Hi George

Lauren Claire is really talking alot now. She walks around greeting everyone in sight, even George the cat. This video was taken at Grandma and Grandpa Anderson's just before we departed for West Des Moines.

Out of all the wonderful clips we took this weekend, I decided to post this one because I love the sweetness in her voice. It's so perfect and innocent. She just loves George, but I'm certain George is happy she is gone. If Lauren wasn't riding her new car from Uncle Daron and Aunt Ginger, she was chasing George around the house saying "Hi George" "Hi George."

Swing Low Sweet Chariot

The video below is a clip of Brayton singing Swing Low Sweet Chariot on the way to Mallard for Christmas. He is really starting to sing alot, I think he's taking after his Grandma Cindy and Aunt Audra, they are great singers.

When he first started singing this song, he was saying "Swing low, sweet cherry yougurt."

I really love the little head nod he does to the beat of the song.

Daddy, What do you got in your eyes?

Today's drive home was pretty uneventful, until we got about 10 miles east of Perry when Brayton informed us he had to go to the bathroom, specifically he had to go #2.

A few weeks back, he said the same thing but that time it was #1. We told him to try to hold it until we got home, less than five minutes. Well, that didn't go so well as about a minute later he told us he peed his pants so he got to sit in a puddle for the next four minutes and daddy got to clean up the mess.

Well, tonight we didn't want to risk telling him to hold his #2 for the next twenty miles so we decided to stop in Granger to let him take care of business. It seemed like a good time to get Lauren on the potty too, so we all piled out of the van and into the womens restroom at Casey's along highway 141.

Colette put the potty seat on the toilet, I plopped Brayton up there to do his deed. He sat there for about 10 seconds and then immediately became distracted from the task at hand by the toilet paper dispenser. There was nothing unusual about it, matter of fact it was exactly like the ones in our house except it had a stainless steel flap, what I call "the toilet paper protecter."

I thought to myself "why would they need a toilet paper protector in a womens bathroom?" I thought only mens restrooms had these because some men cannot control the urge to pee on the toilet paper and ruin it for any subsequent men that come along. There must be something infinitely satisfying about peeing on toilet paper that I am not aware of...but I digress...

So, Brayton is flipping up the stainless steel toilet paper protector. I decided I needed to step in to help him concentrate on the reason we stopped and all piled into this womens restroom in the first place.

I squatted down in front of him, took both his hands in mine and told him he needed to work on going #2. I asked him to concentrate...After a few strong pushes and grunts he looked at me and said:

Brayton: Do I get to pick treat for going poopie?
(we had to walk through the candy isle to get to the restroom)

Dad: Yes, but you've got to go poopie first, before you get any treats.

Brayton: Daddy, what do you got in your eyes?
(As I'm squatting and he is leaning forward on his potty seat, my face is about six inches from his)

Dad: Daddy has his contacts in.
(thinking he could see the outline of my contacts in my eyes, not realizing he could see a reflection)

Brayton (now trying to poke my eye): Daddy, you got a picture of Brayton in your eyes, do you got a picture of Lauren in there?

Once again, I learned another important lesson from my son. Never underestimate the ability of a 3 year old to observe even the most minor details.

Children see and hear everything, if only adults were the same.

Santa has arrived...

Tonight after we got the kids to bed, we started putting out the toys that Santa brought.

Brayton got a big frog tent, some books and puzzels, and a big marble and blocks set.

Lauren got a new baby, stroller, carriage, and bassinet. She also got an electronic hooked on phonics set that teaches all the letters of the alphabet. We used to have one, actually it was Glenda Clark's that she lent to us for a period of time. It was one of the reasons Brayton learned his ABC's at such a young age. About the time Lauren was starting to get interested in it, we had to return it to Glenda, so miraculously Santa brought one for her.

We also set out the chalk board that was Daddy's idea, but the result of Mommy and Grandpa Anderson's handiwork. The chalk board is one that Colette had played with as a child. I thought it would be a good idea to frame it up and pass it on.

Grandpa Allan cut all the frame out in his shop. I thought of painting it white or staining it, but Colette had a better idea of painting it with lots of colors and designs. Finally, I repainted the actual chalk board and assembled all the pieces together with some finish nails and lots of gorilla glue. That chalk board frame won't be coming apart for a very long time. Which is good because I intend for it to be handed down someday, probably to Lauren since it was Mommy's. I still need to figure out about what year Colleen had it made so we can mark the back of it. Maybe it will be around 100 years from now, that would be pretty neat.

Pictures of the chalk board and a quick video of all the toys Santa left for the kids.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention Santa brought a new iPod for Mommy. He wanted to bring a cricet machine for Mommy's scrapbooking but it was a bit out of Santa's budget. Santa know's how much Mommy likes to scrapbook and listen to music. Now she can do so anytime she wants.

Thanks to Grandpa Anderson for letting me borrow his clamps for the chalkboard.

See you all in the next few days...

A call from Santa...

As you know from reading previous posts, we took the kids to Santa's workshop at Jolly Holiday Lights. There Brayton and Lauren got to meet Santa up close for the first time. Last year Brayton wouldn't go anywhere close to Santa.


On Monday, when I took the kids to the mall to play we also stopped by the Santa exhibit. While we were standing there, a kid got up from Santa's lap and before the next one came Santa turned and looked directly at Brayton and waved and smiled. I played this up quite a bit for Brayton. I told Brayton that Santa must have remembered him from his workshop when we vistied him. Brayton soaked it up like a drunk soaking up Boones Farm...


Tonight we got home from Matt and Audra's house after going to Christmas Eve Mass at Holy Trinity with Matt, Audra, and Tim & Kathy Meyer and eating some soup and having a little play time.


When we got home, there was a message on the answering machine from Santa (Actually Grandpa Anderson). We played it one time for Brayton, after a seeming to be in a state of shock and disbelief he proceeded to push a chair over to the counter and play the message over and over and over...About six times. To get him away from the answering machine, Colette and I had to coax him into helping to clean the ashes out of the fireplace so that Santa could come down the chimney without getting all dirty.


After we cleaned out the chimney, we put out two cookies and a glass of milk. Brayton asked if I thought Santa would like the cookies he baked. I assured him Santa would be very hungry and that he would love the cookies.


Santa actually had too much to eat at Matt and Audra's so the cookies, while very tasty, made Santa feel more bloated than he already was.

Kitchen Delivery

Today, the post man delivered Brayton and Lauren's kitchen.


Grandma and Grandpa Anderson bought the kitchen for the kids but it would have been prohibitive to put it together and bring it back to Des Moines in the van, so Grandma had it delivered (sort of anyway). Colette and I put it together Sunday evening and stored it in the basement.


Colette took the kids to our room this morning and sequestered them long enough for me to get the kitchen out of the basement. When I got it up, I rang the doorbell a few times, Colette then brought the kids out and voila, a new kitchen.


Brayton, in his excitement coming down the stairs slipped and fell. I caught it all on video. He wasn't hurt but did throw a bit of a fit.


They proceeded to play for the next hour without leaving the kitchen. They actually never fought over any part of it, there were plenty of accessories to go around. Lauren made about 100 phone calls to Grandma on the phone that came with it.

Big Brother comes to the rescue of his sister.

Over the past few months, I've deliberately been telling Brayton that he needs to be a good big brother and help his sister whenever she needs help. I really didn't think these frank conversations had any effect on him, but once again I've been proven wrong. He takes everything in that I say to him. That became evident today.

