Trip to Iowa

I'm a little behind on my blogging. I have been busy, and Hunter has been taking a few naps lately, which he does in the room where the computer is, and since "quiet time" is my only real time to be able to blog(other than after they are in bed, but I've been too exhausted lately) I haven't been doing much of it. I'll start with our trip to Iowa. We went to go see my family on the last Thursday of June. We stopped at the Cabela's in Owatonna to show the boys the underwater aquarium and all the animals they have on exhibit there. They thought it was really fun. We had a pretty easy trip down, which was nice(unlike last years trip). We saw our friends from college. Their kids and our kids had fun hanging out...

We went to see my Gma in the nursing home, had supper with friends, did a little garage saling, Brent and I went for some snow biz and a nice walk and went to see my dad play a game of softball. To make it even more exciting there was a hot air balloon race going on, and we saw 25 or so hot air balloons go up over the ball park while we were watching the game. And my dad hit a home run!!! We had a really fun, relaxing time, as you can see by the next picture here:

The boys really loved playing with their cousin, Zane(I did, too!)

I'm baaaack!

Whew. That is the only word to describe the last few days. I had an overall good time in Iowa, but it was showered with a few disappointments, one of which was that I got the flu on Saturday and spent the day throwing up instead of having fun with my parents. Luckily, they were able to watch the kids while I rested, so that was SO NICE. I couldn't have handled them on my own. But handle them I did as I drove home yesterday. I hadn't kept but a couple things down Saturday night, so needless to say I was pretty weak going into the trip home, but I felt the prayers of those praying for me! The kids did great, we only stopped one time for ten minutes(I was going to stop another time, but they had all just fallen asleep, so I kept on going). I hit all the green lights and had no delays, so it just worked out great. I made it in a record time of just under 6 1/2 hours also! And I wasn't speeding(well, I went five over, but almost everyone goes five over.) I enjoyed meeting wonderful Zane, he's such a good baby. I hardly took any pictures, but I did take this one:
And here is a picture of Callie on the boys chair, something she likes to climb on now:

They were able to get, in my opinion, a lot done on the house. All but one of the new windows are in, the door(although there is a flaw that a rep is coming to look at this week) is in, and, as it turns out, we decided to add a little bump out where the chimney had been so that when we go to get a new fireplace we can get one of any depth. I think this will add a nice visual look to the side of the house. We've changed around the layout of the mudroom addition to be symmetrical to the roof lines of the bump out and the house. I really can see a visual in my head of how its going to look and I think we'll like it a lot!! They also got a lot, I think most, of the electrical upgrade done. It'll be nice not to blow breakers every other day anymore! I feel like I'm in a fishbowl since we have no blinds or curtains on the front windows, but that is just fine for now. I will hopefully be getting a couple pantry's this week to start staining. I can't wait for that(esp since I stopped and stocked up at Aldi in Iowa!). Here are some pictures of the work done so far:





And now, I'm going to go rest b/c I AM EXHAUSTED!!!

Weekend at Breezy

We had a GREAT time at Breezy this weekend! Thanks to the Loukota's for inviting us out! We went out around 4 or so on Saturday and came home today after supper. We swam, played games, and ate. The kids had a great time playing with their friends, and Brent and I FINALLY got to play games with Randy and Nikki(even though I did poorly at Monopoly). It was a very fun weekend, and just what I needed. Here is a slide show of some of the things we did:

Thanksgiving/Christmas

the guys after the Thanksgiving meal.

We had fun in Iowa. It was nice to see friends and family. I got the pleasent suprise of visiting my childhood friend who is back from Tiawon. We celebrated our Christmas also, and it was nice to cash in on black Friday with our Christmas cash. Brent and I pooled ours together and bought a GPS and two new tires for the van. They had a GREAT deal on the GPS, so I went to WalMart at 8 on Friday morning and picked one up. We had fun geocaching around Osky a couple days with it, and it was fun to travel with on the way home.
It calculated our arrival time, which was right on, and it calculated how long we were stopped.
We(including stop lights) were only stopped for a total of 27 minutes the whole trip. The kids did pretty well considering that. Callie did the best, she must like her new carseat.
The boys got some big blocks for Christmas, and they have really enjoyed playing with them(plus, there's so many of them that fighting over them has been minimal).

We got home about 4:30 yesterday. Brent hung up some Christmas lights in the boys room, and they were very excited about that. We put up the tree this morning, and I love how festive it is in here now.


Since Callie didn't take a morning nap, she was very tired by lunch. I only got a few bites in her before she started falling asleep....

