November 2011

November was a busy month. A lot went on this month that didn't necessarily include the holidays. A good friend got married! The first weekend in November included a wedding shower and a bachelorette party. We stayed downtown at a hotel and had so many laughs. The wedding was two weeks later. It was fun to be a part of it and I am so happy for them. 

Jack and Charlie followed Ben around everywhere that night. Jack LOVED Ben and he even danced like Ben. At the reception, they all three sat at the bar to eat their dinner that night.  Ben said, "We're just chillin'.  It's free refills!"  Then they explained to us that they just had to tap the bar and the bartender would refill their drinks. So funny. 

The week after their wedding we started getting ready for Thanksgiving. I was so thankful to only have a two-day work week that week. I needed that time off work. On Wednesday night we did our Charlie Brown Thanksgiving dinner. We watched the movie and had toast, pretzels, popcorn and jelly beans for dinner. We had it picnic style on the floor. We had a great time doing this. After the movie, we made pumpkin pies and cupcakes. The boys love to help cook and bake. This year they pretty much made the pies by themselves....with my direction. They did a great job, though. 

Jack lost another tooth this month, his second. He nearly swallowed this one, as well as the first one. Doug had taken Jack out to lunch during school one day. Jack looked down at his food and noticed a little bit of red on it. He told Doug that his corn dog was bleeding, so Doug made him take everything out of his mouth and they found the tooth. 

For Thanksgiving, my mom and Bob came over for dinner. I completely forgot to take one single photo. We had so much food, which meant a lot of leftovers. We FaceTime'd with Julie and Nate after dinner. That's so convenient and fun. Later that night, I went Black Friday shopping with my friend Kim. We hit Wal Mart at 10pm, which was insane. But for some odd reason, I absolutely love it. 

I love the Friday after Thanksgiving. This year we watched the first Iowa/Nebraska football game. Iowa lost, of course, and I slept through most of the game because I wasn't feeling well.  After the game we got ready for our trip downtown. This is my favorite tradition that we do and this is the third year we've done it. We head down to the Durham Museum for Christmas at Union Station. We decorate cookies, make a few crafts and the boys get to see Santa. After that we listen to some of the music.

We then head over to the Old Market for a carriage ride through downtown to see all of the Christmas lights. This is our favorite and this year was fun, because the line was short and we got the "special" carriage. 

                                         

After the carriage ride, we ate dinner at Spaghetti Works. Then we head over to Tannenbaum and the boys chose a Christmas ornament. This year the boys both chose a nutcracker ornament and I chose another Santa for the tree. Then we head next door to the candy store and buy fudge and some candy. Finally we head home very full and ready for bed. I can't wait to do this again next year. 

October 2011

October was a fun month. The weather was beautiful and it has yet to get cold. At the beginning of the month, I was able to go on a field trip with Jack's kindergarten class to a local pumpkin patch. It was fun to see him interact with his friends.

We made our annual trip to Vala's Pumpkin Patch. The boys (and we) love it there. We tried to hit everything, but didn't quite make it all. The weather was beautiful.

The highlight of the month for me was not turning 37, but going to the AASL (American Association of School Librarians) Conference in Minneapolis Oct. 26-29. I had a fantastic time. About 30 librarians from the state of Nebraska all rode up to Minneapolis on a chartered bus. We had a fun time chatting, eating, reading and watching movies. I was able to meet quite a few people I had heard about. The conference itself was amazing. I came back with nearly 100 books for me and my classroom. I even was able to get a few for the boys. Quite a few authors were at the conference signing their books. I got to spend a lot of time by myself at the hotel at night, which was a great birthday present for me. It was such a jam-packed busy trip, but relaxing at the same time. One evening I walked around downtown by myself, did a little shopping and had dinner.

I also turned 37 this month. Doug took the boys to Sephora to get me some perfume and to Scheel's to get me a Hawkeye's sweatshirt. My mom and Bob came over and we all went out to eat one night and had cake.

For Halloween we had beautiful weather as well. It was in the 60's. I made some Halloween-appropriate food and Nana and Papa came over to hand out candy while we made the rounds. We were out trick-or-treating for quite a long time. The boys got way too much candy, but we had a blast. 

Jack lost his first tooth on Halloween. The actual tooth was nowhere to be found, though. We think he swallowed it while drinking his chocolate milk!