Today I took the kids to the mall to play at the park there. Colette was trying to make some carmel corn and it's pretty hard to work in the kitchen with two children at your feet all the time. So I packed up the kids and we went to the mall. Of course, since it's two days until Christmas the mall was packed.

There were kids and parents everywhere. Many of the kids however are completely unsupervised, this is a problem that drives me nuts. Parents just drop their kids off at the park and then go off shopping or whatever, it's like a mall babysitting service. It's really shocking.

Well, B and Lauren were playing on the train in the park. Lauren was sitting by the slide and some little boy, about B's size and age started pushing Lauren. Presumably because he thought she was in his way, if he was wanting to go down the slide, she wasn't in his way. So, really there was no reason for this boy to be pushing on Lauren.

Brayton, seeing this happen rushed over to his sisters rescue. I was about to jump in but when I saw B taking charge, I kind of stood back to see what would happen.

Brayton said two times to the little boy, "Stop pushing my sister." This didn't deter the little pusher. When he pushed Lauren a third time, Brayton pushed his arm through placing his palm against the wall of the train and separating the little boy from Lauren. Then the little pusher proceeded to try to push Brayton. Brayton turned his body so his back was facing the little pusher and Brayton stuck his butt out and with a big hip thrust effectively shoved the little boy off the back of the train. He fell about a foot and was not harmed at all. He proceeded to stand up and ran off.

At that point, I went to Brayton and asked him if he was allright. He proceeded to tell me "That boy was pushing Lauren!!" I told him I saw it all and that I was proud of him for sticking up for his sister.

When we got home to eat lunch, Colette asked B if he had fun at the mall. He said "yes". Then Colette asked him what had happened (I had not told Colette the entire story at this point) and Brayton proceeded to tell Colette the whole thing. "There was a boy who was pushing Lauren."

I was very happy to see big brother stick up for his sister, and happy to know our conversations do get absorbed into his little head.

Hello Kitty, Bye-Bye Suckie!!

We are entering a who new era with Lauren this month. As you might have already read in some of the previous blogs that Lauren started potty training 6 days ago. She is doing fantastic, and we are all very proud of her!

Doug and I decided this week that since we were trying new things ~like Hello Kitty undies, that we might as well say Bye Bye suckie! Suckie is what Lauren has called her pacifier. In the last month or so she has used it only in bed for naps and bedtime. Last night was the night we said good bye. Not technically, I must admit, I did ambush her with the plan. We did our bedtime routine as usual, then up to her room for her favorite book (Opposites by Sandra Boynton, it's her favorite because there are pictures of balloons, she LOVES balloons!) Then she got a drink of water, lights out and then prayers and snuggles. She was really doing great, then all of the sudden,"SUCKIE, SUCKIE!!" I continue to ignore it and snuggle, then she said,"Poop!" (this still sometimes means pee) Well, being in the early phase of potty training, I always take them when they say that. I want them to always know and trust that Mommy will take care of their needs. So, I proceed to take her to the potty and she squirts out just enough to make the venture seem somewhat necessary. We go back to our snuggles, again says,"SUCKIE, SUCKIE", no response, then,"Poop". Ok, I see the stall tactics here little lady, nite nite Lauren. :) She did cry for about 10 minutes or so, then had a peaceful night! Yeah!!! You are such a big girl!!!!!!! I love you Lauren Claire~Mommy

Sledding and Santa...

Today while I was at class, it was a beautiful 50 degree day. Some of the snow was melting, but that didn't matter. Colette and the kids took advantage of the great weather and were outside playing in the snow. The video below is a shot Colette took of Brayton pulling Lauren in the sled.

After I got done with class, Colette and the kids picked me up and we went to play at a park. It was a little cold on the kids hands because the playground equipment was cold, but they still had fun going on the slides and climbing on the equipment. Of course we very close all the time, holding on to coat tails to make sure slippery wet shoes didn't provoke a fall.

We went to supper at Hy Vee, and then proceeded to Jolly Holiday lights. We knew Santa would be there, I used to volunteer to be Santa a few years ago, and Santa is free at Jolly Holiday lights. Whereas if you go to the mall, you have to stand in line for a very long time and pay $10.

We used the opportunity to reinforce being "nice" rather than "naughty" to Brayton over the past few days. We knew that if he knew he was going to see Santa, we could leverage that into good behavior, and for the most part it worked well.

There was a long line to see Santa today, but the kids waited in line very well. They never fussed. Brayton we could tell had to really go potty, but there isn't a bathroom there. When the time came to talk to Santa, Brayton was very excited. Lauren cried and didn't want anything to do with him. Neither would sit on his lap, I don't think that was a surprise. Maybe next year.

Potty School Begins...

Well, here it goes....I haven't written in the blog yet. Not because I haven't wanted to, nor that I don't have any good stories (being blessed to be able to be home with my babies has aforded me so many wonderful stories that I could fill a book!) The main reason is that I usually do scrapbooks for my children, I am the one who is always behind the camera. and I am not as good at the story telling as Daddy is.

But.....I think that I have a few wonderful stories/pictures/videos that definitely need to be archived. As you may know, Lauren is now 19 months. She has been showing interest in the potty and always wants to do what her brother is doing. I started the "official" potty school yesterday. We went to Target and after looking at all of the pretty little panties for Lauren, she chose Hello Kitty ones. She looked at Dora, Tinkerbell, Princess ones, and low and behold said,"Kitty, moew!", and pointed to the Hello Kitty panties. She was so excited when we got them home.

We got them out of the package so that she could check them out. Well, being the accesorizing guru that she is...(she loves shoes, necklaces, bracelets, bows, bowls, buckets...whatever she can put on her head!).....they did not go where everyone else puts undies.....she proceeded to put them on her head. Granted they were quite adorable, even on her head~,kind of like a do-rag really. I can already tell she is one of those girls that looks good in anything! Not to mention...a real trend starter. After the family had witnessed this stunning new look, we all had to try it. So now not only do you have a 19 month old who has Hello Kitty undies on her head, but a 3 year old boy, a young & beautiful girl....... whose age will remain undefined, (let's just call her....Mommy:), and then we also have a 34 year old male sporting Hello Kitty trousers as well. Nothing says fashion like a 6 foot 4 inch, 250 pound male adorned in his daughter brand new skivees!

Next, the training. I put Lauren on the potty about every 30-60 minutes in the morning.....nothing happens. We'll I guess not really "nothing". A couple of times Lauren was perched up on the thrown, then her brother comes barreling in with urgency in his voice,"I need to got potty....now!" Well, considering Lauren had been perched there for a few minutes, I figured we'll let Brayton go and then try again. Well, as soon as I got her off of the potty and she stood on the floor.....she peed! I honestly wonder is she is just trying to be like her brother and doesn't understand that girls don't pee standing up!

The day continues and after her nap I get her up and perched on the potty once more....and.....aaaaaahhhhhhhaaaaaaaaa! Here comes "big poopy"! She looks at me with her big browns sparking (as she new her hard work would pay off in the best thing possible for a little tyke....Jelly Beans!) She enjoyed her treat, we went about our playing..... and 10 minutes later, she's back in on the potty, grabs her toilet paper, wipes, and then says,"Jay bee!" Of course wanting a reward. Did I tell you yet that she didn't do anything?? The joys of Potty School!

But truly, you are doing a great job on the potty honey! You've peed and pood both days of Potty School, and we are so proud of you!

