be open to the public to come and watch tonight at 5:30 at the fairgrounds in Algona. I was called and asked to be a volunteer and so I think that I will be an injured student on the bus. Should be educational to say the least. I am happy that the school has been working with others in order to have a protocal to follow in the event that there is ever another bus accident. Not much else happening here. I need to go and get Carter dressed for the day so I will try and post again after I get home tonight or else tomorrow morning and let you know how the "bus accident" goes. Love, Steph

YUMMY recipe to share

Thought I would share this recipe with all of you because I made this for my kids and they loved it! So did my hubby!

Fruit Salad

1 banana, sliced
1 cup red grapes
1 medium orange peeled and sectioned (I think a can of mandarin oranges would work well too)
1 cup pineapple chunks
2 kiwi, peeled and sliced
1 medium mango, peeled and cubed (I did not add this because I do not like mango)
1/3 cup orange juice
1 TBSP lemon juice
1 TBSP sugar

Combine fruits in a medium sized bowl. In a small bowl stir together the OJ, lemon juice and sugar. Pour the mixture over the fruit before serving and toss gently to coat.

Serves 8

Watching the Hawks

Hey! It is Saturday and we are watching the Iowa / Illinois game on TV. Iowa is leading 24 to nothing with 10:27 left in the 4th quarter. YEAH IOWA! Not much happening with us today. Maddie had flag football this morning at 10 in Algona and Adam took her over to that and I stayed here at home with the boys. We had lunch and now the kids are all upstairs napping. They all needed it! Not sure what we are going to do when they wake up. It just feels like such a lazy day. Last night we had my friend Kim and her husband Kevin over to our house. It was nice to hang out and chat with them. There is a bakesale at our church tomorrow morning so I should bake something to take to that. I am just not sure what I want to make yet. Well, I suppose I should get another load of laundry in the washing machine and then start looking through my cookbook for something to make for the bakesale. Have a great weekend! Love to all! Steph

Wednesday already???

Hello! Can't believe it is already Wednesday night! Where did the day go? This morning I got up with Maddie and got her off to school. Then I got showered and ready for the day. I actually put makeup on and did my hair today! I got the boys dressed for the day and we went to get groceries in Algona. We went to K-Mart first so I could pick up a few things. When I was checking out Carter was looking at all of that junk they have by the check outs just so that little kids can bug their moms to buy something for them and I kept my eye on him. He really wanted a pencil and I told him that he could not have it. As I proceeded to write out my check I saw him sticking something into the K-Mart sack he was holding for me. I could have died. Great, my 2 year old is a klepto! I know that he is not old enough to understand and so I just told him that we cannot take stuff out of the store unless we let the lady behind the register ring it up. After we were done at K-Mart we went to Hy-Vee. Carter decided that he did not want to ride in the cart so I agreed to let him walk. He did better than I thought he would. Kinnick was a little bit ticked off that I did not use one of those kiddie carts to shop with. There is just no room for groceries in those things. By the time I got the groceries loaded Kinnick was sound asleep. When we got home I started unloading the groceries and Carter got his his gator and was driving it around the lawn. All of a sudden I hear this loud crash and then Carter crying. Adam was helping me haul the groceries into the house so he went running to see what happened. Carter had taken my watering can and filled it up with water. It was too heavy for him to get into the tailgate of the gator so he was holding onto it and trying to drive at the same time. That did not work very well because he drove through my hostas and right into the side of the garage and wacked his forehead on the garage. I got him calmed down and we snuggled up on the couch together to watch TV and we both fell asleep. When we got up from our nap he wanted to ride with Adam in the combine. My mom came and got wagons to take to where Adam was combining so Maddie and Carter went with her so that Carter could ride in the combine. Maddie rode with my mom to take a load of beans to town and she was quite bored. I took Kinnick to the field where Adam was with Carter so that he could have a turn riding with his dad in the combine too. I also met my mom so I could get Maddie and she could come home with me. Kinnick was not sure what to think about the ride. He really checked everything out though. We only rode for one round. Maddie did not want to ride in the combine. We came home and had some supper and then Maddie did her homework. As we were cleaning up the supper mess Maddie noticed that I had bought a step stool at K-Mart today for the kids to use when they brush their teeth. She was reading the sticker on it that says "Up to 800 pounds" and she said to me, "Mom you can even step on this stool". I said, thanks Maddie you are right, I can! She cracks me up sometimes. You just never know what she is going to say! Well, it is almost 10 p.m. and I should get my homemade applesauce out of the crockpot and put into the fridge. Yes, you heard right, I made applesauce in my crockpot. It required peeling apples and I am proud to say that I did not even cut myself. It took me quite a while to peel them, but I did it! Maybe I will eat some before I go to bed. It is still warm! YUMMY! Love, Steph