September 2011

We had two birthdays this month. Doug turned 42 and Jack had his golden birthday. He turned 6 on the 6th. We celebrated quite a few times...with my family, with his friends, with our immediate family. We had several cakes, cookies, cupcakes, etc. He got lots of presents and loved it all. He was really excited about all of his presents. We kind of went with a grocery store theme and he got a grocery store stand, cash register, food, pans, etc. He loved it. For his party with friends we had a bounce house and clown at our house. Jack isn't much for crowds, so he only invited around 6 kids. It was a beautiful day and a good group of kids. The clown was a bunch of fun, too.

The bottom photo is from Doug's birthday. It was on a Thursday night and the boys were tired. We went out to dinner and then came home to open presents and have cake. By cake time, they were done with it all, as you can see.

August 2011

Jack started kindergarten this month! It was an easy transition for him and he's really loved it so far. He has the same teacher Charlie had and we just love him. Jack is excited to show us what he's learned and done each day.  Charlie started 2nd grade and has also enjoyed it. He likes his teacher and has made some new friends. He has also discovered what a crush is. He asked me the other day if I know what a crush is and explained that his friend has a crush on a girl. And so it begins. He says he has a crush on no one. Phew!
I went back to work this month also. I am still teaching reading and English at AL. I really like it. I started my grad classes back up at UNO. Still enjoying all of that. I get to attend the American Association of School Librarians national conference in Minneapolis in October and I am really looking forward to it!

The temps are cooler and football is back on TV. Life is good!

July 2011

It's almost August! Ugh. That means only a couple weeks left of summer vacation. It's sad, but in a way, I'm ready to go back.

I didn't take many photos in July, but we were busy. The boys took a great cooking class at the nearby Hy-Vee. It was three days long and focused on cuisine from different regions of the US. The first day was New York. We made wraps with apples, hummus and tuna and a few other dishes. The second day was Tex Mex. This was the best day. We made a summer squash casserole, black-eyed pea dip and fruit salsa. The last day was California. We made a chicken pasta salad, shrimp kabobs with lots of veggies and frozen peach pops. I will definitely sign the boys up for this again. It got them to try a lot of new foods and they loved chopping and mixing. We even made a few of the dishes at home for dad to try. We made a salad, the squash casserole and bean dip. The boys love cooking!

We have spent a lot of our time in July at swim lessons. Jack refuses to take them, but Charlie started them and loves them! He is doing two mini-marathons and goes every day. We are going on our fourth week of every day swim lessons. He has progressed so much and is an amazing little swimmer. He likes it so much that he has decided his goal is to be on a swim team. He wants to continue to take lessons throughout the school year. It makes me really happy to see him enjoy something so much.

Charlie also just finished his Intro to Drawing class. He had his final art show this weekend. He drew five really great pictures with everything from watercolor paints to charcoal. He did a still life and a collage. Now I have a lot of great art that I need to frame and hang up!

Doug and I made a little weekend trip to Minneapolis in July to see U2. This was on my bucket list, so I had to go! It was amazing. I want to go see them in concert again. We dropped the boys off in Des Moines with Doug's mom and sister. The boys (as well as Barb and Jessie) really enjoyed the alone time they had. They did a lot of fun things and got to visit with Kiley.

Jack had his first sleep over in July. His friend Ethan lives in Council Bluffs and the two met in preschool at St. Albert. They just love hanging out, so we had Ethan over for the night. We went to McDonald's, out for ice cream, played in the slip n slide and played dress up.

My friend Pam took photos of the boys for me this month. She did a fantastic job. I love the photos and can't wait to put some on canvas and get them up on the walls!

So, we have about two weeks left of summer and so much left we want to do. We have plans to visit a water park, go to the lake, attend a Back-to-School BBQ, among other things. Why, oh why, does summer have to end?!

Interviews 2011

I got this idea from another Blogger and liked it. I hope to do it each summer with the boys.