As you finished a nice piece of work in the toilet this after noon Brayton came over, gave you a hug and told you,"I am so proud of you Lauren, you're a big girl!!", with all of the excitement a 3 year old boy can muster (and that's alot!), you looked up at him adoringly with a smile a mile wide! Be still my heart! These are the most precious days!

Old sunglasses and party favors...

Tonight I decided it was time to use some old party favors as a playtime toy. Colette bought these things (not even sure what to call them) for Brayton's birthday party. We never used them, so I decided tonight was as good a night as ever.


We sat down in the living room, and Brayton was wearing a pair of my old sunglasses that Lauren had broken some time ago. The frame cracked and the lenses had popped out long ago. Brayton wears them because both Mommy and Daddy wear glasses.


We proceeded to have a great time with the party favors and Brayton's glasses made this an extra fun night.

Braytons Stories...

Tonight when I was putting Brayton to bed, we were sitting in the recliner with the lights off in his room just rocking getting in a little snuggle before I put him down. We normally say our prayers and he tells me a little story about his day.

Since the kids went to Mom & Dad's this weekend, I got a 3 year olds rundown of the entire weekend. It became obvious to me that you can't sneak anything by him anymore, he takes it all in and then you can guarantee that he is going to tell someone about it.

Tonght as we were sitting there, Brayton proceeded to tell me all about his weekend. It went something like this.

Dad: "Brayton tell me about your weekend at Grandma Cindy's."

Brayton: "I helped Grandma Cindy bake cookies." "I told Grandma Cindy, NO, NO, NO no eggs Grandma."

Dad: "Did Grandma Cindy put eggs in the cookies?"

Brayton: "Ya, she did." "She gave me chocolate cookies and said there was no eggs in them."

Dad: "Did you like those chocolate cookies?"

Brayton: "Ya, but Grandma Cindy said I could not eat them all we had to save them for Christmas."

Brayton: "I have five Grandmas"

Dad: "No, you have four Grandmas"

Brayton: "I have Grandma Coke, Grandma Cindy, Grandma Bernie, and Grandma Dorris."

Dad: "You are a pretty lucky boy to have four Grandmas."

Brayton: "I got to sleep in Grandma's bed. Lauren had to sleep in the baby bed. I am going to eat Grandma's chocolate cookies at Christmas."

Dad: "Did you get to see Uncle Nick and Uncle Dustin?"

Brayton: "Yes, we watched 'Wiggly, Wiggly, Gremlins' at Uncle Nicks house. We could not find that movie. Can I watch a movie now?"

Dad: "No, It's time for bed son."

Then I put him in bed and he proceeded to tell me good night four times. As I was walking out the door he was still yelling "Good Night Daddy."

I learned once again, that there is nothing he can observe that he cannot go and tell someone else. Not that I'd do anything I wouldn't want him to repeat, but I thought it was funny the way he told me how Grandma put the eggs in the cookies.

2nd Thoughts about going potty...

Lauren has been getting more and more interested in going potty.


She see's Brayton going potty every day. She is kind of his fan club, Brayton goes to the potty and Lauren follows to cheer him on.


She tells us when she goes "poop" in her diaper. Usually after disappearing for a few minutes behind the chair. She's somewhat secretive about it.


The other night, she said she needed to go "poop". So, Colette took her to the bathroom and asked if she said she wanted to go sit on the potty, she said "yes".


The second Colette got her up there, she changed her mind. Evidently it was too real.


Maybe it was the fact that Dad ran and got the camera as soon as she got up there.


December 1st is the date of the video.

Christmas Tree 2008

Tonight we put up the Christmas tree. This was the first year the kids got involved. We only broke one ornament and it wasn't the kids who broke it. It was me.

After the kids got up from their naps, I hauled the Christmas tree up from the basement along with the other boxes of lights, ornaments, nativity scene, and other Christmas stuff.

Brayton helped me set up the tree. Colette got all the ornaments out and after stringing up the lights Brayton and Lauren both did their best to help us hang those ornaments.

We took a short break to eat some popcorn, or as Lauren says it "Poppy". It was a really fun night and everyone chipped in to help.

Now we'll just have to get out the vacuum cleaner to "stand guard" to keep a little girl from grabbing the "balls" off the tree.

Pheasant Hunting

On Friday, Grandpa Gordon and I went pheasant hunting. We went out about 10am and came back to town at about noon with four pheasants. It was a reasonably successful morning. Colette brought Brayton and Lauren out to see the pheasants. Brayton was very interested in the birds, they were "sleeping"...Permanently.

After a brief lunch, Dad and I went back out and got one more bird to take our daily tally to five.

As evidenced by the photo, Lauren was not the least bit interested in them.

Update on the Underwear post

The reason the last post was so funny was that Brayton put his underwear on backwards. I DID NOT give him a snuggie like some may have thought...

Underwear

Tonight, before bed it was bath time. We were playing in the living room, so Colette had the kids strip down to their skivvies. Brayton in the process of pulling off his pants also pulled off his underwear. He then proceeded to put his undies back on and ran upstairs with Colette to run water in the tub. I was scrambling to grab the camera to get the shot you see above.

If you don't get it, I'll post later to reveal why this is so funny.

The worst weekend...

Last Friday, Colette had taken the kids out to run an errand when I got home from work. I had class that night so I was in a hurry to get going yet I wanted us all to eat supper together so I threw on the stove a couple cans of Campbells Select Chicken Tortilla soup. It's chicken soup without eggs, so we can eat it and not worry about making Brayton sick. Yeah right.

Lauren didn't eat a drop. When I put the bowl in front of her, she immediately started splashing her spoon in the soup and making a huge mess. Colette took her soup away and she got to eat a sandwich and some fruit. I ate a whole bowl as did Colette. Brayton dug the crackers out of his soup and only got some soup as a side to the crackers. Good thing Lauren didn't touch the soup.

That night, I had to leave class 3 times to go to the bathroom. I got all sorts of stomach cramps. By the time I got home, I found a note from Colette that she wasn't feeling well and had gone to bed. I proceeded to sit on the toilet again, then by the time I was done I ended up puking in the sink three different times. I decided hopefully the worst was over, I was wrong.

I went to bed that night, only to be up about every hour either puking or sitting on the toilet with the worst case of diahhrea I've ever had. Colette had similar problems, we got no sleep.

The next day did not bring any change. We spent the entire day incapacitated. I tried to go to class at noon, but got kicked out by my instructor because I was obviouslly "green."

That afternoon, Colette called Matt and Audra to come take the kids for the afternoon because we couldn't watch them we were so sick.

While the kids were with Matt & Audra, Brayton threw up on Matt. Matt said that Brayton was acting sheepish and asking for Colette, so he knew he didn't feel well. Shortly later, Brayton proceeded to puke on Matt. They were at Tim & Kathy's, so they washed Brayton's clothes and said he acted normal thereafter.

That evening we put Brayton to bed, and about two hours into the evening, he threw up in bed. Colette and I ran in there because he was screaming and crying and we knew something wasn't right. I got in there and asked "what's wrong," and Brayton's exact words were "I coughed in my bed." I proceeded to wash him up and change his pjamas while Colette changed his sheets.

The next night, Brayton "coughed" again in his bed. He was not his normal active self and we ate alot of fruit and watched alot of movies that day. We could tell he was miserable. His stools were very loose but he did such a great job going to the potty, he never once had an accident.

The next day he seemed to be feeling a little better, however, Tuesday evening, he went to the potty and had his first accident. He was devastated. Feces was everywhere on the floor, down his legs, it was a soupy mess.

