Maybe I Can Put The Three Of Them On Freecycle??

Sigh..... I knew things were way too calm before we left for church tonight. Parker was excited on the phone and told me he played trouble and kickball. (The older kids were impressed with how great he could kick!) Emma stayed dry all day at Lauri's.

Then after Steve and I taught choir, I took the kids down to the church basement, so I could check out my Sunday School room. There were a couple people down there, so I'm talking. P disappeared but I figured he was just in the room playing. Nope, couldn't find him anywhere. E and I wondered around for 10 minutes looking for him (the church is not that big) and of course there are a million things going on there tonight that we keep interrupting when we walk thru. Poor little E was trying to help screaming Parker. So long story short very embarassing! Then while I'm walking around outside looking for him, E makes a stinkie. (She did stay dry all day!) We were planning to hit Fareway, but instead we headed home, just in time for bed.

Got the rugrats to bed and then got Chocolate Bosco out. He did the usual excited jumping. He likes to pretend like your arms are chew bones, so I nearly got my shirt ripped. Poor pooch, he just gets so happy. He loves to play fetch. He did go over and steal Creighton's chew toy, thankfully this time I got it out of his mouth before he destroyed it like he did with Creighton's leash.

The sun will come out tomorrow....

Put Your Hands in the Air

A little worried about P at school today since Daddy had to get him up and he was NOT happy about it. He said he was tired and didn't want to go and started crying. He then wanted Mommy to take him. I finally got him dressed and gave him some hugs and he left with Daddy. He cried on the way there and then when they got to daycare he walked and and spied.... a little boy playing Sorry. And just like that, he was happy! Tonight he told me he played Sorry and Yahtzee. I worked late tonight and so I called on my way home. Parker said if that's Mom I want to talk to her. He said he had fun. I asked him what did you learn. He said, "Put your hand up if you want chocolate milk. Put your hand down if you want white milk." That's so cute!!

The teacher's helper (who also does the daycare) said he is doing pretty good. She said he's pretty quiet. I know he'll get talking more and more once he's more comfortable. I think "rest" time is going fine. P said he didn't sleep. I guess they did "coloring" and "drawing" today. We all know how P loves "sarcastic there" to color and draw. I guess at first he didn't want anything to do with it, wouldn't even look at the paper. After awhile he colored and he did great! He used all kinds of colors and didn't just do a couple scribbles. We made a big deal about how proud we were. He was out on the playground tonight playing a game with some kids, having a great time when Steve picked him up. He did say he wanted to go to Lauri's tomorrow, but I think he is enjoying school. The teacher sounds awesome. We'll meet her on Tuesday. She is getting them each notebooks and then will write in them everyday for us to read how they did. Then once a week sends out a class update.

E has been staying dry, but he stinkies are another thing!

Well off to checkout www.freecycle.org to see if I can score some cool free stuff!

One Day Down, 179 More To Go

I think we can deem this day a success! Parker had a pretty grueling day of of eating, playing, resting, eating, playing. Mixed in with a bit of learnin. He seemed to like it. When I first got home he didn't want to talk about it because he was playing Sorry. But then he told me he ate pizza and beans for lunch. Played Duck, Duck, Goose. He got a Principal's Pal Award with a free mini pizza (I think they all got them :-) We said did you go out for recess? No mom, it's not recess it's preschool. He said his teacher Miss Jandrey is nice and he got a treat bag from her. Friday are school pics. They had early out today, so he'll get another 45 minutes of free learning time (puters, puzzles, etc) tomorrow before he leaves. When Steve picked him up he was having great fun at daycare. There doesn't seem to be awhole lot in daycare, so I think he'll get plenty of attention. They then stopped at Lauri's to get Emma and he walked in, took his shoes off yelled, "Sarah, Anna, I'm here to play Nintendo. Dad you can go now." Emma came home in different shorts today, so must have been at least one "incident,"but she is still going on the potty quite a bit.

After chewing thru the neighbor's leash because Emma put it in his pen, we let Big B get out to play again tonight. Poor dog just doesn't realize how big he is. He's just so excited to see you. He always goes to the far corner of the yard to poop, so yeah for Bosco!