New week

Good morning! It is 7:15 a.m. and I am sitting here waiting for the bus to come and pick up Maddie for school. She is mad at me because I will not let her take her yo-yo to school. The teachers told the kids "no more yo-yo's". The bus driver gets mad at them if they have them on the bus she said. So I am not sure why she wants to take it with her???? I am puzzled.

Carter and Kinnick are sitting at the table eating breakfast and watching Little Einstein's on TV. I cannot believe that Carter is awake so early because he decided not to go to bed until 11 last night. I am sure that it will be a long day with him! He is really getting bad about getting to bed at night. I am not sure why that is?

Our weekend was pretty uneventful. We did not do much of anything. Which was okay with me. Have a good week everyone! I better get finished with my breakfast now before Brennan gets here.

Love,
Steph

First Flag Football Game

Here are a few clips of Maddie playing flag football this morning.

She is wearing blue and gold shorts and has a red jersey on.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mw7hzOF8kE0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7UtIvJHITE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HO_UK68o-Y4

Tomorrow is FRIDAY!

I cannot believe that tomorrow is Friday already. This week has gone by quickly. Sorry for not posting yesterday...it was crazy here. I got a perm over in Algona yesterday morning and by the time I got home Kinnick was really crabby and running a temp. It got up to 103.8 degrees before it finally broke. I held him all afternoon because he would not sleep unless I did. I took him upstairs and started running him a bath to cool him off and he puked all over the bathroom floor. I got him in the bath and he seemed to like that. The combo of those 2 things brought his temp down a little bit. After I got him all settled Carter started running a temp. He told me he was dizzy. Next thing I know he puked all over himself, me and the rocking chair. LOVELY! So it was upstairs to give him a bath also! We got both of them off to bed and they both slept all night. When they got up today Kinnick was still cranky and was running a low grade temp most of the day. He did play and watch movies and stuff, so he felt somewhat better. Carter felt fine and was good all day. He napped for 4 hours this afternoon and was in bed by 8:30 tonight. HECTIC!

Maddie had flag football practice after school today and will play her first game on Saturday morning. She is pretty excited about that! Tomorrow afternoon she is participating in the homecoming parade. She wants us to come over and watch the parade so I told her I would see what I could get arranged. If Adam goes along with me we should be able to swing it with the 3 little ones. We have a double stroller and also a single stroller so they would all be contained. I would just need one extra person to push one of the strollers.

Adam is outside working on machinery again tonight. He did stay inside and help me with the boys last night and I really appreciated him doing that to help me out!

I should get some bills written out before I go to bed so I will letcha all go for now. Love, Steph

Any suggestions????

Good morning! I am looking for suggestions as far as what I can use on Kinnick's bottom? He has diaper rash due to the number of poopy diapers he is having because he is cutting teeth. I have tried buttpaste and also have tried bag balm. The rash is so bad that he has little "blister like" red bumps too. I feel so bad for him. I am giving him tylenol to help keep him comfortable too. So if any of you know of something else I could try that would be so HELPFUL!

BUSY BUSY BUSY

I have been busy, but I could not tell you what I have been doing. The days just seem to get away from me way too quickly.

Yesterday we took Maddie to K-Mart so that we could see about a halloween costume. I thought it was going to be an awful experience but she and I actually agreed on a costume. She is going to be Captain Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Carribean. She was trying on masks in the store and Carter absolutely FREAKED OUT! I am telling you that he literally tried to CLIMB UP MY LEG! He was screaming and screaming like crazy. I am not sure how he will do when we trick or treat because Maddie will have scary looking make-up on. Should be interesting. After we were done at K-MArt we went grocery shopping and boy was that fun! I just love those grocery carts that have the little steering wheels for kids so they can pretend to be driving a car...NOT! I hate those carts. My boys do not like to stay buckled in them. They grab stuff off the shelves if we get too close and the next thing I know they are trying to eat whatever they grabbed. Yesterday it was kiwi. Yes, they were both trying to eat a brown fuzzy kiwi. YUCK! Kinnick was cranky when we were shopping and he was also tired. He fell asleep, bless his little heart, and his head kept bobbing to the side and as I tried to talk Carter into letting his little brother rest on his shoulder he freaked out and woke Kinnick up. So then there were my 2 boys and both of them were crying. FUN! When we got to the checkout counter we had opened a box of fruit snacks and a box of crackers. Oh JOY!