Heading Out

Tomorrow we leave for Iowa! I'm very excited, and the boys are definately ready to leave. It's all Hunter's been talking about. He even practiced how he was going to hug grandma Mary this morning. I set out the kids clothes today and packed them in a suitcase and set it in Callie's room, and as I went in her room tonight to get her pj's, I saw that Hunter had packed his little Cars bag full of stuff to take to gma's and had set it right next to the suitcase. I'm sure I'll have to answer the question of "Are we going now" all day tomorrow. It is kind of nice, though, that he's old enough to know where we are going and that it takes awhile to get there. (And thank the Lord Almighty for portable DVD players! I don't know how my parent did it...although I would think girls would be less hyper than boys) We'll be heading out as soon as Brent gets home from work tomorrow. It'll be a long night b/c it will most likely be dark before we leave. We'll come home on Sunday. I'm looking forward to seeing my family, seeing my sister's pregnant tummy, eating pumpkin pie, seeing friends, and HOPEFULLY some Jaarsma bakery goods. We are celebrating our Christmas, too.

Speaking of Christmas, I am SO excited to get the decorations out. I already have my new blog layout picked out for the holiday, and, as I'm usually bummed to come back home after seeing all my family and familar things, I am so excited to have decorating for Christmas to look forward to. I anticipate it being not as fun this year b/c of Miss Get-into-everything. Callie does pretty well with the word No, so hopefully she doesn't pull the tree down on herself too many times. She was playing in the boys room today(as she does every day) and I check on her every few seconds it seems, but I saw her get up on the boys little green chair and stand on it. She was jumping up and down rocking it back and forth and yelling at the top of her lungs. It was a sight. I would have gotten out the video camera, but I was afraid for her safety, so I took her off. She also likes to get into the diaper wipes now, so they are up high now. This morning she wanted to be daddy's little helper while he was making (me) scrambled eggs. I thought she looked so cute and tiny standing next to Brent:



Tate has been talking more and more and has the cutest way of saying things. He said "baking soda" today while we were making bananna bread and it had me in stitches.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Where to begin?

Well, I haven't been able to get away much to blog this week. The kids have either not been napping at all or napping in such a way that I never have a moment to myself. This week is another of those weeks which I do not enjoy. Brent has been working LONG hours, nights and days. I feel like we haven't seen much of each other at all, and that makes for a long week. Also making this week long is my lovely daughter, who is as I type crying in the monitor. She has woken up crying THREE times in the last 40 mins since I put her to bed. She only took one hour long nap today and that is ALL the sleep she's had all day. Also, she was up numerous times in the night crying and this means that I was up numerous times in the night. I don't know why this is. I'm assuming its teething since she popped ANOTHER two teeth this past weekend while we were in Iowa. I'm SO ready for the teething phase to be done with. She has eight teeth now, so we have to be getting close to being done. I wish there was something I could do to help her.

As I went down to comfort her I heard the boys talking in their room(after I tucked them in) and so I put my ear to the door and I heard Hunter tell Tate, "I don't have the energy to talk anymore. Goodnight." So cute! They have been interacting nicely lately. This morning Hunter told Tate that he loved him "five hundred" which I take to mean a lot. Then they hugged it out, it was very cute.

I think this will be a long post.

We had a great time in Iowa. It was so much fun getting away and seeing my fam. The weather was gorgeous, so we had fun being outdoors. Dad took me on a couple motorcycle rides, which I find to be very fun. It was fun to ride, but also fun to go through neighborhoods that I haven't been in for several years. We saw my gma and Laci came down for a day. I got to eat some Jaarsma and Breadiux Pizza, so that was grand. On Saturday mom found some of my old dresses she had made me when I was a baby, so we tried them on Callie. It was fun seeing her in them(although she doesn't really look like me....all the kids take more after Brent I think...not that I'm saying Brent looks like a girl) Here are some pictures of that:


Brent worked his hieny off on the van while we were gone. He took the whole front end apart and replaced the expensive parts that needed fixing. He is such a hard working man and very handy to have around! I'm sure he could have found more fun ways to spend his free time, but I really appreciated him doing that.

I've been feeling really tired lately. I think tiredness is the root of a lot of my emotions. I will probably feel tired for the next couple years at least, but for some reason this week I really figured out what my problem is. I would feel like I've died and gone to heaven if I were able to sleep ALL night long without being woken up and able to sleep in as late as I want. Next year that is what I want for my birthday. Sleep. All day.

Hunter came home from his Kid's Together class with a picture. An actual picture of something that he drew. Now I'm sure a lot of kids his age have been coloring pictures of things for awhile now, but Hunter has NEVER been into coloring. He'd much rather play with his trucks and tractors or play a game with me. But I think seeing other kids coloring has made him more interested. I actually thought maybe another kid drew it on his paper for him, so yesterday I had him draw me a picture like the one he brought home. He did and here it is, his first ever picture! I think it is adorable.


I did a little photo session today with Callie when she woke up and was being smiley, so here are some (more) pictures of her:




We have my parents coming the next two weekends! This weekend they are coming up and bringing my sister with, and she is staying for the whole week while Alex is gone! They'll be back to pick her up the next weekend. I always LOVE having her here, so I know I will enjoy next week.

One of three..