Splish Splash I Won't Be Taken A Bath

Forgot to post too that the last two days the kids have been taking showers. Parker had asked a few times before and yesterday we decided to try it out. I put them one at a time in our shower stall off our bedroom, so it works out pretty well. They both really liked it. E was just sticking her face right under the shower and doesn't want to get out. P did really well too. Well off to a church potluck. P seems to be feeling better.

PU Stinky Butt

Forgot to add that E has been doing pretty good with the potty. She has been staying pretty dry, but the stinkies are another story. We may to do like we did with Parker and just make her run around all day without pants until she needs to make a stinkie! Worked like a charm for him.

Poor P is still a bit under the weather. He's got crud in his throat and so he sounds kind of like he has asthma. He doesn't really want to cough so it just sits there. He sounds a bit like a young Kathleen Turner. We are really hoping that he doesn't miss the first day of preschool tomorrow. He doesn't have a runny nose or anything and seems to feel ok, just a bit tired from not sleeping very well last night.

I'm keeping him home from church to rest and we have a potluck later today for choir, but I think I may keep the kids home, just to not where him out and there would be swimming and I don't want him getting any worse.

You're Almost Tall Now

Better check in as it's been a few days and then I have trouble remembering the cute stuff they did a couple days ago. I'll work backwards. Tonight we went to a BBQ at a person I work with's house. The kids had fun. Parker is not shy about playing with kids he doesn't know, so I'm hoping that playing with others at preschool will go as well. He doesn't always communicate alot with the other kids about what he wants to do with them, but that should improve at school. Emma wore her cheerleader skirt and had it covered with brownie frosting by the time we left. Earlier in the afternoon we went to some friends adoption open house party for their son. Once again the kids had fun playing with the other kids. They drank a ton of lemonade at both places and that could explain why they didn't sleep on the way home tonight! Earlier in the day we tried our first bath with Bosco (Choc Dog). The kids call him Chocolate Bosco. It did not go well at all. I feel really sorry for the pooch. Steve was determined to get him used to the water, but I'm thinking we should have maybe taken it a bit slower now since poor B didn't eat anything while we were gone and is cowering and nervous in his pen tonight. Poor thing yelled and tried to run while Steve tried to hose him down. Our neighbor came over as he wanted to make sure B hadn't hurt himself while we were gone. We used his strong collar and leash and Steve was finally able to wash him down a bit. He was so worn out (Steve and the dog). I'm not sure if he had been abused by water or if he just isn't used to it. He didn't try to snap or anything he just kept running off or howling. He had gone in earlier in the morning to get his stiches removed. He'd lost 2 lbs and loved the scale, wouldn't get off which the vet said is not normal, most dogs hate it I guess. We'll have to give him extra love for tomorrow. I have a feeling I'll be the favorite parent for awhile.

Last night I went scrapbooking and actually got some stuff done. I made an altered clipboard for Emma to hang in her room and I think I'll give it to her on her bday. Friday was P's last full day with Lauri for awhile. She said he didn't feel the best because of his drainage/horse voice/crud in his lungs. I think P is ready for Monday and Daddy is still trying to get used to the idea.

Thursday night can't remember much, but I know we did baths and when they were getting ready for bed Parker was looking at the measuring chart we have upstairs. He had me stand and said, "Mom you're 56. You're almost tall." The next day when he woke me up he said, "Mom, you're tall now!" He also likes to tell me on Saturday mornings (I'm usually the last one up), "Mom, you can't sleep all the day." He's so much like his father it's highly annoying!

Wet Ponies

Sent E in Little Pony undies today with plenty of spare undies and shorts. Steve and I were both there since he had to drive me to work. As we were getting to leave Lauri feels she's wet...sighh..... I guess about a half hour later she was wet again. After that she has stayed dry the rest of the day including her nap! She said to Lauri, "We need to keep our ponies dry." She said something else cute about it, but of course can't remember. P, E and I played Playdoh tonight. We ended up with some Kamakazee playdoh as P smashed a bit hard.