Today was a normal Monday and not much new happened here. It was cold outside and still dreary. The kind of day that makes you want to crawl up on the couch and cuddle up with a blanket. I am working on getting a myspace page set up and slowly but surely I am getting things figured out (with the help of my mom and sister of course).

Well. I should get the dishwasher loaded and watch the news. Love to all, Steph

WoooHooo! Iowa WON!

It's a GREAT day to be a Hawkeye fan! What a great game!

Not much happening with us today. Maddie had flag football practice this morning in Algona at 10 am. Adam took her over to that and watched them practice for an hour. When they got home we had some lunch and then the boys took naps. After I got the mess from lunch all cleaned up I went through some scrapbooking supplies so that Maddie could work on some pages for her book. She really likes scrapbooking! We plan to put our stuff on the bar in our basement so that we can leave the majority of the stuff out and then just go downstairs when we want to do a page or two. That will be nice.

Once again, those of you who know me won't believe that I cooked again today! I made lemon garlic chicken (in the crock pot) for supper. We also had diced carrots (with butter and brown sugar). And then we had some dinner rolls too. It was sure YUMMY! Adam made the comment that he has not had to cook a meal all week. I am so proud of myself. I have my grocery list and menu for the upcoming week all ready to take with me to Hy-Vee tomorrow.

The boys are playing in the living room with their dad. He is watching some football game on TV and Maddie and I are hanging out here in the kitchen together. Hope you are all having a super weekend! Love to all, Steph

It's finally Friday

Good morning! Today is FRIDAY! I am not sure why I am so excited because I really do not have anything important going on this weekend. Maybe just the fact that I do not have to get up at 6:30 tomorrow morning because it is Saturday and my kids can all sleep in! Maddie started flag football last night and she has practice tomorrow morning in Algona, but not until 10 a.m. The next month will keep us busy with practice and games!

Yesterday was busy for us. Adam worked outside all day, until 10:30 last night. Getting equipment ready for fall. Maddie had school and then after school she went to the YMCA to hang out until football practice started at 5:30. The YMCA has an after school program that they offer and that she will go to on days she has practice. A bus from the YMCA comes to Algona High (where all the busses meet after school) to pick up the list of kids that will come to the YMCA. It saves me from having to get her to practice so that all I have to do is worry about picking her up at 6:30 p.m. when practice is done.

The weather was nice yesterday and so the boys and I went outside after naptime. Kinnick decided to eat a piece of chalk. Of course I did not notice until he came to me drooling pink all over himself. It was so gross! He puked all over the place. What a mess, at least he did it outside on the sidewalk instead of in the house.

After we finished up with supper the kids all needed a bath. They are getting too big to all take a bath together. There is not much room to move when all of them get in there together. It was a quick bath because I had some typing to get done for the elderly man I type for. He came over about 8 p.m. and did not leave until 10:30 p.m. He was quite chatty last night.

Adam and I sat down on the couch and watched TV for about an hour so that we could unwind from the day.

Well, I guess that is about it for now, I have Brennan sleeping on my lap right now and my boys are watching A Pup Named Scooby Doo. We usually do not watch that, but Carter wanted to and he is really paying attention to it. The 2 of them will need a nap shortly because they decided to get up with Maddie this morning at 6:30.

Have a super weekend everyone! If you are a GRANDPARENT we want to wish you Happy Grandparent's Day on Sunday, September 10th!

Love, Steph

Yes, you are at the right BLOG!

I just decided to change the look. Abby, that was a great idea! LOVE, Steph

Video clips

Carter loves to blow bubbles!

Here are 2 new video clips...........