This is one of three posts I'd like to do today. I need to do Callie's 7 month post, I was tagged by Kristi and I want to post some fall pictures. I am, however, short on time. My good friend is in labor right now and I have her daughter along with my kids, so it might not all get posted today.

I do love fall. Yesterday Brent and I had the privilege of going on a date and we drove up to Walker and played tennis, shared a dish of chocolate peanut butter ice cream, walked the beach and parked in the trees and watched an episode of Lost on our portable DVD player(complete with surround sound). It was very fun and relaxing, just what we needed after these last few weeks of busyness. We enjoyed the evening with Brent's parents also.

We got a new table, one that has been in the Norman family for a long while. I am very happy about this, b/c now we can all fit around it for meals.


We received a letter from our grant people saying not to expect the remodel to start until spring of '09. This was very disappointing, to say the least. I know it'll get done eventually, but I wanted it to be before winter. I feel like we're wasting our money with how drafty it is. We could be so much more efficient. We did have a lead inspector come Saturday morning, so that is one more step out of the way.

Here are some pictures I took of the kids. We were raking up piles of leaves, putting them in a bucket and throwing them up in the air at each other.







We had a GREAT surprise on Saturday afternoon. A couple from church called and asked if I wanted to go to Oskaloosa this coming weekend!!! They are going there for a reunion and had some extra room, so the kids and I will be leaving Thursday morning for Iowa and leaving Iowa Sunday about 12. I am SO thrilled about this. I had written off another trip to Iowa until Christmas b/c of our van troubles and the expense of gas.

Whew!

I have a bunch of stuff I'd like to blog about....but so little time. I've kind of been going a mile a minute here lately. I'm looking forward to slowing the pace down a bit.

I'll start with our weekend. We went to the cities Saturday morning early with our friends to go to Como Zoo and to the Children's Museum. My parents drove up and met us at the zoo and picked Laci up. We had a good time despite the crowds of people.
We camped in my bro and sis-in-laws backyard and swam in their pool. Sunday morning we got up and went to the museum's free day. It is a really cool place! I'd never seen anything like it before. They had different rooms set up with things for the kids to play with. They had a nature-y one that we went in first, and the kids played in a giant ant tunnel and dressed up like birds.



The next place we went in the museum was what they called "Our world". It had several places to play, a bus stop, post office, doctor's office, grocery store, that kind of thing. The boys liked getting groceries and playing at the restaurant most, although they did a music video at one station. Very cool stuff, I just wish I would have been able to see the boys enjoy it more, Callie was very fussy so trying to soothe her is what I did mostly. Turns out she popped her two front teeth that day, so that could explain her fussiness(and the reason she cried the WHOLE THREE HOURS home! Yuck!)


We met up with all of Brent's side of the family after the museum and had a pool party. I really enjoyed that b/c it was a bit more relaxing.

Yesterday we went to the beach again. I had to watch Brent's cousins two girls(ages 5 and 12) so I thought it'd be easier than trying to find stuff to do around here. It was the PERFECT beach day and it was nice. I brought the boys little tent for Callie to play in and I had gone out to the water to yell for the girls to come closer and when I came back Callie had managed to pull/crawl herself out of the tent and had sand all over her face. I brought her suit, so I put it on and we sat in the water for a long time splashing. She enjoyed it I think. I put her in the floaty, too and she got pretty excited. We came back from the beach just in time for me to get ready to go out with a couple old coworkers. They took me out to eat and to the movies for my bday, which was really nice of them. I had a good time hanging out with them. It was my first time leaving ALL the kids with Brent and I spent a good week pumping for this but Brent only needed a little bit of milk b/c Callie fell asleep at 6:30 and was still sleeping when I got home at 10! She never does that for me!! I woke her up and fed her expecting her to be awake for awhile, but she went right back to sleep and slept the whole night!!! Its been weeks since she's slept through the night and it felt great! I'm kind of glad he didn't need all of the milk b/c I FINALLY made a doctor's appointment for my gall pain and my belly button hernia. I'm going in on Monday and I'm expecting to have a HIDA scan that won't allow me to nurse for awhile, so I will use it for that. I will feel so relieved to have this done.

This morning I had a two year appointment for Tate and a six month for Callie. She got her first immunizations and she did NOT enjoy it. Even though its my third child and I should be used to them I still welled up with tears. She's back to her smiley, loud self already, though. She weighed in at a whopping 14# 10 oz and was 26 1/2 inches long. The doctor said she's shot up in height. He wasn't concerned with her weight, he just said she'll be long and skinny(just like her brothers). We stopped at the grocery store after the appointment and it was a disaster. I ended up having to spend 43 cents on a plum with a bite out of it.

Tonight we're taking Tate out for some ice cream at the DQ and playground and then to the store to let him pick out his bday present. We're leaving the other two with gpa and gma for that. And tomorrow I'm headed out shopping with my bday money with a friend. We both have gift cards to the Olive Garden also. We're leaving our kids(minus Callie) home, so I'm hoping Callie will let me have fun(and also my stomach).