That evening, Colette put him in a pull up. Brayton did not want to wear a pull up anymore, but Colette put his undies on over the top of the pull up and that was good for Brayton. Good thing she did, he had another accident about midnight. The pull up contained the mess, and we cleaned him up and he slept fine.

Today it's Wednesday, we're mostly recovered but poor Brayton still has very loose stools.

Lauren never showed any sign of being sick, thank God.

What's Grandpa Gordon Doing...?

Tonight Brayton and I were looking at some old pictures in a scrapbook that Colette made a few years ago. The scrapbook contained pictures of Colette and I when we were kids Brayton's age.

In one photo that Brayton and I looked at, Grandpa Gordon was sitting in a recliner with me on one knee and Ryan on the other. It was probably circa 1976 or 1977, so I would have been about 3 and Ryan about 1 and a half.

Brayton saw this photo, and said:
"What is Grandpa Gordon doing with Brayton and Maria."

I almost fell over. I explained to Brayton that the photo was when Daddy and Uncle Ryan were young children like he and Lauren are. He seemed to understand because he then added, "Daddy, did you eat all your food and grow up tall?"

Shortly thereafter, we came upon a photo of Colette standing next to a large doll. Colette must have been about 3 or 4 years old. Brayton asked:
"Daddy, what is Lauren doing?"

I explained to him that the picture was actually of Mommy when she was a little girl. He seemed to shrug this off and didn't have any more questions.

I will try to get these pictures scanned and uploaded so they become part of the official record of this blog.

After looking at a bunch of pictures in the scrapbook, Brayton and I proceeded to work on the puzzel of the United States. Colette told me that he could easily recognize and name about half the states already and put them in their proper places.

I didn't doubt her story, but was still shocked as Brayton proceeded with no help from me to pick out Alaska, California, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, Utah, Texas, Hawaii, Idaho (he said Idaho has potatoes), Lousiana, Iowa (where Brayton lives), Nebraska (where Uncle Ryan lives), and Florida.

It seems that he is having an easier time learning the larger states in the western half of the country. He knew exactly where all of them went on the puzzle.

I bet there are not too many 3 year olds who know half their states.

Sometimes I feel like the luckiest man alive...

My little shoe bandit...

It is becoming obvious Lauren Claire loves shoes. Even shoes that are not hers.

Whenever we go to a store, we avoid walking by the shoe isle because she will immediately recognize the shoes and want to buy a pair. If we go by the shoe isle without buying her a pair, we risk a colossal temper tantrum because she did not get a new pair of shoes. She is only 18 months old and already has 5 pairs. She really only wears one pair on a regular basis though, they are pink Princess shoes.

Lauren has a preference for pink shoes, and she sure is her fathers little Princess. It is very difficult to say no to a new pair of shoes for my little princess.

When we take Lauren to the indoor park at Jordan Creek Mall she goes around the park and picks up other kids shoes and tries them on. We have to watch her closely so she does not do this.

Tonight when I came home from work, she was walking around the kitchen with one of Brayton's shoes on. Several times each day, she will walk over to where ever there are shoes sitting around and put her feet into them.

Tonight, after changing out of my work clothes, I came downstairs to Lauren putting her feet into my black work shoes. I couldn't resist the photo opportunity, so I helped her get both feet into my shoes and snapped this photo of my very smiley little princess.

The Making of a Birthday Cake...

Saturday, November 8th was Brayton's 3rd birthday.

All our families showed up for the party. Grandma & Grandpa Anderson, Grandma & Grandpa Loots, Grandma and Grandpa Hansen, Uncle Ryan and Maria, Aunt Audra and Uncle Matt, Uncle Dustin and Aunt Kristin and Ella. We had a great time. Colette prepared a good meal of Made Rites, cheesy corn, fruit salad and birthday cake. Afterward, Brayton got to open all his gifts and had a great time playing and celebrating his 3rd birthday.

The birthday cake, was artfully created by Colette. She went to the Urbandale Library where they have specialized cake pans you can check out. Brayton selected a dinosaur cake, after carefully considering over 100 different pans. Colette said that it came down to the dinosaur and Elmo, but in the end the dinosaur won out.

After baking the cake, Colette spent about 3 hours diligently decorating Brayton's birthday cake and was up until well after 11pm that evening putting the finishing touches on it. I think she did an outstanding job, and it tasted pretty good too.

Family Photo - November 7, 2008

Today we went to Portrait Innovations to get the kids pictures taken and to get our family photo taken for Christmas.

The kids took some of their best pictures ever. I was especially adept at bribing them to smile for the camera. I had a pack of Smarties and a pack of Skittles.

I found out that it does not work to bribe a child with candy first then ask them to smile.

The only way to do it is to tell them they have to smile first, and then they get the candy.

I should have known this.

The pink balloon...Update

Lauren's pink balloon lasted one more day past my post.

On thursday, Colette took the kids to Costco to get some milk and food for Brayton's birthday party this weekend.

Lauren was sitting in her car seat, holding on to her pink balloon. When Colette opened up both of the kids doors in the van, a quick breeze blew the balloon out of Lauren's hand and up, up, up and away.

Colette said she started crying immediately, saying "balloon" "balloon" "balloon"...

This weekend for Brayton's birthday, we are going to go get Lauren a new balloon. We're going to get a pink one for Lauren, a blue one for Brayton, and a yellow one for Maria.

The pink balloon...

On Sunday, we did our normal trip to Hy Vee after Mass to eat brunch. Lauren knows very well that this is the place that we get the balloons, and every time we go there she asks for one.

This Sunday, we got Lauren a pink balloon. To the best of my knowledge, we've never gotten her a pink one before. They have always been black, blue, green, or whatever. Recently though, it's become obvious to us that Lauren's favorite color is pink. She likes her pink blanket, her pink shirts, her pink pants, and she won't wear her brown shoes, she will only wear her pink shoes.

So, this time we got her a pink balloon. Lauren has not put down that balloon for one waking minute the past 4 days (it's Wednesday today), the only exception is when her brother is playing with her or she is dancing to the Baby Einstein video.

I got her out of bed Tuesday morning, and she didn't ask for anything to eat, she asked for her pink balloon. I thought of popping it and throwing it away one night. Colette advised that wouldn't be wise since she asks for it first thing every morning and after naps. She is even holding on to that pink balloon all through meals, as the photo will attest.

These twirls are making me dizzy...

Tonight after dinner, I promised Brayton that if he picked up all his toys he could watch a movie. Since he hadn't had a movie for almost two days, that turned out to be pretty good incentive. Colette had made soup for supper and she had given the kids some pots and rubber spatula's and they made alphabet soup with the plastic magnetic letters they usually put on the dishwasher. Needless to say, the letters were everywhere. Brayton picked them all up and the rest of his toys that were out just so that he could watch a movie.


After the toys were all picked up, we watched Baby Einstein. Baby Da Vinci to be exact. There was some good fast paced music on the movie, and Lauren was dancing the whole time. Colette has been teaching her to do twirls, and tonight Lauren was doing lots of twirls.


Colette laid out Lauren's pink blanket on the living room floor and Lauren started twirling, and twirling, and twirling. She would twirl until she became dizzy and fell down. She did this twirling dance for about ten minutes. I actually took about 4 video's of this twirling, it was like trying to catch lightening in a bottle. I think this one was the best.


Enjoy.

Boo...

A little clip of Lauren in the tub...She had a ball playing in the tub.

Playing in our underwear...

No matter how crabby the kids can get in the evening, it seems the cure all for whiney children is to strip them down and to let them run around and play in their underwear. Once stripped down, Brayton and Lauren will wrestle around on the floor. Or Mommy and Dad will wrestle with them and they giggle and giggle.