Well Choc Dog has now popped a hole in the big soccer ball. He was so cute playing with it, but I'm sad to say that was short lived. Daddy will need to patch. He also loves a washrag and his chewy rope. He also found a pair of E's socks in the yard and a swim toy, but I finally got them out of his mouth. He gets so excited when he first gets out, he literally goes in circles. He races all around, like tonight when he grabbed the leash holder part in his mouth again and was walking himself around. That was expensive though and we don't want him breaking it again! Sometimes the middle of the night barking is annoying, but he's so cute and seems to understand this is his home.

That's about as exciting as it gets around here!

I'm not a Woman!

Headed to WM with the kids last night. Shouldn't have gone with a splitting headache as that made me low on patience. First Emma wanted to push the cart. That's ok as long as Mom can steer, but no! She wants to do everything herself. Finally distracted her. Then of course P has to pee. I think he likes going in other bathrooms. Only problem we have is that he won't go in the Women's, because he's Mens not Women's. I was trying to talk him into it, when into the Men's he went. It's sad that you have you have to worry about your kid in a bathroom by himself. After telling him again after he came out that you have to use Women's when Dad isn't with, then of course Emma announces, "I need to go potty." Since we're trying to potty train, I can't really tell her no. But of course once again P didn't want to go in since it was Women's! Finally got him to stand right inside the doorway (there is no door) and then ran back and forth checking on her pee progress and making sure he was still there. Then he decides to come in and is checking everything out. Then someone comes into go and while I'm checking to see if Emma went, he was trying to look under the stall at her. Mommy's loud voice came on, I'm sure the lady thought I was a witch. Then of course, Emma never peed and had a super wet diaper which I put back on. I got a few essentials and the rest of P's school supplies, but some stuff will have to wait because we had been there forever at that point. Got Choc Dog a Chew Ropie and he was in love. Unfortunatly Choc Dog must have thought his leash was a chew ropie as he bit it right in half tonight. Luckily where he bit it, Steve can fix it.

Parker is super into Ninja Turtles all of a sudden and they had some clearanced to $3. Most were all gone except one that out of the two pack, one turtle had been stolen. So WM ended up giving it to me for $1.50. Not bad I guess. He told everyone he saw he was getting a turtle. Leonardo and SpiderMan now both keep him safe at night. First though you have to gear the turtle up with his swords, helmet etc. Wolvervine is not #1 anymore. There was a Wolverine head on clearance and he wanted the turtle. Emma is still wanting to wear her Thomas Shoes 24/7. Got the Thomas tickets yesterday and got the kids signed up for Parks and Rec stuff, so almost $250 later I was more than a little broke.

Emma went on the potty at Lauri's twice, so Lauri said if we wanted to just send her in undies and lots of clothing changes, she'd work with her some more. Poor Lauri!

Ran to town (again) tonight. Days like that I wished we lived in town. Took the van in for an oil change and brakes have been making a weird noise. Also had to pick out music for Middle School Church Choir that Steve and I are in charge of this year. Someone at church volunteered to watch the Terrible Twosome during practice, poor Julia!

I'm Right Dare!