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVes7zP8034

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QiD8X9fkdj4

Hectic week

Good Morning! It's Wednesday! Hard to believe it is already Wednesday. The long weekend went by way too fast! Maddie got out of school an hour early on Friday. We hung out here at home on Friday night. Then on Saturday it was yucky out and so the kids had to stay inside most of the day. Maddie was bored and so she ended up going to my mom and dad's house to spend the night. She and Grandma worked on "scrapbooking". Maddie came home with 3 pages for her book! She was proud of the way they turned out! On Sunday morning we went to 10:30 church and then came home and made brunch. Maddie called a friend and had her spend the night. On Monday we went to Clear Lake and met up with Adam's brother and his family and also one of his friends and his girlfriend. It was great to see everyone. After lunch we went to Mason City and went to Hobby Lobby and also SuperWalmart! It was great fun shopping at Hobby Lobby with 4 children (our 3 plus Maddie's friend)! We dropped her friend off in Algona on our way back home.

On Tuesday Brennan was here. Maddie was back to school. I finally got organized and last week planned out a lunch and dinner menu for us that I will rotate each week so that we can have a plan for our meals around here. Brace yourselves for this part....I, Stephanie, cooked 2 meals yesterday! Yes, me! I did it! When Adam came int he house for lunch yesterday it was ready for him to eat. I made goulash. Now I did not like goulash when I was a kid, but I must say that I really do like it now. It was something I thought would be great for the kids too. Well, I was wrong. Neither one of them would eat it. Adam ate one helping and then told me that he really does not like goulash. I guess he had it to eat alot when he was little and got tired of it. The weather was nice and so we got to spend some time outside when Maddie came home from school. The kids jumped on the trampoline and played on the swingset. We put Brennan in the baby swing outside and he loved it! Kinnick was a little jealous that someone else was using the swingset, but he got over it. Maddie took him over to the trampoline and he was happy. After Brennan got picked up to go home with his mommy I let the kids play outside a little bit longer while I finished getting supper on the table. Yes, you heard right, I also had supper ready for the family last night. I tried a new recipe in my crock pot and it turned out to be really good. Everyone ate it, even Maddie. I took 4 boneless pork chops and browned them in a skillet. Then I put them in the bottom of the crock pot. I cut up 2 onions and put them in next. Then I dumped a can of mushroom pieces over that. I mixed up a can of cream of mushroom soup, lipton dry onion soup mix, and a little water and then dumped that on top of the onions and mushrooms. I turned the crock pot on low and cooked it for 6 hours. The next thing I did was make some white rice to have as a side dish. Are you all impressed or what? Tonight I am making french dip sandwiches in the crock pot. Just call me Betty Crocker!

Today I do not babysit so it will be just the boys and I all day until Maddie gets home from school. Adam worked on machinery all day yesterday, until about 10 last night and he will be outside all day again today. Most likely all week to make sure that things are ready to go for harvest!

Well, my rice krispies are just calling my name so I am going to eat my breakfast and drink my coffee now! Have a super day! Love, Steph

Hello from the Sullivan's

Hi! Well, it is Sunday about 5:30 and I am just now deciding what we should have for supper. We went to church this morning at 10:30. When we got home Adam and I decided to make an egg bake. It was really yummy! Maddie called a friend to see if she could spend the night. Adam took her over to Algona to pick her up and I have not seen Maddie since they got home. They have been up in her room playing. Of course Carter is unhappy that he cannot be up there with them. I have been doing laundry most of the afternoon. FUN! Oh and I swept and swiffered my kitchen floor too! I suppose I should get something made for supper. Talk to you later!

Video clip of Carter singing some songs!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-kSkSM7YQc

I can't believe it's Saturday night already!

Hello! Hope you are all having a fantastic weekend! Today was kind of rainy and yucky so we were inside all day. When I woke up this morning I had an awful awful headache. I managed to eat a little for breakfast and then I went to lay down on the couch. Next thing I know it is 2:30 in the afternoon and Adam is waking me up to eat lunch. My headache was not quite as bad as when I woke up this morning and it has continued to lessen throughout the day.

Adam worked for a while outside this morning and then he started to put together Carter's Halloween costume. We are making him a tractor costume because we cannot find one to buy. The one we did find is not available and they cannot guarantee us they will have any before Halloween. So that was what Adam worked on all afternoon.