Tonight Colette was doing the "airplane" with Brayton. Lauren was just pushing around the blue play tub. Back and forth into the kitchen and out again.


After a bit we put Lauren into the tub. She would duck down, then stand up and say "boo". Then duck down again as if she were hiding from us, then stand up and say "boo" again.

One final Halloween story...

Last night after we finished "trick or treating" I stuck around a little while longer while the kids ate some of their treats. About 7:15 I took off to catch the last half of class, right about the same time the sugar was putting the devil into my two children.

I can imagine them now, little Tasmanian devils spinning around the house while Colette was trying to get pajamas on. Running around like a crazed drug addicts looking for their next fix, except my children were probably looking for any treats that mommy and daddy had inadvertantly left out.

A few minutes after I left, Lauren was running around and tripped and fell, hitting her head on the post at the bottom of the steps. She didn't just hit it on the post, but the corner of the post. The worst place possible. Well, as you can see by the picture she cut her little forehead open. Colette took her into the living room and was trying to clean up the wound and put some steri strips on her head. Lauren was not exactly cooperating though. I imagine any 18 month old would react the same way.

While Colette was trying bandage up Lauren's head, Brayton was running around the house too and fell down and hit his mouth causing a bloody lip. So poor Colette had two kids bleeding, trying to bandage one and the other trying his hardest to get her attention, screaming "MOMMY I'M BBLLEEDINGGGG TOOOOOO"

Finally after everyting settled down, she got the kids into bed and it took over two hours for them to come down from their sugar highs and fall asleep. What a great Halloween!!!

Halloween Treats

Yesterday was beggers night here in West Des Moines. Colette did a great job getting costumes ready for the kids. They were very excited to go "trick or treating" to the neighbors houses. It was a beautiful night, we couldn't have asked for a better night to go out.

The evening started at supper time. I had class at 6pm but decided I would rather go trick or treating with the kids than go to class. I emailed my professor and told her I was taking the kids "trick or treating" and she told me she was glad to see my priorities were in the right place.

We sat down to eat supper, and Brayton, knowing he was going to get to eat lots of candy that night pretty much refused to eat any supper. I threatened him multiple times with making him stay home if he didn't eat his supper. He didn't seem to really get it until Colette started putting Lauren into her costume. I think at that point he realized I wasn't joking and would have made him stay home. I ended up having to spoon feed him myself, but he did stop refusing to eat and did finish his dinner so he got to go "trick or treating."

This year, Lauren was an angel. She was so pretty in her little white dress with her angel wings and white bow in her hair. She had a little pixy wand, but that ended up getting tossed on the ground and going into dad's back pocket. Brayton was a lion, and we even worked on his "ROAR" but he didn't want to do it when we were ringing peoples doorbells. Colette was a nurse, and gave me a short spell of deja vu when I walked into the house and she was dressed in her old work clothes. I was taken back to a time when she was still working for Dr. Lemon.

We tried to get some pictures together as a family, but the kids weren't having it. They were ready to go and get their treats. It was a wonderful night, and everyone had a great time.

Here's a little video of Brayton ringing the neighbors doorbell and getting some candy. Notice Brayton's tail for his lion suit. That cracked me up, watching that tail wag as he walked up and down the sidewalk.

Lauren was really cute when she was getting her candy too. She was all excited to pick her treats out of the neighbors bowls. Once she figured out what she was doing, she would grab the treat, put it in her bag, and then wouldn't put the bag down when we got home. I could just see it in her face, she thought she was going to get to eat all her treats right there.

It's Fall...

Fall is finally here and Brayton, Lauren, and Colette took some time the other day to play in the leaves that fell in the front yard from the Ash tree. Brayton really likes to play in the leaves, he throws them up in the air and lets them fall down onto his head. His sister on the other hand generally avoids the leaves. Probably because if she joins in the fray, Brayton starts throwing them directly at her, to the dismay of their parents. It's been a really warm fall, so the kids have gotten to do lots of playing outside. I hope we have a mild winter, last winter was so long and cold. It kept us all cooped up too long.

The first frost of the year happened the other day, so now all the flowers are dead and it's time to take down the garden fencing. Brayton has said he will help me with that tomorrow. He really is starting to like to help Dad "work". The weather forecast is supposed to be sunny and 70 degrees. It should be a great day.

A look back, Lauren & Mommy

Here is a good clip of Colette and Lauren playing when Lauren was about 9 months old. I had a difficult time finding any clips of Lauren and her belly laugh. She had it too, but we had to work a good deal harder to get her to use it. She was so dainty and happy all the time, what a good baby she was, except for the fact she didn't sleep through the night until she was about 8 months old. Now she's such a big girl walking and talking all the time, hard to believe this clip was taken only 6 months ago.

A look back, Brayton...and his belly laugh...

Brayton had the best belly laugh when he was a baby. This weekend the kids are in Mallard at Grandma & Pappa's. Colette and I were missing them a little bit so we decided to watch some of the older clips we've taken of the kids over the years. Here's Brayton and his belly laugh, taken in June 2006.

Grandma & Grandpa Visit and Making a Pizza...

Tonight I came home from work and Grandma Cindy and Grandpa Gordon were here. They were visiting tonight before flying out to Washington DC tomorrow morning for Aunt Audra's ceremony naming her school a blue ribbon school. The kids and G & G got the opportunity to do some finger painting and artwork at the kitchen table. I think they all had a good time.

Earlier today, Colette got the kids to help make a pizza for supper. They put the flour down on the table, then put the dough on the table and rolled it out. Then they put the ham and cheese on the pizza and got it ready to cook.

It really might not seem like anything special, but what is special is how good a job Colette does getting both kids involved. I think my children are so lucky to have a mother who doesn't just sit them in front of the TV. She gets them to buy into the work or activity at hand and gets them to participate. I think it's a really special gift Colette gives to our children every day and I am thankful that she does it.

The video is really funny because the kids had fun sprinkling the flour on the table, and if you watch closely you can see the flour on Brayton's face. He must have had an itch he needed to scratch.

Brayton's Broken Wrist & ER Visits

Well, If you haven't hear the news, we've had quite a few visits to the Dr. lately. Starting last week, Brayton fell off the playground equiptment at the local park. He was quite whiney for a bit and after Colette consulted with another lady in their playgroup she decided to take B to the Dr. Good thing she did, he had a compression fracture of his distal radius (I don't really know what that means). The Dr. didn't want to put a cast on a 2 year old, so they gave him a splint to put on his wrist. Brayton thought this was pretty cool because the neighbor girl who is 10 has one too. Check out the Xrays and picture of his little splint. Click on the top Xray to see a larger version and the fracture.

Then friday night we headed up to Mallard for the weekend. By the time we got to Humbolt Brayton was breathing pretty heavily. We feared his allergies wouldn't take too well to the harvest season and all the corn dust. We had some prescription albuterol syrup just for this. We gave him a dose in Humboldt before we ate supper there. By the time we ate supper and drove to Pocahontas, his breathing had continued to deteriorate. We took him to the emergency room there and they gave him a nebulizer treatment. It helped and got us through the night.

The next day Colette went to baby Ella's shower and I took Brayton and Lauren out to the farm. Grandpa Wayne was out there and we picked a bunch of raspberries and a couple of watermellons. He made it through Saturday okay with his breathing, but we were dosing him every 4 hours with his medicine.