Charlie

Summer 2011

7 ½ years old

Going into 2^nd Grade

I am really good at: hiking

I like to: play

My favorite thing to learn at school: science

1 person who makes me laugh: Jack

One word that describes me: nice

I am really happy when: playing games

I am really sad when: I get hurt

My favorite book: Ricky Ricotta’s Mighty Robot

My favorite TV show: Spongebob

My favorite vacation: Estes Park and Denver, Co

I like school when: I am on recess

I don't like school when: people aren’t nice

My favorite season: Summer

My favorite toy: iPad

What makes me happy: going to Red Mango

Things that make me mad: when I lose a game

Favorite sport: football

I like my Dad because: he is really nice

I like my Mom because: she takes me places

I like my family because: they are really nice

Jack

Summer 2011

5 ½ years old

Going into Kindergarten

I am really good at: being good

I like to: play games with Mommy, Daddy and Charlie

My favorite thing to learn at school: coloring

1 person who makes me laugh: Ethan

One word that describes me: nice

I am really happy when: when Ethan is not sick at school

I am really sad when: Ethan is not at school

My favorite book: Harry Potter

My favorite TV show (movie): Harry Potter

My favorite vacation: Great Wolf Lodge

I like school when: when Ethan is there

I don't like school when: Ethan is gone

My favorite season: Winter and Summer

My favorite toy: Harry Potter chess game

What makes me happy: Ethan

Things that make me mad: when mom gets mad

Favorite sport: football

I like my Dad because: he always wears shirts that are soft

I like my Mom because: I sleep with her at night

I like my family because: I want to hug Charlie

Can you tell Jack likes Ethan?

We like to line things up...

To be continued...

July 4th

We had a fantastic 4th of July weekend. It was really busy, though. Saturday we had a BBQ with neighbors and then we had tickets to the TD Ameritrade Home Run Derby and fireworks show. We loved seeing the new stadium, the weather was perfect and the fireworks show was amazing. The boys were in awe of the fireworks. They are huge fans.

Sunday we drove out to my aunt's lake for dinner and fireworks. A lot of my mom's family was there and the boys got to play and hang out around the bonfire--one of their favorite things.

Monday we spent the early afternoon with friends at the Ralston parade. The boys filled their water guns and squirted the clowns who walked by. We had some good food and conversation with our friends.

We went home for a quick nap after the parade and then went to another home for more food and fireworks. In the end, we enjoyed three straight days of food and fireworks. By Tuesday morning we were all worn out and tired of eating. Or at least I was.

Estes Park, Colorado

This June we visited Estes Park. We went last summer and the boys wanted to go back. We love the area and kind of have a feel for where everything is, so we figured it would make for a good second trip.

There is a winery we like in Estes called Snowy Peaks. They are very child friendly, which allows for us to taste wine uninterrupted. The boys also did a cider tasting, which they enjoyed!

The first full day we were in Estes we drove up to Bear Lake and then took a hike to Nymph Lake and then Dream Lake. I had no idea there would still be so much snow, but there was! The hike to Nymph Lake was pretty snow free, but up to Dream Lake we had to hike through snow and basically over all of the unmelted snow. It was fun and different from last year's experience. Jack took every opportunity to fall in the snow, stomp in the streams and puddles and get absolutely muddy and wet. Charlie would consider no such thing and was quite serious with his hiking stick he made in Cub Scouts. We wanted to continue our hike up to Emerald Lake, but it was a tough hike because of all the remaining snow, so we passed.

Two things we did that were new to us this year were fishing at Trout Haven and horseback riding at Sombrero Stables. I had no idea I would like fishing so much, but I did. I caught three fish and Doug caught one. The boys, unfortunately, didn't catch any. They still had fun trying.

The horseback ride we did was an hour through the hills of Estes. We saw some baby coyotes on the ride.

Julie came up for the last day we were there. We drove up Alpine Trail Road and spent some time at Fun City in town. We went fishing again and started a small hike on Deer Mountain Trail, which I would love to finish next time we are there.

We also did a little bit of hiking at Lily Lake and Lily Lake Ridge Trail. This was a beautiful area.

Charlie Turns 7 1/2 !

Charlie and His Best Friend

Charlie has a best friend Nolan. They've spent quite a bit of time together lately. Nolan spent the night last weekend. We went to dinner and then Charlie wanted to take Nolan to his favorite place-Red Mango!

When we returned home, they had fun wrestling, dressing up, playing with Nerf guns, watching E.T., watching some fireworks and laughing a lot!

Visiting with an Old Friend!

I met Jeanne in 1994 at the University of Iowa. We lived in the same dorm-Burge! We've been friends since. Last time I saw her was when we met up in Chicago in 2008 when I ran the Chicago Marathon.

She was recently in Iowa visiting family, so we drove up for the day. It was so good to see her!

Father's Day

This year for Father's Day we made our first trip of the season out to a family lake in Iowa. The boys look forward to this every summer. They love swimming in the lake, grilling out, having a bon fire, looking for bugs and frogs, going on the paddle boat and playing in the sand. It was a beautiful Sunday for the lake and a good start to lake season!

Camp Matisse!

In mid-June the boys attended a three-day art camp at Just Be Free. They LOVED this. The camp had them studying the artist Matisse. They learned his techniques and for each technique they learned they made a project. They journaled about all they learned as well. It was fantastic.