I started to do some research on the internet for a paper I am writing for Anatomy and Physiology. I decided to research Alzheimer's disease. I am hoping to get some more work done on that tomorrow. FUN!

Not much else happening here with us. Pretty boring!

Love, Steph

Sorry I did not get this out yesterday!

Hello and I am sorry that I did not get to this yesterday! I cannot believe how quickly the days go by! I had a doctor appointment in Mason City yesterday and things were just hectic here at home.

Maddie did not have a good experience at the dentist on Tuesday. She cried alot. I guess that Adam and the hygienist had to hold her down so that the dentist could pull the teeth. She would not tell the dentist if she was crying because she was scared or if it was because she was in pain. Adam said the dentist felt awful. Maddie knew when she got home that she had been unfair to the dentist and so last night she asked if she could write a letter to him and tell him she was sorry. I helped her write a letter and I was very proud of her for realizing that she should have just told him that she was really scared. The 3 teeth he pulled were all in front on the top. She looks so different now!

Kinnick is napping and so is Brennan right now. I am going to watch Blues Clues with Carter and I will try and post again later today!

Take care, Steph

Trip to the dentist

Just a quick post to share with all of you that Maddie is going to the dentist this afternoon at 2:30 and she will be having 3 baby teeth pulled. Yes, I said three! They are all on the top of her mouth and her orthodontist wanted them out ASAP. Maddie knows that she is going to the dentist but she does not know why. We did not want to have her get anxious and worry about it. She will find out when she gets there. Adam is taking her to the appointment because I know that I would just cry and she needs someone who can be strong for her at this appointment. She hates hates hates getting shots of novacaine. I just feel awful that there is nothing I can do for her. If I could have teeth pulled in her place I would gladly do so! Well, I will update again later today so you can all hear how she turns out! Love to all, Steph

Video clip

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WLJuDY6Y2E

Good morning & happy Monday everyone! I had a post all ready to publish last night and for some reason I lost it. I was really frustrated and so I decided to wait until this morning to post again! We had a nice weekend. It went too fast. The kids spent alot of time outside. Adam was working in the yard most of the weekend so he kept an eye on them for me. As you can see we got Maddie's old bike out for Carter to ride. It is pink but Adam already has plans to paint it John Deere green. Not much else happening here. Things are starting to slow down now that school is back in session. Well, Brennan will be arriving soon so I should get this posted before he arrives for the day! Have a super week everyone! Love, Steph

The weekend has arrived!

PHOTO >>>>>>>>
Kinnick after he ate ice cream cake
for my mom's birthday Thursday
night. He liked the cake but when
it was gone he wanted cleaned up
right away!


Well, it is Friday night and here I sit at 9:30 pm with a quiet house. Adam is outside working in the shop and the kids are all in bed. Maddie seems to be enjoying the 3rd grade so far. The bus picks her up here at the house at 7:10 am and she gets dropped off here at home around 4:15 pm. She likes her new bus driver too. They had art class today and she was very proud of what she made. It was a puppet made from a brown paper bag and it was a cow. It really turned out cute and it is now hanging on the fridge. Yesterday she got out of school at 2 pm because of the heat. Today was a lot cooler for the kids so they went the full day. Getting up at 6:30 am is hard for her to do. She was really difficult to wake up this morning. And she was ready to go to bed tonight by 8:30 pm, even though it is the weekend. We don't have much planned this weekend and I am happy about that. I got caught up yesterday on some typing for Ernie (the elderly man who pays me to type for him). Today I got caught up on getting some farm numbers put together so that I could mail them to Adam's dad and he could see where we are sitting year to date for farm expenses. I built several spreadsheets and am happy with how they turned out. Carter and Kinnick played outside for about 2 hours this afternoon. The weather was cool and so we let our dogs out of their kennel. They have really gotten used to the kids and do not jump up on them at all. They really like getting the attention as much as the kids like giving it! I guess that is about it for tonight. I think I am going to head to the couch and watch my soap from today. Talk to you again later this weekend!

Video clips - kids playing outside

Hello! Here are 2 video clips my mom took yesterday when we were gone to Rochester. She watched the kids for us.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YiY2QQeRDhI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfxZhKYF9JM

ENJOY! Love, Steph

Birthday wishes

Happy Birthday Grandma Marlys!