Sunday morning we woke up and B could barely breathe. I took him back to Pocahontas for another nebulizer treatment. Withing four hours, we were heading back to the ER for a second treatment. Colette and I decided that was enough. We packed everything up and left Mallard. By the time we were back to Des Moines, he was having a difficult time breathing again. Colette gave him another dose of the medicine and actually took him to the ER at Methodist. When she got there she found out it was a 4 hour wait and after sitting for a little bit his breathing started to get better. We got a nebulizer machine from Hy Vee and gave him another treatment at home. We tried to keep him calmed down and it seemed to help. That night right before bed we gave him his final nebulizer treatment and he slept through the evening well.

Today we took him to the allergist and she prescribed some pulmacourt which is a steroid and anti-inflamitory medicine. She said it should work well for him as it's pretty strong stuff. At this point I am just happy to have a little boy who doesn't have to struggle to breathe. That was very scary for me and I don't want to ever go through that again.

Lauren's Pretty New Dress...

Lauren Claire is turning into quite the little lady. Back in August, we put a nice cute polka dot dress on her that we got as a gift and she just loved it. She would stand up stick her chest out and prance around. She really loved that dress.


Just earlier this week, Colette bought her the nice white frilly dress she has on in the video. Unfortunately I'm usually tardy with getting out the camera, but again when we put her in this new dress she stuck her little chest out and was so proud of how pretty her new dress was. Her little face just lights up.


We had some old Mardi Gras beads sitting around the house, Lauren loves to put these beads around her neck. She'll walk around all day with the beads on. She is starting to like her chap stick too. If we could get her to sit still, I'd tell Colette to paint her little fingernails. I bet she'd love that.

Starting to really talk, talk, talk...

Lauren has really been talking alot lately. She has started putting sentences together rather than just the one word type of communication you get when they start to talk.


Yesterday, when the kids took their naps, Colette took the van to get it washed and the inside vacuumed out. While she was gone, Lauren woke up from her nap and I went and got her. We sat in my chair and watched a little football while eating a few goldfish crackers.


At one point, Lauren looked up at me and said "Where's Mommy?" I said "Mommy will be home soon." She looked at me and said, "I want Mommy." She actually said this three different times, "Where's Mommy?" and then after my explanation, she'd say "I want Mommy."


The other phrase she's been saying alot lately is "Hi Baby!" I always say that to her when I come home from work or get her up from a nap. She only recently has started saying it, to me, to other children. I'm not certain that she understands that she is the baby, but it's very cute when she does say it.

Sommersalts with Daddy

So we were just sitting around doing puzzels tonight, when Colette started to teach Lauren how to do sommersalts. She had taught Brayton some time ago, matter of fact he can do them all on his own without my help. Anyway, Lauren just loves doing them. We land her on the pillow, she pops up and comes back to do another. I bet we did 10 sommersalts between Colette and I before we got the bright idea to record it.


Well, as soon as we started recording it, Brayton (he is very aware we put these movies on the computer) immediately wanted to do it to get his 15 seconds of fame. What really makes this little movie so speacial is the look on Laurens face at the beginning of the film. She was having so much fun!

A little game of ???

Now that the kids are getting so that they are both in the toddler stage they have started playing little games together. Somtimes it's blocks, sometimes it's baby dolls, sometimes they put together puzzels. Normally these exchanges are dominated by Brayton sheerly because of his size and assertiveness. Lauren normally just plays along and puts up with her brother dominating the entire exchange.


Recently though, the kids have been playing this game of "peekaboo" around the back of the TV set. We aren't exactly sure how this started, but they do it several times a day. They each go to separate sides of the TV and peek around the back side. They usually say "Uh Oh!" back and forth, but often times the conversation behind the TV deteriorates from normal human English to some type of toddler gibberish that evidently only they understand. They will have this exchange for 10 or 15 seconds, then switch sides and do it all over again. They keep this up until each child has been to both sides of the TV several times.


Brayton has really started climbing up on the household items recently (as you'll see in the video). He has started showing feats of strength that boggle our minds. He leans on the end tables and does "dips" by lifting himself off the ground multiple times in a row. He will also do modified pull ups on the playground equipment. We have recently started considering putting him in gymnastics classes because of this and also because he has so much energy we think the gymnastics may help him expend some of that energy. Not sure of the price tag for the classes yet, but we're checking into it.

More Walking...

Here's a little more video of Lauren walking. She's really taking off more and more each day. In this video it was almost supper time, and she was wanting to get up into her chair to eat. At the beginning you can hear her saying "chair, chair". I on the other hand wanted to get this shot of her walking so I used the occasion to coax her into walking toward me. Evidently she forgot that she wanted to get up in her chair in the time it took for her to go from the table to me, then past the fridge and into the dining room. You'll see she was almost tripping over the clip on the string attached to the balloon.

Earlier in the day, Colette, I and the kids went to Hy Vee to eat brunch with Aunt Audra and Uncle Matt. Matt's parents Kathy & Tim Meyer also came along. Uncle Matt told Brayton in Mass that Kathy was there and Brayton stood up in the middle of the Homily and said "I want to see Kathy Meyer." After brunch Aunt Audra took Brayton over to the flower shop in Hy Vee and bought both kids a balloon. Once Lauren had that balloon, she hauled it around all day.

If you listen closely, you can hear Brayton saying "don't bite me". If you're wondering, we're not biting our children, rather we got two puppets (an elephant and octopus) from the library. Brayton was playing with them and the octopus was biting the elephant in his little game. I'm not sure where he came up with this, but nonetheless in his little game the elephant was telling the octopus "don't bite me."

Emu Crossing Ahead

Some of the best money we've ever spent is our membership to the Blank Park Zoo and the Science Center of Iowa. The kids love the animals at the zoo, I don't think they could ever get enough. Brayton loves the fish, the otters, and the emu's. In this little clip, he has a close encounter with an Emu and I'm certain he didn't think he'd ever get that close. Matter of fact, when Colette showed me the video, I was a tad bit concerned about the proximity of the Emu but I guess they see so many people there's little chance of getting kicked or pecked or whatever an Emu might do to a child.

We have a little girl that walks everywhere...

Over the last week or so, Lauren Claire has really taken off walking. She has been taking a few steps here and there for about a month, but normally after just a few would drop down and crawl seemingly because it's much faster. She was only putting together 4 or 5 steps at a time until this week. Now, she's getting up and going much longer distances often times across the entire room, so long as her brother doesn't come and knock her over.

This afternoon, I took the kids out to play at a park and Lauren would climb up the stairs on the playset, walk over to the tube slide, climb in, sit down, slide down, crawl out, and walk back over to the stairs and do it all over again. She is really getting independent and does very well on her own until her brother starts running interference on her.

Colette took this video on Friday, September 26th. It was about 85 degrees out and a really nice day to take the opportunity to play in the water table one last time before it starts to cool off outside.

If you listen closely, you can also hear B singing the veggie tales song again.

Brayton Sings

Brayton is becoming quite the singer lately. Seems like everyday he is singing somthing. So far, I've heard various theme songs from shows like Veggie Tales and the Wiggles, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Happy Birthday, lots of nursery rhymes, and of course his ABC's. I guess he must be taking after his Grandma Cindy or Aunt Audra. It seems that he has quite a good ear for music. Colette said he heard a song on PBS the other day 2 times and after just twice was able to sing the entire song himself. Of course, he always sings best off camera and when he's not being induced by his father, but it's still pretty good entertainment.