Saturday was a busy day for the Hansens. Parker had his last zoo class in the morning. This was after I ran around trying to pack for the day since we wouldn't be home again till after dark. I think poor Pooch was a bit upset we weren't around much as he barked during the night...errr..... The class got to ride on the train for class and poor E missed it. He's red so they call him James. Found out they are having one class a month this fall and winter, so will probably sign her up. We were going to Newton mid afternoon, so to kill some time we ate lunch at Arby's and then did some shopping at the mall. Emma kept calling her food McDonald's Happy Meal, so I guess all of their advertising is working. They ate about half their meals and we saved the rest for later. Then at 10 last night coming back from Newton, while Parker snored, E polished it off! Nothing like cold fries late at night. All the summer stuff is clearanced already (of course since it's time to get winter clothing out in the stores). While Steve was looking for shorts, the kids spied something exciting. Tennis shoes! Emma found some cute velcro shoes of guess who? Thomas the Train of course. Around the corner they had the cutest Dora ones, but they were a no go. Her sandals went off, those went on and didn't even come off when we put her PJ's on before we left Newton last night. She really wasn't in dire need of shoes yet, but P was so I looked around some more. His feet are so wide at the top that most Cartoon type tennis shoes don't fit because they taper so much at the top. Ended up finding some really cool Spiderman shoes that had plenty of room. He immediately put those on too. He saw some Ninja Turtle shoes, but luckily too narrow. After leaving Sears, we headed to Penny's. I found some cute summer type shirts and while we were looking around, E disappeared. They were very antsy in the store and were getting embarrassing, so Steve was going to walk them around the mall a bit. But she was no where to be found. She couldn't have gotten far as she was missing approximately 5 seconds. We looked everywhere in that area, but the store was really busy and I didn't want to make a huge scene if not totally necessary. Steve thought he could hear her. "Daddy, I'm right dare!" Anyone who knows Emma, knows she has a unique accent, sort of sounds like she's from Boston or East Coast area. He zoomed in on the sound and then something caught his eye. Blinking Thomas Shoes! Both of their new shoes blink and Steve didn't really care for that when we bought them. She had gotten in the middle of one of the circle racks and was standing perfectly still. He got to her and she was laughing. "I hiding Daddy!" It was funny and it wasn't all at the same time. Again errr.....

We then headed to Newton (both kids fell asleep on the way there, P never does so of course he did today) to see how Todd was coming on Steins and Steve was going to help him with some sound thingy. (Like my tech terms there?) Todd is opening a sports bar in Newton Monday. The kids loved it there. They each ate two donuts and played some of the bar computer games. We then headed to Alisa's house (went to college with her) and they were having a BBQ. The kids had a great time swimming, doing Playdoh and playing with their 11 month old son's toys. They also loved playing with some other friends Tami and Preston's two year old son Caleb. (Or Calef as Parker calls him). The kids even slept in past 7 today, so they must have been worn out!

Went to church today pretty much without incident as well. Emma colored like crazy and pretty well I might add. Still no coloring or writing out of Parker. They love going up for the children's sermon. I was so proud because there was a little boy about Emma's age running around like a maniac up front, and was amazed and proud that neither kid followed along. Then when it was done Emma runs back to our seat yelling, "I won a prize, I won a prize!" Sometimes they get a sticker up there, but today nothing, so not sure what her prize was.

Better go play some games with P and E should be getting up shortly from her snooze.

An Ice Cube Fixes Everything

Tonight Emma headed to the garden to pick veggies with Daddy. She said "I love vegetables!" I didn't see it happen, but I guess she saw a small red pepper that looked good enough to eat. The tears started and into the house they came. Milk wasn't fixing it, so she sucked on some ice cubes and in a couple minutes all was well in the world. We had BLT's tonight and she is also a big fan of the Beymer Bacon (meat not the nephdog). Pooch was pretty frisky tonight. Parker had the leash on Choc, but it got all twisted so the dog walked around carrying his own leash. Then he got sooo excited to see the kids he got a bit rough with Emma. Poor thing, he's just so happy to play he doesn't realize that paws on an 85 lb dog can hurt. Then he chased the tennis ball for awhile. He really can go, but it was so humid out we didn't last long. Going without a leash tonight didn't go as well. He did fine up by the garden, but later when I was watching him he went way over to Creighton and then I got him back in the yard and he turned around and went back and then he laid down so I couldn't pull him, stinker! P went back and got the leash, so he stayed on that the rest of the time.

We have a busy next few weekends coming up. Tomorrow zoo class for Parker and then heading to Newton to go to a BBQ. There will be other little ones there, so I'm sure the kids will have a good time.

I'm a sooo tired, so that's all she wrote tonight.