Happy Be-lated Birthday Grandma Jayne!

We love you!

Maddie, Carter & Kinncik

First Day of 3rd Grade!

Good morning! Well today is Maddie's first day in the 3rd grade! Getting up at 6:30 a.m. is obviously not her cup of tea because she was cranky. I am attaching some pictures of her so that you can see just what a "good" mood she was in. The only good part of her morning was that she finally got to wear her new shoes! She has been so excited about that! The bus was here by 7:10 a.m. to get her. Someday she will look back at these photos and maybe she will laugh, who knows? Hopefully tomorrow morning goes better! Adam just came inside from working on the combine and is showering so that we can head up to Rochester. He is getting injections into his neck and spine today for his pain. I have to go along because he cannot drive home when he is done. Sounds like the appointment will take a few hours, so I am taking along my school stuff so that I can work on some of that while I am waiting for him. We will be home later this evening. Have a great Wednesday everyone!

Today was hectic!

Hi! Today was quite a busy day here. I had to be at the dentist this morning at 9 a.m. to get my crown put on. It only took about half an hour but by the time I drove home the novacaine was wearing off and boy did my mouth hurt! It was from all of the pressure from them pushing on the crown to get it into place. Then I also ended up with a headache. Brennan was sleeping and my 3 children were intently watching a movie on TV. I dozed on and off until about 12:30 p.m. when Adam came in to make the kids lunch. He gave me some aleve and within about 45 minutes I was feeling much better! Maddie and I watched animal planet for about 2 hours this afternoon while the boys napped. After Brennan went home tonight I took Maddie to her open house at Seton. We got to meet her teacher and then she got to put her things into her desk and find her locker and all of that fun stuff. She is excited to go back to school and I am happy that she enjoys going to school so much! The bus will be picking her up at 7:10 a.m. this year. That is about 25 minutes earlier than last year, so she will need to get up at 6:30 a.m. We will see how that goes! She is not a morning person. I will take some pictures of her tomorrow and post them for you all to see. Love, Steph

Nighcrawlers

It's a DIRTY JOB, but Maddie's got to do it!

Blueberry pancakes

I LOVE BLUEBERRY PANCAKES!

I am so mad

I just got done typing all about our busy weekend and something happened and I lost all of what I typed. Well, I am sorry but I am not going to type all of that again. I will just post a video clip and some pictures from today. We emptied our swimming pool and the kids had fun playing in the mud and water. There were all sorts of nightcrawlers that came out of the ground and they thought that was pretty cool! Hope you all had a good weekend!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIAWFsMWzrY

Now I am even more upset at this stupid website. I cannot post pictures to it for some reason. I am not getting any type of an error message though, so I do not know what is wrong. I will try again later.

Link to our pictures from vacation in Wichita

http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLandingSignin.jsp?Uc=67wsajuz.6cykhrt7&Uy=-q1blxf&Upost_signin=Slideshow.jsp%3Fmode%3Dfromshare&Ux=1

Bear with me because I have not tried this yet so if you cannot get to the photos let me know!

Thanks!
Steph

A Poopy Diaper Story

Okay, I just have to share this story with you and if you are not a parent this will most likely gross you out. Yesterday afternoon when I went upstairs to get Kinnick after he woke from his nap I smelled a poopy diaper. I brought him and Carter downstairs and was getting the diapers and wipes to change their pants. Maddie's friend said to me, "Kinnick pooped". I said I know and as I turned around to go into the living room I opened the baby gate and looked down to see a poopy diaper on the floor, and yes, there was poop that had fallen out of the diaper onto the carpet. I looked at Kinnick and he was running around our living room with his hand on his weiner. Just lovely, he had poop all over his hand. So, I get him all cleaned up and his diaper changed and then I cleaned up the mess on the floor. I took the dirty diaper outside to the trash and when I came back inside the house there was Kinnick running around the living room without his diaper again! He had taken the clean diaper off and was running around grabbing at himself. I guess he is just curious about what he has down there????? So I guess that I will be making sure to always put his shorts or pants back on his as soon as I get done changing his diaper. My boys usually just run around the house in their shirts and diapers. Those days are over! Anyway, I thought that I would share that story with all of you! Have a great FRIDAY!

Video clip of the kids playing outside

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stbAby_GcAY

Thursday already???