In this video, he's singing the theme song for Veggie Tales. The lyrics go like this:

If you like to talk to tomatoes.
If a squash can make you smile.
If you like to waltz with potatoes,
Up and down the produce isle,
Have we got a show for you!

Painting our faces

This morning the weather was so nice out that Colette decided we should try painting in the garage. It was about 75 degrees with a slight breeze. We opened up the garage door, threw down Grandpa Gordon's blanket and put some paper, paint brushes, and some water color paints down on the ground and just let the kids play.


Lauren didn't want anything to do with the paint brushes. Brayton jumped right in though and started painting away. After a bit Lauren evidently thought B was having alot of fun so she got down off my lap and proceeded to stick her fingers in the paint which she then started to smear on her face and tummy much like she does with lotion. By the time the kids were done, they were both full of paint because B took Lauren's lead and started painting his face as well. Finally the last thing they did was paint the bottom of each others feet and stepped on the paper making green and orange footprints.

Lauren does her ABC's

Can't believe it's been almost 2 weeks since I've posted. Been very busy around here lately. With school, kids, work, wow. Well, Colette has been working with Lauren on her ABC's. It's quite funny, and she actually has done them much better than what is on this video. But, whenever she is doing them we don't have the camera rolling, or when we go to get the camera out she immediately stops doing them.


Lauren has really been growing by leaps and bounds lately, not just physically but also intellectually. She is getting better at her shapes, she recognizes them and puts them in the correct place, she says her ABC's now when led by us and she is getting quite the attitude at times. Sometimes I think she is 16 months going on 16 years. If she makes up her mind she is NOT going to do something, you can guarantee she is NOT going to do it no matter what you do.

Playin' in the fort

Last Tuesday, I came home and Colette and the kids had built a fort with some blankets and the kitchen table. That night I had a late night conference call for a web deployment so I wasn't expected back to work until noon the next morning.


The next morning morning, Colette had a Dr. appointment, so what did the kids and I do? We played in the fort all morning. We read books, put together puzzles, played shapes, and had a grand old time. After a bit, I could tell they were starting to get a little hungry. So, we decided to have a nice raisin snack.


The kids love raisins, and I feel good giving them raisins because they are healthy and promote regular bowel movements!

This one is too good not to post

Tonight before putting the kids to bed, as always, we made Brayton sit down on the potty.

Recently he's been busting in on Mommy & Daddy while we use the toilet. He will open the door, walk in and say "Hi Daddy! I'm going to give you a little privacy" and proceed to walk out and shut the door. That's it, nothing else, just that statement.

I'm unsure of where he picked up his bit about "privacy." I've also noticed he has evidently picked up my reading habit.

Oatmeal everywhere...

This morning, I got up with Bratyon and Lauren while Colette slept in a bit. They were both ravenously hungry as usual. After a brief debate with Brayton about the fact I was not going to give him sugar cereal (especially before Mass), we settled on eating oatmeal with blueberries. We haven't had blueberries in a few weeks, so the kids were excited to get them. I poured two bowls, tossed in a handful of blueberries, and cooked them up in the microwave.

We've been trying to get Lauren to use her spoon and fork recently. She's doing well, at least she is trying. Most of the time she just pokes herself in the face with the fork and then we have a brief crying spell until she realizes she's okay and goes back to eating.

This morning, after I sat the kids down with their oatmeal, Lauren started making a big mess. Not that she usually doesn't make a mess, it's just that oatmeal is messier than I anticipated it would be. So, I pulled out the camera and started shooting.

What ensued was quite comical, and I don't want to ruin it, but watch the video and you can see the back and forth interaction between our two children. Needless to say, Brayton is no longer the sole instigator in our family.

Learning about gravity...

One of the things we have consciously tried to teach our children is the effect of gravity. Brayton especially, since he has really not had a fear of anything to date. Lauren on the other hand really has not experienced the effects of gravity since she's mostly been crawling around her entire life. When Brayton was younger, it stunned me that the kids had no concept or fear of falling. I'm not sure why this perplexed me so, it should be obvious.
Since we don't want them to get hurt, we have purposely tried to let them fall from time to time in controlled situations we know they won't get hurt. I can't recall the first time we let Brayton fall, but he learned the effects of gravity quickly. He learned big time when he was playing with Drew and Ava in the crows nest of the swingset last summer and got accidently shoved off. I saw him fall from the other side of the yard, he fell about five feet and miracously didn't have a scratch on him.
The other day, I came home from work and Colette informed me that she had the opportunity to teach Lauren a little bit about gravity. Both the kids had been climbing onto the chairs they got from Grandma and Grandpa that are in the foyer. The were climbing up and rocking around to the music that was playing on the stereo. Colette could tell that Lauren would likely fall, so like the good mother she is, she moved the chairs in to the living room where at least the floor is carpeted.
Sure enough, after a short bit, Lauren promptly fell off the chair. Even in these controlled situations, I always worry things won't go well and they will get hurt. But in this situation it was quite comical and Colette actually captured it on the camera. Watch closely as you see the biggest grin on Lauren's face just before falling off the back of the chair. Then after falling, she promptly climbs back up and starts all over again. Enjoy.

Playing "Bank"

One of the games we've always played with the kids is "Bank." Some time ago, Grandma Bernadine gave Brayton a little train bank, I think it was Easter of 2006. At some point we found out that Brayton loved to put the coins in the little slot. This became a game, we'd dump out all the change and B would put the coins back in. It was also a learning opportunity, by the time he was 1 year old B could identify the differences in pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters. We'd say, "put a dime in" and he'd choose a dime out of the pile. He couldn't say the names, but he knew the difference.


Some time later, I bought a jug of pub mix at Costco. The container was clear plastic with a screw on lid. I cut a hole in the top of the lid and this became our new "bank". I was concerned that with our kids increasing activity the train bank Grandma had given us it would eventually get broken. At least this new bank was plastic and if it was broken we wouldn't care so much.


Lauren over the past few months has really taken to playing "bank". She doesn't know the difference between all the coins the same way B did, but she loves playing. We also think it's good to help the kids tune their fine motor skills. With Lauren, she really loved putting the coins in her mouth so it took us a little while to get her to the point she wouldn't put the coins in her mouth.


The result of all our playing bank was captured this morning before Mass when B was upstairs with me while I was getting ready for church. Colette and Lauren got to play "bank," uninterrupted by big brother.

Lauren Claire's New Shoes, only $1, Lauren's smiles because of those shoes, Priceless

Colette went to some garage sales on Thursday. She bought Lauren some new shoes. When Lauren saw them, she immediately knew they were shoes for her. Lauren has had shoes in the past, but they were just Robies, leather shoes with a soft leather sole. Not much fun for a little girl.

These shoes were little brown leather "dancing" shoes, I really don't know how else to describe them. One thing is for sure, she knew they were for her. She would go grab them, and attempt to put them on.

I put them on her before going to Costco on Friday night. She was so thrilled to be wearing them. She just kicked her legs while sitting in the cart going around the store. She kept looking at them, and touching them.

Today, after playing in the water table for a bit, we came in and I took Lauren out of her swimming suit and just put her in a diaper. She immediately crawled over to her shoes, picked them up, touched them to her toes and said "on!". I said do you want your shoes on? She said "On!". So I put them on and the attached picture is the result.

I tried to get a little film of Lauren and her new shoes, but shortly after I snapped this picture Brayton came over and started teasing her and all my opportunity for a short film quickly evaporated into fighting children.

Nonetheless, this picture is worth a thousand words.

Riding the slide at the fair...