Dogs Rule and Kids Drool

I guess when Chocolate Dog/Bosco/Pooch/Butchie/Rio has a ginormous tongue, it means that a lot of drool is going to come out. Yesterday I was home with the kids, so we got him out quite a bit. He gets so excited when he sees you he can't wait to play. He and Parker like to "wrestle" and Choc then licks him all over and fake jumps on him. Emma sometimes wants the licks and sometimes doesn't. Tonight after she warmed up and after he got done digging in the dirt, they rolled around on the ground and he gave her a big dirt/slobber kiss (see picture). The kids are also quite interested in the fact that he pees a lot and everywhere. Yesterday after he went on a bush, I turned around and P was going too. (see picture) Later he told me, I can't anymore, all my pee in gone. Tonight after he went, then P went and then Emma said I need to squat mommy, Choc took off with her diaper and then her shorts. Then when we tried to put them on, he thought we were playing keepaway. The last couple times we haven't even put him on a leash. He stays pretty close. If he starts to walk away to far he'll come back when you call him or tonight I just grabbed his collar and turned him around and he went right to the back yard. The kids are loving being in his cage and Choc is loving not being in his cage (see picture). He definitely is a chewer though, the ice cream bucket didn't stand a chance!

Whew, I got away! 

Choc Dog says Ha Ha! 

Doggie Kissed Me! 

Thank Goodness It's Blurry 

Knick Knack Pattywack Give a Dog a Bone

Went out this morning and half off the big rawhide bone is gone. It was still there as of 9 last night. Anyone know a good place to buy bones in bulk???

Puppy Love

I'm sorry but he is just so stinkin cute and sweet. After I got back from Mom's group tonight I went out to give him a chin scratchin (loves those) and he was gnawin and playing with his new chew bone. He didn't want anything to do with it yesterday, so I think he's starting to feel more comfortable. We have some medicine to put on his ear (the fur is gone and there are some bumps and sores, vet isn't exactly sure what it is) and he just lays down so nicely while you do it. I'm home tomorrow, so we'll get him out to play. I'm hoping he just doesn't get fiesty tomorrow when I try to put his leash on and uses his 85 lbs to get around me, so I'll have to chase him around the yard!

Oh and the kids are doing fine too... cute as well!

Chocolate Dog and P 

Who Let the Dogs Out??

It's official, we have a pooch at home. His name is Chocolate. I guess the parents lost on that one! Pictures to follow. He hasn't even barked once and is doing great with the kids.

Count Chocula?

We are still debating on a name for the pooch. Steve doesn't seem real hip on Rio and Parker keeps insisting the dog's name is going to be Chocolate. We were thinking of chocolate variations and basically came up with some really lame ones. Count Chocula, Cocoa Puffs, Cocoa Pebbles, Brownie, Cocoa, Hershey, Rocky Road, Chocolate Chips etc..... Any suggestions are welcome!

Headed to the State Fair today. Got there about 9. It's a good thing we didn't get there much later as the lots were all full way before noon. The kids did great. No scuffles, no whining and no crying. Towards the end they both said they were tired and wanted to go home, but that was about it. Paker loved the funnel cakes and Emma loved the cotton candy. We had $36 of food tickets to use and neither of us could seem to spend the last $10 or so. They loved the animals, we saw everything but the pigs. Somehow missed them. We skipped things like the Varied Industries etc, as they were just too crowded and the kids wouldn't have been interested anyway. My big news is that I won 1st place in the one page scrapbook competition. I get some gift certs to some of the local stores. The funny part is I almost didn't enter it as I slapped it together and didnt' have any journaling on it. It's a pic of Emma in the tub smiling with bubbles all over her face. The kids were not interested at all though, so I didn't really get to check out the competition or see if I recognized any of the other winners (another girl from Indianola got 2nd in the two page). I snapped away State Fair photos today, since I wasn't able to enter the State Fair page competition this year (planning ahead!) E only zonked a few minutes and even though P yawned on the way home, he was raring to go when we got him. He is so hooked on games and for some reason Sorry makes me so sleepy everytime I play it, poor kid.

Daddy worked away on the dog house/area tonight.... he's so excited, but you didn't hear that from me!

Emma asked Daddy the other night, "When are Aunt Johnny and Uncle Ron" come over again?