Hello everyone! What a busy week it has been and I am sure you all noticed because I have not posted everyday. Sorry about that. My allergies started acting up when we were on vacation and they have been just awful. I swear that the more kids I have the worse my allergies seem to get. I have been pretty miserable this week. I am taking zyrtec and that helps some. This is the time of the year that I start to look forward to the cold weather so things will freeze and alleviate my allergies.

Maddie decided to stay home from daycamp since it is dreary outside she did not think they would do any type of outdoor activities. She picked a good day to stay home because a friend called and asked if she could play and of course she said yes! Her friend will be coming here to our house to play so that will be fun for both of them. Plus that will keep Carter happy too since Maddie will be around here.

Brennan and Kinnick are both napping right now so I am getting some bills paid and working on some school stuff too. Oh, and there is laundry, and dishes, and vaccuming and all that fun stuff to do. I am washing bedding today. What fun!

Not much else happening here with us. Have a great day! Love, Steph

Back from VACATION!

Heddo everybuddy. Dis is Kinnick and I am going to dell all of you about our bacation to visit my Gwandma Jayne and Papa Doug wast week. We weft home on Saturday, August 5th. Mommy and Daddy wanted to leave first ding in da morning, but we did not leave until eleven thirdy dat morning. Mommy started out dwiving and she got us all da way to da north side of Kansas City. We got out of da car for a wittle bit at somefing called a west stop. We did not stay too wong, but it was nice to get out and wun around a wittle bit. Daddy dwove us through Kansas City and all da way to a town called Emporia. When we got to dis place we stopped again to get out of da car. Mommy decided dat she wanted to dwive again so Daddy said she could. We got to Wichita Kansas at eight thirdy at night. Mommy and Daddy said dat we were weally good in da car. Dey said dat we dwove through 3 states, Iowa, Missourri, and Kansas. Dat must be a long way because it took us a long time to get there. Gwandma Jayne, Papa Doug, Collin, and Chelsea were all waiting to see us when we got there. Daddy carried in all of our bags and stuff and den Gwandma ordered some pizza for us to eat. It was yuumy.

We got to do wots of fun dings when we were visiting. We did some shopping, mostly for Maddie's back to school stuff. Gwandma Jayne has a swimming pool in da residential area where she lives so we got to go swimming a lot. Carder was not sure what he thought of da water at first, but he finally learned to wike it and even jumped into da pool wiff his lifejacket on. Mommy and Daddy twied putting one of dose on me but I did not wike it at all. I wuv da water, but not in a lifejacket! Da weather was between 105 degrees and 110 degrees every single day we were there! It was WEALLY hot! Da pool felt good!

On Tuesday Gwandma Jayne took us to da Kansas Coliseum to see da Wiggles Live. Maddie did not think dat she was going to wike it, but she did. We all had alot of fun. We got to see Waggs da dog, Dorothy da dinosaur, and all of da Wiggles. Dey sang songs dat we could sing along wiff and it was fun. I am weally glad we got to do dat.

Gwandma Jayne's air conditioner quit working when we were there and it took almost 2 days to get it fixed. Talk about hot. We moved all of our stuff to da basement so dat we could try and stay cool. It was wonderful when Papa Doug got it fixed for us!

Gwandma and Papa have 2 dogs in da house. Huck and Holly. Maddie weally wiked dem alot. Carder was not so sure about dem. Dey always came into da kitchen when I was eating and licked up all of da crumbs I spilled on da floor. I am a pretty messy eater so dey liked it when I was eating. Gwandma cooked weally good food for us when we were at her house.

On Sunday, August 13th, we got ready to come home. It was our plan to leave by nine thirdy, but of course we were running late and did not leave until one thirdy. Daddy dwove us all da way back to Iowa because when we got to Kansas City we ran into some yucky storms. It was really windy and we saw a semi truck dat got blown off of da interstate. Da rain was really heavy too and dat made it hard to see da road. All of us kids got weally cwabby in da car. Mommy and Daddy could not wait to get home. It was almost ten o'cwock when we pulled into da dwiveway.

We were all tired and went to bed when we got home. It was a fun twip and we had a good time visiting Gwandma Jayne and Papa Doug. Mommy will try and get some picdures posted tomorrow sometime dat we took on our twip.

Wuv, Kinnick and family