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