Well Balanced Diet (Don't Tell Daddy)

Yesterday Steve was gone helping Todd getting his new bar in Newton set up, so the kids and I ventured out last night. I guess I was feeling parental. The Parks and Rec Dept was showing a big screen movie Shark Tales outside, so we headed to town. We got there plenty early so the kids played at the park for quite awhile. After they got extreme filthy (and after I got tired of telling Parker not to throw sand) I made them sit down on the blanket and wait, or at least stay close. Then after telling both of them to not throw rocks (but mom all the other kids are!!), finally the movie started when it got dark. We were already way past bedtime at this point. About an hour in I heard snoring and Parker was out. Emma of course stayed awake, she's such a night owl. Try carrying him up a hill asleep wrapped in an enormous blanket, my arms still hurt. She was so amazed at how dark it was outside. Then of course they were up bright and early this morning...errrr.... We are going to the State Fair tomorrow so I'm hoping they aren't too worn out or cranky.

Didn't really do too much today, didn't have anything scheduled away from home so we did games, computers, played outside in the rain, made cookies, ate a lot of cookies, etc. Later this afternoon Daddy took P in to see the dog and if he was ready maybe take him home. (I think he was hoping to suprise me). Turns out he hasn't been snipped yet, so they are doing that this week, so not sure what day we'll get him yet. Poor thing his nails are worn down from the cement. I guess he's been there since April. They guess him being about one or so. He's a chocolate brown lab mix (not sure what the mix part is), so now we're trying to think of a name, as he doesn't have one yet. Parker calls him Chocolate Dog and Emma still calls him Creighton (neighbor's dog's name). I think I am partial to Rio.

The big happenings on 76th Lane tonight is that they are shooting a video down at the end of our lane. The band has played at parties a few times before. The music is a lot of yelling etc I guess. www.indexcase.com We can hear it from here. Rock on!

Out of Emma's mouth: Mommy put on your suit belt.
Out of Parker's mouth: Mommy put on your sell beat.

Parenting question? Is it weird that your daughter ate cold green beans from the fridge, carrots and dry elbow macaroni for breakfast and then chased that down with chocolate chip cookies for lunch? P passed on the green beans and instead ate two bowls of Luckies. (The cereal not the cigs)

Lose Your Head

P man had crafts class tonight, so E and I took him to town. She always gets upset that she can't stay. I told her next time she'll be 3 and she'll get to go. She was still sad, but then I took her to Goodwill and she was in heaven. First thing she spotted was a glass painted little unicorn. I thought it was ugly, but what does a mommy know. I splurged and spent 59 cents on it for her. I also picked up a fondue pot, a shelf for for stamping inks, a video, two games and some child safety locks for under $9. We still had some time to kill, so we headed to Dollar General. I try to stay awake from WM when I'm "killing time" as it gets expensive. Plus payday is not here yet! She walked in spotted the umbrellas and there was the cutest My Little Pony One. So, mommy splurged again, this time spending $3. They didn't have any boy type ones. When we went to pick P up it had started sprinkling so Emma got to use her umbrella. Of course when P saw it, he wanted to use it to. I explained to him that they didn't have any he'd like, so when we shop next time we'll look for one. He first said he wanted a Spider Man one, but then said "I want turtles instead (Ninja) and it should be red, blue, orange and brown. He saw some clearanced Ninja Turtles at Walmart the other day and suddenly is into them. I found an Xmen comic book at Walmart so he got that instead, or I may have caved on the $3 Turtle!

She played hard with her unicorn at Goodwill and I told the checkout girl, I'm sure it won't make it home in one piece. Well.... when we pulled into Dollar General she had sat it on the edge of the window and down it fell. Off went the head! I thought she'd be sad, but seemed ok with it. I told her Daddy would glue it back on.

Got P's supply list for school, his first day is August 29th. We've been practicing his teachers name and talking about school quite a bit. I really should try to get him to at least hold a pencil before he starts so the teacher doesn't classify him as slow. Maybe he'll read for her and so that'll even it out. I feel bad he's really not going to see Lauri much, but I think he'll be able to see her off and on when Daddy stops to pick up Emma after picking up P.