As I just wrote about, here's a little video clip of Brayton and Colette going down the giant slide at the fair. I still can't believe how expensive this silly ride was. But I guess it's not about the cost, it's about having a good time and getting some film to publish for all to see.

Fun at the state fair...

I've not been very good about posting the past ten days. I have been wanting to put up some clips from the state fair, but have been sort of lazy and just didn't get this done like I wanted to. I blame the Olympics being on TV. We've been watching pretty fervently since one of the Olympians (Shawn Johnson in gymnastics) is practically our next door neighbor. Consequently we have been glued to the TV and staying up past our normal bedtimes.

So, about 10 days ago, it was Wells Fargo day at the State Fair. All employees get in for free and we get vouchers for $20 worth of food. We probably wouldn't go to the fair if it wasn't free, the crowds are insane, it's usually extrememly hot, and the kids don't last more than an couple of hours there before they are cranky.

Sunday, August 8th, we made the trip out to the fairgrounds. We walked around and saw all the cattle, horses, sheep, goats, chickens, pigs, and every other animal there. We saw the biggest bull of the fair 3000+ lbs of him. We took some time to eat cotton candy and carmel corn. We wanted to try a funnel cake, but no vendors could tell us if their cakes had eggs or not. So we didn't get any funnel cake.

We also took a little bit of time to try out some rides. We put Brayton on a little motorcycle ride. The first couple times around he was okay, but as you'll see in the video, about the third or fourth time around he decided he didn't like it at all. We tried to get on the ride with him, but the operator wouldn't allow adults to get on. So, we had to stop the ride early and get him off. It was good there wasn't any other kids on the ride.

The second (and last) ride we tried was the giant slide. Colette took B all the way to the top of the slide and B had a great time going down. This wasn't nearly as scary as the motorcycles, probably because Mommy was right there. Once he was to the bottom, Bratyon immediatly wanted to go again. I would probably have let him, but it was $12 for one trip down the slide. I believe this has to be the most profitable ride at the fair.

Going to Grandmas for the weekend...

Last night I was talking to Brayton about the fact he was going to Grandma and Pappa's this weekend. I told him how he needed to be be a good boy and not whine, cry, or tease his sister while he was there. I told him how he needed to eat a good dinner every time, and not cry when Grandma put him down for naps and at bedtime.

Just to make sure he was following along with our conversation, and to be repetitive I asked, "B, where are you going this weekend?" He said, "Grandma Coke's and Papa Allan's."

I said, "What are you going to do there."

B said, "Eat emmies!" (M&M's) "Pappa keeps them in his pocket." "I'm going to eat emmies and watch a movie!"

Well, it's obvious how important those M&M's are in Grandpa's pocket. I bet I know a little girl who will also remember that Pappa keeps those M&M's in his pocket too...

Eatin' Some Corn...

After picking our sweet corn in the garden Tuesday night, Colette had the opportunity to cook it up for supper tonight.


This isn't the first time our kids have had the opportunity to eat sweet corn. Colette had bought some at the store for supper one night last week. It didn't work out the way we had hoped, the kids were not the least bit interested in that corn. Lauren had sore gums from teething, and B was just not into eating the corn that night. So, Colette and I ate about six ears each.


Tonight was a far different story. Maybe picking the corn on Tuesday night solidified the fun of picking our own corn and then eating it. Maybe Lauren's gums weren't so sore tonight from teething. Not sure what got into them, but they both ate all their sweet corn tonight.


Colette held the corn for Lauren, and B ate his on his own. They both really cleaned up and seemed to enjoy the corn. I have to admit it was pretty good too. I think we'll plant more next year.

Pickin' some corn...

Tonight we had the opportunity to finally get in the garden and pick some sweet corn.

Brayton had helped me plant it earlier this year, he actually tossed the seeds all over the place when I gave them to him to put in the furrows, but nontheless some of the corn came up and did fairly well.

I reminded him of when we planted it, I'm uncertain if he actually remembered but hopefully he did. He just looked at me with a blank stare.

We went out and picked about a dozen ears, but only eight were any good. I think I didn't plant enough of it for it to fully fertilize itself. I thought about bagging it but never got around to it.

He really seemed to enjoy getting in there and picking the corn, I think he just liked being in the garden and pulling the ears off the stalks. We proceeded to shuck the corn together and tossed the husks in the compost pile. Not sure he fully understands why we did it, hopefully I can get it to sink in tomorrow when we eat the corn for dinner.

Pictures from Omaha

Big Boy gets his Big Boy Bed

After getting home from Omaha, Brayton was very excited to know that he had finally earned his Big Boy Bed.

I took down the crib, and he was right there helping me the whole time. With every piece I took out, I could see the excitement growing. Colette proceeded to wash and dry his new sheets while we took down the crib. Uncle Matt helped me haul the mattress and box springs up from the basement.

After cleaning a bit, I proceeded to rearrange Braytons room and Colette made up his bed with his new sheets. He was jumping around, and it wasn't long before B was up on his bed jumping on the bed.

To top off the night, Brayton said to me "Thank you Daddy for building me a big boy bed."

Kids have a way of pulling your heart strings.

Weekend in Omaha

This weekend we packed the family and Uncle Matt and Aunt Audra in the van and headed to Omaha for Maria's birthday party, a trip to the Henry Doorley Zoo, and a night at the Springhill Suites Hotel.

We took off at 9:30 Am and got to the Zoo shortly before lunch. We couldn't believe the crowd at the zoo. We went in and walked around for a bit until Ryan, Mikhael, and Maria joined us. After eating lunch we continued through the zoo for another couple hours. It was about 92 degrees and everyone was hot hot hot. Fortunately there were enough buildings that were air conditioned we got cooled off every now and again.

Brayton's favorite part of the zoo was the jungle, but he also liked the aquarium, and the petting zoo. He liked trying to feed the goats and watch the sharks and fish swimming around in the aquarium.

After the zoo, we checked into the hotel and had a swim in the pool. The kids had a great time, and we swam for about an hour and a half. I was surprised they did so well. We ate supper the Colette had prepared in the hotel room, watched a quick movie on the laptop and then everyone was in bed by 8pm. Lauren crashed immediately in the pack & play, however, Brayton was still a bit wound up. B & I were sharing a bed, and Colette had her own bed. I put my arm on B to try to hold him in place, which worked alright, but he was not ready to go down yet. He was talking, saying nursery rhymes, counting, ABC's etc. I was pretending that I was asleep and watching him through the corner of my eyes. Finally I decided to close them all the way, all of a sudden I felt a finger go up my nostril. I pushed his had down to his side and didn't say anything. He proceeded to pretend that he was sleeping, and waited about a minute (which was probably an eternity for a little boy) before attempting the finger up Daddy's nose again. This went on for another time when I decided enough was enough. I held his hand by his side and he again began reciting nursery rhymes.

After a while Colette had had enough. She told B if he wanted to sleep on the floor he could. That lasted all of about 2 minutes, and the ultimatum was that if he didn't want to sleep he had to lay next to me and be quiet. He decided that was okay, crawled into bed and was out like a light in just a few short minutes.

The next morning, we had some breakfast and went to Mass and met Ryan, Mikhael, Maria, Grandpa Gordon, and Grandma Cindy there. After mass we went back to Ryan's house and celebrated Maria's birthday party.

Poor Lauren fell down and cut the inside of her lip up, it was cut bad enough that it was still very sore today and she was very fussy and wouldn't eat much.

All in all, our first stay in a hotel room went really well, and everyone was worn out after the weekend and slept well when we got home.