Countdown to dog continues. Steve saw a few faves at the shelter today and I think he has one picked out. I won't go as I don't want to have to chose and see all the animals that are still needing a home. I'm hoping by mid next week, we have a pooch!

And big Emma news.... she actually wore two pig tails tonight, wow!

Mr. Thirsty

Took P to the dentist this morning bright and early at 7. He was a bit hard to get up today and they were poking along getting out of the house so mommy was starting to get upset, so I figured he'd be in a bad mood. Instead....Mommy was sooooo proud of him! He remembered going from last time. He even remembered that he saw the neighbor's girls there and wondered where they were this time. The dental hygienist is someone we know from church and this dentist is super nice. He explains everything. Last time he pretty much counted the teeth, looked inside his mouth and just got him familiar with things. This time he scraped his teeth, used the toothbrush cleaner thingy with bubble gum paste on him and rinsed him with "Mr. Thirsty" the water gun. Parker didn't even flinch. He was thrilled with his new whale toothbrush. (I have never been very good about consistent brushing with the kids... bad Mom! I usually just forget, like I did again tonight even though tonight was the night I was to start being consistent with them!) He was slightly confused when we left because he saw they had only one bathroom. He kept asking is that men's or women's? Where's the other one? I said both people can use it, but I don't think he liked the answer. Finally I said the men's is back by the dentist. Crap, now he'll remember that next time and will be asking me about it. Well I've got another 6 months to come up with a story on that. I'm not taking E yet, probably will wait till she's about 4 too unless she mellows out before then.

We wanted to get out of the house so we did a Walmart run and then went out for ice cream at DQ. The kids had their first Dilly Bar. P had a few bites and was done, E got upset when we took the last bit of hers away from her because it had melted. All the way home, "I miss my ice cream!" She has been wearing her pink butterfly wings nonstop, not bad for $1 I guess. I've been trying to get a pic of her, but she has been anti-camera the last couple of weeks for me. The Nature Center is having monthly classes on animals, so I'm thinking I'll sign Emma up. The first one is on butterflies, she'll probably blow a gasket! Both of the kids will have quite a few activities this fall, I suppose I'd better start writing this stuff down or just tell P and E about it and then they can remind me!

Out of the mouth of Parker tonight: "Dad, how old are you." Dad says 36. P says, "So at your next birthday you'll be 37 then. And you'll get cake."

Emma wants a Percy cake and Parker wants a Wolverine cake. I had better start scouting around as I know WM doesn't make them! I may end up taking the Thomas off her cake and put Percy on and remove a figurine from another cake for P and insert Wolverine!

Frogs are Cute!!

It's funny how P and E each have one animal they are scared of. With P it was the crocodiles (fortunately Spiderman saved him from those and now everything is ok) and with E it is frogs. We have a bunch of tree frogs and others that like to live in the shed and in the striped swing in the back yard. You sit in the swing and pretty soon you have a frog or two on your shoulder. Frogs just make her hysterical. But they are ok printed on her pj's, her pillow etc. She's trying to get braver and now doesn't cry so much. She'll go around the house saying, "Frogs aren't scary, they're cute!" over and over again. She is also scared of the any mower or tractor. (But have her fall down and scrape her knee and doesn't phase her." She is such an outdoor daddy's girl though, so hopefully the mower will be cute soon. Tonight she helped daddy in the garden again. She said she didn't want to pick flowers tonight, she wanted to pick vegetables. She also helped pick apples the other day. While they were doing this P and I were playing "Gault"... that word is a combination of golf and goal (hockey) that P created. He loves to make games up. Let's say mom got her butt kicked and worked up a sweat. You have a baseball and the $2 plastic hockey set I got at Target. You go out front on the cement and hit the ball back and forth until you get a goal. Towards the end you could also just throw it into the goal as well. (Ok I guess he didn't really make that up, it sounds like hockey) I had a heck of a time using this cheap plastic hockey stick trying to hit this heavy baseball. He had no trouble. He kept telling me I was holding it wrong and kept trying to show me how to do it correctly. And you couldn't cheat on the score as he remembered it, stinker. We've also been playing a lot of Monopoly, he made up rules on that which are basically if you land on the property you get it and if someone else lands on it they can take it from you. Whoever gets the most properties wins. Every once in a while you might collect $20 for passing go. Somehow he knows about the doubles thing and also what you need to do to get out of jail. I was nodding off on him the other day, so I tried to sneak the last few into his pile. He didn't fall for it. He gave me a look and said, "Mom, I didn't land on those." He remembers who has what... once again, what a stinker.

And forgot to post about our fun "Girls Weekend in Council Bluffs." I won $66 on the nickel machine, so ended up clearing about $50. Of course I spent it on other stuff before we even got home...oops. You can check out Steph's blog for all the details. www.adayintheschulteshome.blogspot.com

I'm Alive!

Everyone that I got hooked on blogging has been giving me a hard time that I have not updated for awhile... oops I guess it has been a couple of weeks! I can't remember what I did a couple of days ago, so sorry probably won't be catching up everything up! I guess I'll just start fresh with this weekend or so.... I'm such a procrastinator it isn't even funny!

Friday night we took the kids to the Balloon Festival in town. I think around 100 hot air balloons come to town for a week every year. We knew Emma would love the balloons (they've never really been P's thing), so we spent the money and paid to get in instead of parking a couple miles away and watching. We got there plenty early and the kids did pretty well. There were a bunch of those huge bounce tent things and the kids didn't even ask to go in them. There were some shaped balloons, like penguins, a tree, a wine bottle etc and the kids really liked those. The balloons then race and try to drop something on an x. Since balloons don't move the fastest the kids (along with all the other ones there) got bored towards the end. We saw a few in the sky tonight too and Emma got excited again.

Saturday morning P had zoo class and for the most part seemed to like it. He touched a Madagascar cockroach, a milk snake, a tenrick and a millipede. The kids then got to feed the giraffe a cracker. I think I was more excited about that than he was though. The giraffes have super long tongues. The feeding would have made a cute picture, but of course no camera! Emma ran some errands with Daddy and then Roni and John stopped for a bit in the afternoon.

Church this morning.... the kids are getting better and better at it, whew! Both were pretty quiet, a bit wiggly, but there were other kids screaming and they weren't mine! They love going up for the children's sermons, it's so cute. A month from now Sunday School starts and I know E will be belting out the tunes. Next Sunday is Wells Fargo Day at the State Fair and we're planning to take the kiddies this year. We didn't the last couple years as it's hard enough to get around with two adults and then add two toddlers and last year we wanted to see the concert. LeeAnn Womack is our concert this year so we are skipping it and so we can spend plenty of time in the animal barns with the kids. Gotta of course see the Big Boar.

The kids swam for a bit today and then we all (including the kids), shucked sweet corn. Emma did a pretty darn good job (minus getting the silk off or hairs as she calls them). We froze some on ears and some cut off the cob. Around suppertime we headed to Aquabhi for a picnic. Not many people there even on a gorgeous day, so we found a place in the shade and the kids played on the playground equipment and made some new friends. Of course Emma was sad when we left. After baths and a rigourous 4 player game of "Emma's dollhouse" off to bed they went.

Currently we are doing the "do we get a dog" debate. I guess we have the boy, the girl and the cat, so we need a dog to round it out. There is the cutest pair of about 1 year old collie/lab mixes in the paper at the no kill shelter, but I'm sure we'll just end up with one, but I won't split them up, so probably will get a different one. First Steve needs to build a doghouse, put in some kind of invisible fencing and get leashes food etc. We want a mid-sized model that's an outdoor dog (that maybe I can sneak in occasionally). A couple others in the paper looked good except they didn't like felines and preferred older kids!

Promise I'll keep up on this blog thing better. The kids did a ton of cute stuff the last couple weeks but can't remember. They did spend the last week in July at Grandma and Granpa Hansen's house with Cuz Laura, so it was great to be kick back and fancy free for a few days!